Super Junior are the epitome of the South Korean idol boy band. They have more members than you can poke a stick at, have collected more awards than would fit in your average pool room, and set the bar for the Kpop idols of today with their hefty list of extra-curriculars as actors, models, MCs and radio hosts.
Over the course of their eight year career they have earned 14 Mnet Asian Music Awards, or MAMAs, 16 Golden Disk Awards, and were nominated for “Best Asian Act” in the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards – although they lost out in the end to their own former Super Junior member Hangeng. Currently Super Junior consists of eight active members – Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun, with members Heechul, Yesung and leader Leeteuk currently completing their mandatory military service.
Formed in 2005 under K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment as Super Junior’05, originally Super Junior members were to “graduate” and be replaced yearly to keep the group as young and fresh as possible. They debuted in November 2005 with their first single “Twins (Knock Out)” and proved so popular that instead of replacing the original members as planned, SM entertainment added a new member, Kyuhyun, in 2006 and dropped the '05 suffix. Super Junior’s first official single, “U”, was released in June 2006 and was later adapted for Japanese and Mandarin versions as their popularity grew around Asia with the spread of the Hallyu wave.
After a few setbacks, including a serious car accident which member Kyuhyun almost didn’t survive, SuJu (as they are affectionately known by their fan group, ELF or "Ever-Loving Friends") returned in September 2007 with their second studio album and a new single, both called “Don’t Don". The heavy rock guitar riffs and electric violin solo, plus a new visual concept and more mature choreography, represented a huge change in image for Super Junior.
Super Junior were launched into international recognition following the release of their album Sorry Sorry in 2009, which became South Korea’s best-selling album of 2009 after only a month and collected the Golden Disk Awards record of the year “Disk Daesang” award. “Sorry Sorry”, the single, earned number-one awards for ten consecutive weeks and held the number one spot on Taiwan’s Kpop singles chart for a record breaking 37 weeks.
Following several lineup changes, a few controversies and their first member hiatus for Korea's mandatory military service, Super Junior returned in 2010 with their fourth studio album, Bonamana, which went on to outsell Sorry Sorry. They came back again in 2011 with Mr. Simple and embarked on their first world tour, including shows in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau, Thailand, France, China and Indonesia.
In addition to the core unit known as Super Junior, subgroups designed to target different audiences consisting of selected Super Junior members have had their own successes. Super Junior-K.R.Y with members Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Yesung, the three strongest voices of Super Junior, have released a handful of ballads and appeared on several Korean drama soundtracks. Super Junior-T, a sub-unit focussing on an old Korean pop music form called trot music, consists of Leeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin and Eunhyuk. This sub-group gained a lot of attention with older audiences, despite their previously youth-oriented image. Super Junior-Happy is a hilarious subgroup aimed at a younger audience consisting of members Leeteuk, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin and Eunhyuk, who make cute and silly songs about, for example, cooking and pyjamas. Super Junior-M is a Mandarin-language sub-unit aimed at China and Taiwan and features Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, as well as two members who are not part of the standard Super Junior line up – Henry, who appeared on “Don’t Don” playing the violin solo, and Chinese singer and actor Zhou Mi. Super Junior-M are the most successful sub-group to date, and in Jaunary 2013 released the dubstep-infused single "Break Down", along with the album of the same name.
July 2012 saw another triumphant return for Super Junior with their sixth album, Sexy, Free & Single and the accompanying single, which ranked high in iTunes in several countries including France, Peru, Japan and here in Australia. The album earned them MAMA awards for album of the year, best global group – male and best line award as well as the Golden Disk Awards record of the year Disk Daesang award.
Super Junior are currently touring the world with their "Super Show 5" concert, which has already visited South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Indonesia and will see the group visiting Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the Phillippines, Thailand, China and Malaysia later in the year.