INFINITE is an all-male group formed by Woollim Entertainment in 2010. The group was originally composed of seven members – Sunngyu, Dongwoom, Woohyun, Sungyeol, L, Sungjong, and Hoya – before Hoya’s departure in August 2017. They are now promoting as a group of six.
The group officially debuted on June 9, 2010 with the release of their mini album First Invasion.
2010: Pre-debut to official debut
Prior to their debut, members Sunggyu, Woohyun, Sungyeol, L, and Sungjong all participated in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics as part of the chorus of Epik High’s supporting song. L, Sunggyu, Woohyun, and Sungjon also appeared on the music video for Epik High’s song, “RUN,” while Hoya and Dongwoo were backup dancers during promotions on music shows.
Infinite made their first appearance as a group on April 12, 2010 through the Mnet pre-debut reality show “You Are My Oppa” alongside Lovelyz’s Ji-ae and Epik High.
On June 9, 2010, the group debuted with the release of their first mini album, First Invasion, featuring the title track “Come Back Again” and the second lead single, “She’s Back”.
2011: Rising popularity and Japanese debut
Infinite released their second mini album, Evolution, on January 7. They began promotions for the album with performances of the lead single “Before the Dawn (BTD)” on various music programs, eventually earning a spot in Music Bank’s K-chart for the first time.
On January 26, the group released their first Japanese single, “To-Ra-Wa,” a Japanese version of their Korean debut song “Come Back Again”.
Immediately after the release of “To-Ra-Wa,” Evolution rose on domestic charts, hitting number 3 on real-time charts for sales in Korea. The song also became the top downloaded ringtone on the daily charts of the K-Pop section of Japan’s top mobile website.
On March 17, they released their first single album, Inspirit, along with the music video for the album’s title track, “Nothing’s Over”. The album also took the group to the top 10 in the Music Bank K-chart.
Their first studio album, Over The Top, was released on July 21, along with the music video for the lead single “Be Mine”. With the song, won their first ever music show award through M! Countdown, followed by a “double crown” feat.
With the success of “Be Mine,” Infinite re-released Over The Top as a repackaged album, titled Paradise, on September 26. It features three new tracks, including the title track of the same name.
On October 9, Infinite won a first place crown on Inkigayo for “Paradise,” and another trophy on M! Countdown on October 13.
The group made their official debut in Japan on November 19 with the release of the Japanese version of “BTD”. The single album also includes the B-side track “Can U Smile,” which is a remake of a song from their second Korean mini album, Evolution.
On December 5, they released their first Christmas song, “White Confession”.
Their first studio album, Over The Top, was released on July 21, along with the music video for the lead single “Be Mine”. With the song, won their first ever music show award through M! Countdown, followed by a “double crown” feat.
With the success of “Be Mine,” Infinite re-released Over The Top as a repackaged album, titled Paradise, on September 26. It features three new tracks, including the title track of the same name.
On October 9, Infinite won a first place crown on Inkigayo for “Paradise,” and another trophy on M! Countdown on October 13.
The group made their official debut in Japan on November 19 with the release of the Japanese version of “BTD”. The single album also includes the B-side track “Can U Smile,” which is a remake of a song from their second Korean mini album, Evolution.
On December 5, they released their first Christmas song, “White Confession”.
2012 to 2014: First solo concert, more albums, and first world tour
Infinite held their first solo concert, titled 2012 Infinite Concert “Second Invasion” in Seoul’s Olympic Stadium on February 11 and 12, followed by two shows at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan on February 25 and 26. Then, on April 1, the group held their encore concert, 2012 Infinite Concert “Second Invasion Evolution”.
On April 18, the group released their second Japanese single, which includes a Japanese version of their song “Be Mine” as the title track, as well as a Japanese version of the song “Julia”. The single album peaked at number 2 in Oricon’s Daily and Weekly Charts and reported total sales of at least 54,218 copies.
They released their third mini album, INFINITIZE, on May 15, featuring the lead single “The Chaser”. Infinite promoted the album with performances on various music programs, where they took their first triple crown win on M! Countdown. By the end of 2012, “The Chaser” was named by Billboard as the number one K-pop song of the year.
On March 21, 2013, Infinite released their fourth mini album, New Challenge, with the title track “Man in Love”. Once again, they promoted the track and the album in music shows, taking home a total of seven wins for “Man in Love”.
On June 6, they released their first Japanese album, Koi ni Ochiro Toki. The album features a total of 12 tracks, including previously released singles “BTD,” “Be Mine,” “She’s Back,” and the B-side track, “To Ra Wa”. Upon release, the album topped the Oricon’s albums chart with more than 69,000 copies sold.
On July 16, Infinite made a Korean comeback with the release of their single “Destiny,” which they performed live for the first time at the 2013 Mnet 20’s Choice Awards on July 18.
After wrapping their promotions for “Destiny,” Infinite embarked on their first world tour, called 2013 Infinite 1st World Tour “One Great Step”. The tour kicked off with a performance in Seoul, followed by 22 more shows in Asia, Dubai, North America, and Europe.
The group starred in their own reality show, This is INFINITE, which started airing on February 6, 2014 via Mnet. This marks their first variety show as a group since appearing in Ranking King in 2012.
On February 28 and March 1, Infinite held their first world tour encore, 2013 Infinite 1st World Tour “One Great Step Returns,” at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul.
Following the conclusion of their world tour, the group released their first instrumental album, The Origin, on April 10. Prior to the official release of the album, the group released a music video for the instrumental version of “BTD (Before the Dawn),” featuring a never-before-seen footage from the original music video of the song.
On May 12, Woollim Entertainment confirmed that Infinite is preparing to return with their second studio album, Season 2, scheduled for release on May 21. The release of the album was preceded by a special showcase by the group, called 1.2.3, in Taiwan (May 19), Japan (May 20), and South Korea (May 21).
With the release of Season 2 on May 21, the album’s title track “Last Romeo” was also released. On July 22, a repackaged edition of the album was also released as Be Back, featuring a total of 15 tracks.
After wrapping up promotions for Season 2 and Be Back, Infinite held their second summer concert, “2014 Infinite Concert <That Summer 2>” at the Blue Square Samsung Card Hall in Seoul. The concert had a total of 7 shows, starting from August 7 to 10, and continuing on August 14 to 16, with a total of 15,000 fans in attendance.
On September 11, “Last Romeo” topped the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists chart, giving Infinite their first Billboard No. 1 and becoming the first Korean act to do so. At the same time, they also ranked number 33 on Billboard’s Twitter Top Tracks with the song.
On December 18, they released the music video for their new Japanese single, “Dilemma,” composed by renowned Japanese musician and guitarist, Tomoyasu Hotei. The single was subsequently released on December 24 and was the centerpiece of Infinite’s Dilemma Tour in Japan slated for early 2015.
2015 to 2016: More Japanese promotions and concert tours
On February 1, 2015, Infinite embarked on their third solo concert tour in Japan, called 2015 Japan Tour – Dilemma, beginning with a show in Fukuoka, and followed by performances in Tokyo, Osaka, and Aichi.
On April 29, the group was released a promotional video for the single album 24 Hours, which eventually ranked third on the Oricon Weekly Chart after selling more than 56,000 copies upon release.
They made their Korean comeback on July 13 with the release of their fifth EP, Reality, which features a total of seven tracks, including the lead single “Bad”. The album peaked at number 1 on the Gaon Weekly Albums Chart and at number 3 of the Monthly Albums Chart.
Shortly after the release of Reality, the group announced their second solo world tour, 2015 Infinite 2nd World Tour “Infinite Effect”. The concert tour kicked off with a two-day performance at the Olympic Stadium Arena in Seoul on August 8 and 9.
When Infinite finished their world tour, they starred in another reality show, Infinite Showtime, which aired on MBC Every1 starting December 10.
On December 16, they released their second Japanese album, For You, which peaked at number 3 on the Oricon Albums Chart.
To conclude their 2015 Infinite 2nd World Tour “Infinite Effect,” the group held a two-day encore concert titled 2015 Infinite 2nd World Tour “Infinite Effect Advance” on February 20 and 21, 2016 at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Stadium in Seoul.
On July 8, Infinite released the special digital single, “That Summer (The Second Story),” which they promoted through a summer concert series.
From August 3 to 8, they held the 2016 Infinite Concert <That Summer 3>, at the Blue Square iMarket Hall (then Samsung Card Hall) in Seoul.
On August 31, Infinite released their Best of Infinite Japanese album. Upon the album’s release, their song “DNA/Paradise” ranked number 1 on the Japanese music site Recochoku Daily Album Chart.
The group’s sixth EP, Infinite Only, was released on September 19, featuring a total of seven tracks, including the lead single “The Eve”.
2017 to present: Hoya’s departure and Sunggyu’s military enlistment
AIR, Infinite’s third Japanese album, was released May 24, 2017 and peaked at number 6 in Japan’s Oricon Albums Chart.
On June 9, Woollim Entertainment announced that the members of Infinite were in discussions with the agency regarding the renewal of their contracts. On June 28, however, Korean media reported that only 6 of the 7 members re-signed with the company. On July 14, member L revealed in an interview that the members were still in positive discussions regarding their contract. But on August 30, it was announced that Hoya has decided not to renew his contract with Woollim Entertainment and had officially left the group.
The six remaining members of Infinite continued as a group and released their third Korean studio album, Top Seed, on January 8, 2018. The album features a total of twelve tracks, including the lead single “Tell Me”.
On May 14, leader Sunggyu began his mandatory military service as an active duty soldier, while Woohyun was appointed as the group’s temporary leader.
What is Infinite’s Fandom Name?
Infinite’s fandom name is a merging of the two words, In and Spirit, to form “Inspirit”
