PENTAGON, abbreviated as PTG, is an all-male idol group formed by Cube Entertainment in 2016. The group currently consists of ten members – Hui, Jinho, Hongseok, E’Dawn, Shinwon, Yeo One, Yan An, Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok. They were first introduced through the Mnet survival show Pentagon Maker, which aired in May 2016. The group released their first self-titled debut EP on October 10, 2016.
Pre-debut, Pentagon Maker
Cube Entertainment first revealed Pentagon to the public on April 26, 2016 through the trailer “Come into the World”, after hinting at a new boy group in December 2015. However, the group’s lineup was not yet finalized at the time.
It was then announced that the final members of Pentagon is set to be determined through the reality program “Pentagon Maker”, which aired online through Mnet’s digital content arm, M2. By the end of the show, seven participants were confirmed as official members of the group – Jinho, Hui, Hongseok, Yeo One, Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok.
On July 9, they released the songs “Young” and “Find Me”, produced by Dok2 and Tiger JK, respectively. A music video for “Young” was also released featuring Hui, Yeo One, Kino, Wooseok, and Yuto.
They were initially scheduled to hold a debut concert on July 23, 2016 at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium, but Cube Entertainment delayed the concert and debut date of the group, citing internal issues.
2016: Official debut, first solo concert, Pentagon and Five Senses
After several months of delay, Pentagon finally made their official debut on October 10, 2016 with a total of 10 members, including E’Dawn, Shinwon, and Yan An, who were all eliminated from Pentagon Maker.
On the same day, they released their first Korean EP Pentagon, along with the title track “Gorilla” and held their debut showcase. The album contains a total of seven songs and peaked at number 7 on the Gaon Chart.
The group held their first solo concert, titled “Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 1” on December 6 at the Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, Seoul. The tickets for the concert were sold out within eight minutes of sale, showing how highly anticipated the group was after their stint on Pentagon Maker.
The day after the concert, Pentagon released their second EP, Five Senses, with the lead single “Can You Feel It”. The album features a total of five tracks and peaked at number 5 on the Gaon Chart.
On December 10, Pentagon held their first Japan showcase at Tokyo’s TOYOSU PIT after the commercial success of their first mini album in the country.
2017: Japanese debut, Ceremony, Demo_01 and Demo_02
On January 22, the group released a special music video for their song “Pretty Pretty”, which was included in their second EP, Five Senses. The video featured I.O.I’s Kim Chung Ha.
Building on the success of their Korean EP in Japan, Pentagon was announced to be making a Japanese debut in March 2017.
On March 24, they launched their first mini live and talk concert in Japan to kick off the promotions for their debut and upcoming Japanese EP. 4,000 tickets to the concert were sold out with 5,000 people reportedly trying to get access to the event held in Tokyo’s Shinagawa’s Stellar Ball. They performed both Korean and Japanese versions of their songs “Gorilla” and “Can You Feel It,” as well as new Japanese track “Hikari”.
On March 29, Pentagon released their first Japanese EP, Gorilla, which debuted at number 6 on the Gaon Chart and 3rd on the Oricon Chart. The album consists of six tracks, including the Japanese versions of previously released songs “Gorilla,” “Can You Feel It,” “Pretty Pretty,” and “You Are”, along with two new Japanese songs.
They then released the single “Beautiful” on May 18, which was produced by their labelmate Jung Il Hoon of the group BTOB.
From June 10 to 12, Pentagon held at three-day concert, titled “Tentatstic Vol. @ ‘Trust’”, at the Shinhan Card Fan Live Hall. Each of the concert dates were assigned a special theme – “P day,” “T day,” and “G day” – where the members got to showcase different concepts and performances.
On the last day of their concert, the group released their third Korean EP, Ceremony, including the title track “Critical Beauty”. The EP also became their first U.S. chart entry after making it to Billboard’s World Chart at number 14. However, member Yan An was unable to participate in the album promotions and other activities due to a hand injury.
On July 24, Pentagon released a surprise music video called “Precious Promise” for their fans.
Shortly after the release of “Precious Promise,” the group embarked on another series of concerts in Japan. The concert, titled “Pentagon 2017 Tentastic Live concert in Japan” was held from August 3 to 8, 2017.
After three months, they released their fourth Korean EP, Demo_01, along with the title track “Like This”. It debuted at number 8 on the Gaon Albums Chart and contains a total of five tracks with lyrics mostly written by members Hui, E’Dawn, Kino, Yuto, Wooseok, and Jinho.
Alongside promotions for the new album, Pentagon also held their third solo concert in Korea, called “Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 3 – Promise” at the Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, Seoul.
Prior to their Korean comeback, the group once again returned to Japan for their solo concert, “Pentagon 2017 Tentastic Live Concert in Tokyo” on November 18.
On November 23, the group released their fifth Korean EP, Demo_02, a follow-up to their album Demo_01 released in September. The album featured the titled track “Runaway”, written by Hui, E’Dawn, and Yuto. It peaked at number 8 on the Gaon Albums Chart after selling more than 23,000 copies.
The release of Demo_02 coincided with Pentagon’s fourth solo concert, “Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 4 – Dream”, which was held at the Blue Square iMarket Hall in Seoul.
2018: Violet and Positive, United Cube concert
On January 17, Pentagon released their second Japanese EP, Violet, including the title track of the same name. They also held two solo concerts in Japan – the “PENTAGON! Great Live Concert in Japan 2018 Your Whiteday” on March 2-4, and their fifth solo concert “Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 5 – Miracle” on April 1.
On April 2, the group released their sixth Korean EP, Positive, featuring a total of six tracks including the lead single “Shine”. Since its release, the album was in the 500s rank of Melon’s daily chart, but it gradually rose to place number 186 at the end of the month.
By May 1, “Shine” rose to number 95 of Melon’s real-time chart and peaked at number 20 in the same month. The album also peaked at number 6 on the Gaon Album Chart. On May 2, a month after its release, the song reached a new peak when it made it to the Top 10 of Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart, Pentagon’s first.
As with other releases, Pentagon promoted Shine on various music shows such as M! Countdown, Show! Music Core, The Show, Music Bank, and Inkigayo.
On June 16, the group is set to participate in “United Cube – One”, a concert gathering of Cube Entertainment artists such as BTOB, HyunA, CLC, and (G)I-DLE.
