TFBoys

TFBOYS (also known as The Fighting Boys, 加油男孩^[1][2]) is a teenage Chinese boy band formed by Time Fengjun Entertainment (TFent). The group consists of the leader, Wang Junkai (王俊凯, also known as Karry), and members Wang Yuan (王源, also known as Roy) and Yi Yangqianxi (易烊千玺, also known as Jackson). TFBOYS officially debuted on August 6, 2013^[3] with a promotional video "Ten Years".^[4] The boys were between 12 and 13 years old at the time of debut. Their first mini album "Start To Love" 《Heart 梦·出发》, was subsequently released on October 18, 2013.

They gained popularity rapidly on the internet, through social media platforms such as Sina Weibo and video sharing platforms such as YinYueTai. On April 15, 2014, during The 2nd YinYueTai Vchart Awards by YinYueTai, TFBOYS won 2 awards - "Favorite Artiste - Mainland" and "Yin Yue Live Stream Favorite Artiste" (音悦直播人气歌手). Thereafter, they were invited to appear on various television variety shows and music award events, hence brought them before the eyes of mainstream Chinese audiences. TFBOYS released their hit single "Manual of Youth" on August 16, 2014, which then went on to chart at number 1 on Yin Yue Vcharts for 5 consecutive weeks. The song won "Song of the Year" at 2015 iQIYI Night Awards, "Top 10 Songs of the Year" at 22nd Dong Fang Feng Yun Awards (东方风云榜音乐盛典), and "Favorite Song of the Year" at 15th Top Chinese Music Awards (音乐风云榜). During the 2016 CCTV New Year's Gala, the most significant television event in China due to its high viewership, TFBOYS performed a musical "Growing Up in Happiness" incorporating the "Manual of Youth". The TFBOYS has hence became a household name in China.

Their success were attributed to their fresh, school boy images, which filled the void of young male idol groups in China,^[5] and amassed large numbers of fans. They are frequently compared to former Taiwanese boy band, The Little Tigers (小虎队), whose popularity sweep across Chinese regions in the 1990s.

History

Pre-debut

Wang Junkai (王俊凯, Karry Wang) was chosen as a trainee in TF Entertainment accidentally. The staff of the TF Entertainment discovered him when they had already finished the trainee selection process. They immediately decided to give the boy a chance to audition, even though he missed the interview. After joining TF Entertainment, he became a vocalist for TF-Family. His company posted a cover of him singing the Chinese song Prisoned Bird (Chinese:《囚鸟》), which went viral on the Internet. In September 2012, he released a cover version of You Exist in My Song (Chinese:《我的歌声里》), recorded by himself in the washroom, which also went viral on the internet..

Wang Yuan (王源, Roy Wang) entered the company a year after Karry as a trainee. In an interview, he explained he joined the company as it offered free training classes. Roy Wang is known to have a silvery voice, and is dubbed by fans as "peppermint vocals prince" due to his dulcet, clear tones. He is the only team member who plays the piano, which he had showcased during concerts and TF variety shows. He has hosted the TF variety show for 3 seasons. In July 2012, Roy Wang and Karry Wang covered One is Like the Summer, One is Like the Fall (Chinese:《一个像夏天一个像秋天》) as a duet. The video garnered more than 5 million views online by September 2012 and received recognition and praise by the original singer Christine Fan (范玮琪) when she re-posted it on her Weibo.^[6] On April 1, 2013, Roy Wang and Karry Wang covered When Love Has Become The Past (Chinese:《当爱已成往事》) together to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of Leslie Cheung (张国荣), and the video was viewed more than 40 million times by April 4. On May 31, 2013, Roy Wang and Karry Wang sang their cover of The Onion (Chinese:《洋葱》), by MayDay's Ashin (五月天阿信). Through these solo and duet covers, their popularity on the Internet began to rise and they earned the public attention.

At the age of five, Yi Yangqianxi (易烊千玺, Jackson Yi) was acknowledged for his dancing skills, winning a kids' dance contest. Several of his dance videos went viral on the Internet. Later, he also excelled in many other aspects, including dancing, calligraphy, writing, and talent shows. At the delicate age of 5 and 6, his parents brought him to learn the traditional Chinese dances, stretching his muscles and making him very flexible. This subsequently became advantageous to his life. Then, he starting learning the tango and other dances. In 2012, he participated in the same talent show Karry Wang had participated in. In the end, he was eliminated in the top 100s because his judges felt that the music didn't match his dance moves. However, TF Entertainment then accepted him as a trainee after seeing his potential and hoping that they can help improve him.

In July 2013, Wang Junkai, Wang Yuan and Yi Yangqianxi were confirmed to debut as the Chinese boy band, TFBOYS. Their first album was prepared by a South Korean music team TM (Jay Hong & Taemu), which was also the former album producer for Lee Hyori (이효리). The post-production was finished in South Korea.

Debut

On August 6, 2013, TFBOYS made their official debut with the release of their single, Heart. This was followed by the release of Love Departure (Chinese:《爱出发》) and Dream Set Sail (Chinese:《梦想起航》). Their official fanclub was named Four Leaf Clover (Chinese：四叶草), and their official fan colour is Orange. TF Entertainment then created a variety show titled "TF Teens Go!", and hosted by Roy Wang. It featured TFBOYS and a few other male trainees. In 2014, Roy Wang, Karry Wang and Jackson Yi starred in the TF family made network drama Boys College Self-study Room (Chinese:《男生学院自习室》), which boosted their popularity. TFBOYS also published Manual of Youth (Chinese:《青春修炼手册》), which was and still is a big hit, along with Magic Castle (Chinese:《魔法城堡》). In 2015, singles including Young (Chinese:《样》), Adore (Chinese:《宠爱》), The Rest of Summer (Chinese:《剩下的盛夏》), The Big Dreamer (Chinese:《大梦想家》) were released.

TFBOYS also became quite active in the film industry recently, and acted in many online TV shows. Karry Wang was cast in director Zhang Yimou's movie The Great Wall alongside Matt Damon, Andy Lau, Lu Han and other famous actors from China and America. Roy Wang acted in Guo Jingming's movie L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties (Chinese:《爵迹》) with many other famous Chinese celebrities. Jackson dubbed the animated film Le Petit Princeand acted in《思美人》as the main actor . All 3 boys also have a role in the currently-shooting TV show Zhu Xian (Chinese:《诛仙》).

On June 22, Wang Junkai was presented with a Guinness World Records for a total of 42,776,438 reposts on Sina Weibo (Chinese edition Twitter) for his birthday message. It currently still has the most number of reposts on Sina Weibo.^[7][8]

On November 8, Roy Wang began to compose songs. When he was 15, he sang Because I Met You (Chinese:《因为遇见你》), which lyrics and music were both written by himself, to thank his fans. He also became the first 2000s (decade) artist from China to be featured on the New York Times. On November 28, Jackson Yi began choreographing dances and choreographed two dances for his fans on his 15th birthday.

In 2015, TFBOYS became part of the cast of Hunan Channel's new reality-variety show Run For Time (Chinese:《全员加速中》), and participated in every single episode.

At the end, Jackson Yi won the title of "Speed Up King," and became a representative celebrity for Mengniu Dairy. The boys have also been on many other reality and variety shows in China, and filmed documentaries about their lives.

On January 13, Roy Wang's first single Because I Met You was released. It reached #1 on China's charts after just a few hours, and was played more than 300 million times in 26 days - which is still a new record. On January 1 and January 22, Imperfect Child (Chinese:《不完美小孩》) and Truth Or Dare (Chinese:《真心话太冒险》) were released respectively.

Members

Wang JunKai, Karry

• Chinese: 王俊凯
• Born on September 21, 1999 in Chongqing, China.
• Leader/Lead Singer of TFBoys
• Fans are called "Little Crabs" (Chinese: 小螃蟹). Fan support blue color,which is Karry's favorite and lucky color.
• Plays the guitar.
• Joined TF Family as trainee in 2010.
• Awards：
  • 2015 Weibo Most popular male singer, Mainland China
  • 2014 Weibo Most popular male singer, Mainland China
  • 2015 king of star champion
  • One of the Top 10 most influential people in internet in china, 2015
  • 2015 Guinness World Record Holder for holding "the most reposted weibo"
  • Student representative of Chongqing to attend the 26th Meeting of All-China Students’ Federation

Wang Yuan, Roy

• Chinese: 王源
• Born on November 8, 2000 in Chongqing, China.
• Frontman of TFBoys.
• Fans are called "Tangyuan" (Chinese: 汤圆), playing a food pun on his name. Fan support color is green, which is Roy's favourite and lucky colour.
• Plays the piano.
• Joined TF Family as trainee in winter of 2011. First appeared on TF Family webcast during the Christmas special show.

Refer to more details in individual Wikipedia page: Roy Wang.

Yi YangQianXi, Jackson

• Chinese:易烊千玺
• Born on November 28, 2000 in Hunan, China. Moved to Beijing, China with his family since young.
• Lead dancer of TFBoys
• Plays the Drum
• Has one younger brother, whom's name is "Nannan" (Chinese：楠).
• Fans are called "Origami Cranes" (Chinese: 千紙鶴), taking the character '千' from his name. Fan support color is red, which is Jackson's favourite and lucky colour.
• He was talent-scouted by TFent during a Hunan Television reality talent show. While both Karry Wang and him were eliminated in the Top 100, he was invited to audition with TFent, and subsequently formed TFBOYS together with Karry Wang and Roy Wang.

Discography

Singles

Mini Albums

Other Tracks

Solos

Filmography

Dramas

References

External links

• (Chinese) Official website
• (Chinese) TFBoys on Sina Weibo
• (Chinese) Official blog