Big Bang

Origin: Republic of Korea
Genres: Pop, R&B, Hip-Hop, Soul, dance
Years active: 2006 – Present
Labels: YG Entertainment
Universal Music Japan (Japan)
Fanclub: VIP meaning : V.I.P. is short for ‘Very Important Person’
Balloon Color: none
Website:
http://www.ygbigbang.com/



G-Dragon (GD)

* Real Name: Kwon Ji Yong (권지용, 權志龍)
* Date of Birth: August 18, 1988 (1988-08-18) (age 21)
* Position: Leader, rapper, composer, beat-boxer

G-Dragon is the leader of Big Bang. He has been trained by YG Entertainment since the age of thirteen, often at the side of fellow member Taeyang. He often composes the group's material. He is now working closely with producing the music of one of the newest girl groups with Teddy, from YG Entertainment, 2NE1. His first full solo album, Heartbreaker, was released on August 18, 2009, which is also his birthday, also released other songs of his album(Breathe). As a child, he was in a group of Mini Roo'ra as a kids version of the original Roo'ra group.


T.O.P (Tempo)

* Real Name: Choi, Seung Hyun (최승현, 崔勝鉉)
* Date of Birth: November 4, 1987 (age 21)
* Position: Rapper, beat-boxer, composer

Before joining Big Bang, T.O.P received recognition by winning KBS's "Rap Battle" in 2003. He acted in the Korean television drama I Am Sam. He is currently filming in the planned drama IRIS or "Akita," alongside actors Kim Tae Hee and Lee Byung Hun. It has been seen on various websites, that he is the "villain" type for this show. It is said to release sometime in October. He is also filming a teenage suspense drama 19 alongside fellow member Seungri. Aside from his role in Big Bang, he has collaborated with various artists, including Red Roc's "Hello," singer Gummy's "Mianhaeyo" ("미안해요", "I'm Sorry"), and Uhm Jung-hwa for "D.I.S.C.O." He is the oldest in the group.


Taeyang (SoL)

* Real Name: Dong, Young Bae (동영배, 東永裴)
* Date of Birth: May 18, 1988 (1988-05-18) (age 21)
* Position: vocalist, choreographer

Taeyang's first appearance, along with G-Dragon, was made in one of 1TYM's music video. Taeyang started out as a rapper, but is now the main vocalist of Big Bang. He was the first one to release a solo album called HOT during the summer of 2008 and had his first solo concert. On 2008-8-7 he opened a concert for Alicia Keys in South Korea, where he performed his 2 singles: 기도 (Prayer) and 나만 바라봐 (Look Only At Me). Taeyang is also known for his free style dancing ability, which has become more prominent since the band's debut. According to Naver, Taeyang's next album was expected to be a full album, but YG later announced the change and it is now expected to be another mini; it is scheduled to be released in either August or September. It will be produced by YG Entertainment's rising producer and 1TYM Member Teddy (Park Hong-joon). Currently, Teddy is busy working on 2NE1's album but he'll immediately shift his full focus over to Taeyang once the work on 2NE1's album is complete.


Daesung (D-Lite)

* Real Name: Kang, Dae Sung (강대성, 姜大成)
* Date of Birth: April 26, 1989 (1989-04-26) (age 20)
* Position: vocalist

Daesung was recruited in an audition, and even though he was jokingly known as "unpretty boy" among the staff, he turned out to be the most popular member. While being trained, he received vocal training from Wheesung, one of his favorite artists. Wheesung also helped other members from Big Bang. Also during training, he was diagnosed with vocal cord nodules. He was the first member of Big Bang to be a permanent-member of a variety show, appearing regularly on Family Outing since 2008. He is close with fellow Korean celebrities Yoo Jae Seok, Lee Hyori, and Kim Jong Kook. Daesung was also the second member to appear in a musical. He debuted in a Korean version of Cats, which members from the variety show Family Outing came to support. In April 2007, Daesung decided to quit high school in order to focus on his work in Big Bang full time. He has expressed however, a desire to pass his college entrance exams sometime in the future. In August 11, 2009, Daesung was injured in an unfortunate car accident. Reports claimed that the 20 year old member of Big Bang was heading back to Seoul after shooting SBS television program Family Outing. The incident happened on Pyeongtaek Express highway. The van where whom he and his manager driving as well as stylist was sitting in, skidded along the road as it was heavily pouring out. The vehicle hit the rail and also crashed into a tree, almost uprooting it. Daesung broke his nose, a rib, and had bruises on his arms and face. YG Entertainment said that it would be a minimum of 4 weeks rest, but since they found an eye injury; it would be a minimum of 8 weeks instead. YG Entertainment later stated that Daesung would not be attending his musical and they would use this time to let him rest.


Seungri (Victory)

* Real Name: Lee, Seung Hyun (이승현, 李勝賢)
* Date of Birth: December 12, 1990 (1990-12-12) (age 18)
* Position: vocalist, choreographer

Seungri, the youngest member of Big Bang, was born in Gwangju. Before Big Bang, he was a member of Ilhwa, a Gwangju dance team. In the summer 2005, Seungri appeared on an episode of "Let's Cokeplay: M.net Battle Shinhwa", a TV show to find the second Shinhwa through auditions. The band Battle is the result of that TV show. In the thirteenth episode, he was cut from the show because his singing wasn’t impressive enough, though his dancing was. He also won couple of awards for his solo album single "Strong Baby". He debuted in the musical "Sonagi" 2008 and in the movie "Why Did You Come To My House" 2008. He is starring in a musical call "Shouting". Daesung was also to participate in "Shouting" but due to Daesung's car accident, Seungri will be doing "Shouting" alone. He is featured in the upcoming drama "My 19" with fellow member, T.O.P. Seungri appeared on the popular variety show Family Outing as a temporary replacement for Daesung on August 24.
[edit] Former


SO-1

* Real Name: Jang Hyun Seung (장현승, 張賢聖)
* Date of Birth: September 3, 1989 (1989-09-03) (age 20)


SO-1 was eliminated from Big Bang in the ninth episode of their documentary because he lacked stage presence and was too shy. In August 2006, YG Entertainment stated (via their homepage) that Hyun Seung remained with YG to be given more training and eventually debut. Since then, he has performed several times as a backup dancer for YG artists.[29] He has decide to leave YG Entertainment and is now part of Cube Entertainment. Latest news is that he is now part of a new group with B2ST. B2ST is the next group announced Cube Entertainment, which will begin in September with a new version of the song "Dancing Shoes" by AJ.