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BIGBANG Celebrates 10th Anniversary With 65,000 Fans In South Korea

By Victoria Johnson
Published on: 13:29 PST, Aug 21, 2016

BIGBANG decided to bring in their 10th anniversary with — you guessed it — a bang.

The South Korean boy band has performed all over the world, but they ultimately returned to their home country to celebrate their decade-long career in music. It’s been awhile since BIGBANG performed in South Korea though. Therefore, one of BIGBANG’s most prominent members, G Dragon, told the crowd that he wasn’t sure whether or not they would still be able to draw a big crowd in South Korea.

“Since we had a lot of activities overseas, we had worried that we wouldn’t be as popular in Korea, but seeing you all now, we’re still popular,” he said, according to All Kpop. The concert drew more than 65,000 screaming fans at the Seoul World Cub on Aug. 20 — giving G Dragon a definitive answer about their popularity in South Korea. Another popular BIGBANG member, Taeyang, teased that “if we had known that so many people would be in attendance today, we would’ve had a two-day concert instead of just one. It’s too bad.”

During the event, which was dubbed “BIGBANG10 THE CONCERT : 0.TO.10.,” BIGBANG went through a slew of their hit songs including “My Heaven,” “We Like 2 Party,” “Hands Up,” “Bad Boy,” and “Loser” during the nearly three-hour show.

The five-man group, G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri debuted in 2006 under YG Entertainment. Although they’ve become popular as solo artists, together as BIGBANG, they’re global sensations.

Over the past 10 years, BIGBANG has sold nearly 200 million records worldwide. Hollywood Reporter also called them “the biggest boy band in the world” late last year. BIGBANG serves as a part of hallyu, or the “Korean wave” as well. Other groups along with BIGBANG such as Super Junior, SHINEE, and Girl’s Generation heralded the movement in the mid-2000s. (The latter appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2012.) South Korean culture growing in popularity since the 1990s with the increased global interest in K-pop and Korean dramas. KCON, a festival dedicated to all things Korean, also draws thousands to the annual event in Los Angeles and New York City.

One of the most popular K-pop artists, Psy, known best for the viral 2012 hit, “Gangnam Style,” also made an appearance during the concert, according to Korea Herald. (He also performed the extremely popular track along with an older song of his, 2002’s “Champion.”

But he was sure not to let his “horse dance” antics distract fans from the main event, BIGBANG. “I wonder if there has ever been a boy band that keeps developing with such a strong identity, confidence and color,” he said to the crowd of the band responsible for other popular songs like “Bad Boy,” “Fantastic Baby,” “Monster,” Blue,” “Bang Bang Bang” and “Crooked.” The songs range and draw influence from hip-hop, pop, and R&B.

At BIGBANG’s event, G Dragon shared why the date is so important for the group and how he’ll hope to keep the momentum going. “Our tenth anniversary is an important day for us, but since I think that there will be even more days where we can meet in the future, I hope that we’ll be able to laugh and sing as we grow old together,” he said to the crowd.

So far, BIGBANG is making good on that promise. The quintet released an album, MADE, earlier this year with eight new singles for their fans aka VIPS. BIGBANG supported the new album with their second world tour of the same name as well. Now, the group will also be hosting fan meetings across the world. BIGBANG is also slated to become the first K-pop group to hold a fan meeting in Hawaii.

[Photo by Danny Martindale/Getty Images]

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