The K-pop industry gives birth to a new idol group every few months so much so that it becomes difficult to stand out and survive the competition. Despite the rise of younger groups, SM Entertainment's SHINee still maintains a strong presence in the field.
The five-member boy band, which brought us hits such as "Replay," "Juliette," "Ring Ding Dong" and "Hello," are now celebrating their 9th year in the business. Disbandment is an unfortunate event expected from groups that reach a certain age. This has resulted in what is known among fan communities as the "5 Year Curse," which is dubbed the average shelf life for K-pop groups. A popular example for this is TVXQ, SS501 and H.O.T.
SHINee is one of the few groups that have managed to stand the test of time. In a recent interview, the members were asked if they ever thought about breaking up as a group. "We always try to average things out, and we're going to continue doing so. We've never thought about disbanding," the group said, allkpop reports. "We're a group that has no struggles at all in communicating with one another."
More often than not, K-pop idol groups disband because some members are given more opportunities or exposure than the others, making it easy for them to break away and start solo careers. SHINee is a diverse quintet. Each member is as talented as the next one, but every one of them brings something different to the table.
Given the number of projects they've done individually, it could've been easy for Jonghyun to focus on his own music or Onew to work full-time as an actor. But even with their solo ventures, the group still finds time to come together and release new music every year.
Many of the fans attribute the group's lasting success to their closeness. Appearing on tvN's "Secret Book Club" in 2015, Jonghyun said that there's camaraderie in the group. "We've shared our sorrows and joys since our trainee days and endured hard times together, so we are even more loving toward one another," the singer said about their bond.
SHINee recently released their new album, "1 of 1." The album landed at the No. 2 spot on Billboard's World Album chat.