'HYBE global group' &TEAM tasted the joy of their first award at a long-standing and prestigious Japanese music awards ceremony.
On the 21st, according to the list of this year's winners released by the '67th Shining! Japan Record Awards' (hereinafter 'Japan Record Awards'), &TEAM received the 'special international music award'. The 'special international music award' is given to artists who have shown outstanding global activity over the year, regardless of specific region. &TEAM's achievements on the global stage, including Korea as well as Japan, were highly evaluated.
The nine members (Eui-ju, Fuma, K, Nicholas, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki, Maki) said through their agency YX Labels, "We are truly honored to receive an award at the 'Japan Record Awards' for the first time," and added, "We thank the fans who supported us and everyone who shared in this award. We will strive to grow into national artists loved in Japan and to show proud performances on the world stage."
&TEAM recorded their first million-seller with their third single released in Japan in April, 'Go in Blind'. They also successfully completed their first Asia tour, which drew about 160,000 people across 10 cities. Recently, they released their Korean mini album 1 'Back to Life' and sold 1.13 million copies on the first day of release, becoming the first Japanese artist to achieve million-seller status in both Korea and Japan.
Their global growth was also steep. According to YX Labels, &TEAM's Korean mini album 1 title track 'Back to Life' saw about a 2.4-fold increase in maximum listeners on Spotify in the U.S. compared with the previous work 'Go in Blind' (as of Nov. 7), and about a 3.8-fold increase on Apple Music (as of Oct. 29). U.S. business magazine Forbes highlighted &TEAM as "the group garnering the most attention right now," solidifying their presence overseas.
Having successfully established themselves in the K-pop scene with the Korean mini album 1 'Back to Life', &TEAM will continue active engagements through the end of the year. They are scheduled to appear on Dec. 14 at MUSIC BANK global festival in Japan, on Dec. 25 at SBS '2025 Gayo Daejeon with Bithumb', and on Dec. 31 at NHK's 'Kohaku Uta Gassen', wrapping up the year in a spectacular fashion.
[Photo] HYBE Labels
[OSEN]