99 Fun Facts About Ateez

Who is the youngest member of Ateez?

Jongho, born in October 2000, is the maknae, the Korean term for a group's youngest member, yet he debuted at 18 as its main vocalist.

Which company formed Ateez?

KQ Entertainment began planning a boy band after a hopeful sent in a letter and a sample mixtape; he became its first official trainee and, later, the group's leader.

Which awards show named Ateez Best Korean Act in November 2019?

MTV Europe Music Awards: the regional prize went to whichever act drew the most online fan votes, and Ateez won on their very first nomination, beating AB6IX, CIX, Itzy and Iz*One.

What does the name Ateez stand for?

A TEEnager Z: the name, unveiled in a teaser in July 2018, was chosen to signal the aim of speaking for everything about teenagers, from A to Z.

What name do Ateez give their official fandom?

Atiny is how the members address their fans, and the fans get a real say: their votes have picked the lead single for several releases, and fan meetings are billed as 'Atiny's Voyage'.

In which US city did Ateez train at the Millennium Dance Complex for their pre-debut web series?

Los Angeles: the eight trainees filmed their classes there for a 2018 online series, before they were called Ateez, and its finale was their first music video, 'From'.

Who is the leader of Ateez?

Hongjoong was the company's first trainee and its only one for six months; he raps and writes, and was said to have composed around 40 songs for the group by the time it debuted.

Four future Ateez members competed on which 2017 survival show before debut?

Mix Nine ranked the four between 42nd and 72nd among the men, well short of the winning nine, but missing out cost them little: the winners' promised debut was cancelled.

Which Mnet reality show introduced Ateez in July 2018, three months before their debut?

Code Name Is Ateez doubled as a naming ceremony: a teaser for the show was where the trainees' new group name was first revealed, weeks before the cameras followed them into the studio.

Which two songs were the double lead singles of Ateez's debut EP?

Pirate King and Treasure both arrived with music videos on debut day, and the imagery stuck: the group became known as the 'pirates of K-pop'.

Which song won Ateez their first music-show trophy, on M Countdown in June 2019?

Wave beat Lee Hi's 'No One' to the week's top spot on M Countdown, eight months after debut; fans had voted it lead single over 'Illusion', and a second trophy followed five days later.

Which of these Ateez title tracks was chosen by fan vote over 'Thanxx'?

Inception won a week-long fan vote and then two music-show trophies, but the loser was not shelved: 'Thanxx' got a music video of its own a few weeks later.

Which 2020 EP was Ateez's first to be certified platinum in South Korea?

Zero: Fever Part.1 opened a new storyline once the Treasure series had closed, let fans choose its lead single, and sold more than twice as many copies in Korea in 2020 as the EP before it.

Which Ateez member paused promotions in November 2020 for treatment of psychological anxiety?

Mingi was away for eight months: he recorded his part for a song the group released during a TV contest in 2021 but did not perform it, and he rejoined that July.

Which Mnet competition did Ateez join in 2021 alongside The Boyz and Stray Kids?

Kingdom: Legendary War was revealed as Ateez's next stop in the middle of their own set at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards; six boy groups took part and Ateez finished third.

On which KBS programme did Ateez become the idol group with the most wins, covering Rain, Psy and Seo Taiji and Boys?

Their fourth win, in June 2023 with 'Highway in the Gale', gave them the record. They were the only idol group at the 2020 'King of Kings' finale.

Which Ateez member co-hosted SBS MTV's The Show for three years from 2021?

Yeosang fronted the weekly chart show from March 2021 until March 2024, a run that took in his own group's wins on the programme with 'Guerrilla' in 2022.

Ateez's first Japanese single 'Dreamers' was an ending theme for which anime?

Digimon Adventure, the 2020 reboot of the 1999 anime, brought in 'Dreamers' as its ending theme when the story entered what its makers called the final chapter, and the song played the series out.

Which EP gave Ateez their first Billboard 200 entry, debuting at number 42 in 2021?

Zero: Fever Part.3 put Ateez on seven Billboard charts in a single week and topped World Albums; its lead single, 'Deja Vu', had been voted in by fans over 'Eternal Sunshine'.

Which 2022 EP, led by 'Guerrilla', was Ateez's first million-seller?

Pre-orders passed 1.1 million and it sold over 930,000 in its first week. It reached number three on the Billboard 200, their first top 10 there.

'Halazia' was the lead single of which Ateez release from December 2022?

Spin Off: From the Witness was the group's first Korean single album, and 'Halazia' was its only wholly new song beside three remixes and an outro, yet it entered the Billboard 200 at No. 7.

Which album gave Ateez their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200?

The World EP.Fin: Will, the group's first full-length album in four years, sold 1.7 million copies in its first week; the members also split into units for it, recording three sub-group songs and one solo.

In April 2024 Ateez became the first K-pop boy group to perform at which festival?

Coachella had Ateez on both of its weekends, and they brought Korea with them: their staging of 'The Real' added the sound of traditional gongs, drums and the taepyeongso horn.

Ateez became the first K-pop group to headline which Moroccan festival in June 2024?

Mawazine, in Morocco's capital Rabat, draws more than 2.5 million people a year; Ateez, the first K-pop act invited, opened their hour-long headline set by marching on with flags.

'Work' was the lead single of which Ateez EP, released in May 2024?

Golden Hour: Part.1 was the group's first music of 2024: the video for 'Work' has the members hustling through odd jobs, from running a diner to mining for gold, and the EP entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2.

On which US TV programme did Ateez make their American television debut in June 2024?

Earlier that year they were named Record Store Day's first K-pop Artist of the Year and featured in the Grammy Museum's first K-pop exhibition.

Which Japanese boy group did Ateez collaborate with on 'Hush-Hush' and 'Royal' in 2024?

Be:First traded verses with Ateez member by member on 'Hush-Hush', which then went onto the Japanese group's own album; a second joint single, 'Royal', followed two months later.

Which Ateez EP debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in November 2024, led by 'Ice on My Teeth'?

Golden Hour: Part.2 topped the chart almost entirely on sales: fans bought 179,000 copies in a week while streams added only about 5,000 units. It made Ateez the third K-pop act, after BTS and Stray Kids, with more than one No. 1 there.

Which Ateez member made his runway debut for Isabel Marant at a fashion week in March 2025?

Seonghwa walked the label's womenswear show in a black suit and sparkling silver vest, then posted 'Walking my dream into reality'; weeks earlier he had fronted its campaign beside Kate Moss.

In which city did Ateez play the first K-pop headline concert at Europe's largest indoor arena, in 2025?

Paris: Ateez had first stepped onto the Paris La Défense Arena stage in 2023 as one of ten acts at a K-pop TV concert, and sixteen months later they returned to headline it alone.

Which song gave Ateez their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, at number 69 in June 2025?

Lemon Drop, the lead track of the group's 12th EP, gave Ateez a Hot 100 debut nearly seven years into a career in which albums, not singles, had carried them up the US charts.

What did all eight Ateez members do together in July 2025?

Renewed their contracts: all eight signed on with their original agency for seven more years, and the company said it was glad to carry on 'on the trust built over seven years'.

What is the title of Ateez's second Japanese full-length album, released in September 2025?

Ashes to Light arrived four and a half years after the group's first Japanese full-length; its title stands for a journey from ordeal to new hope, and its nine tracks gather their four earlier Japanese singles.

'Adrenaline' was the title track of which February 2026 EP, Ateez's sixth million-seller?

Golden Hour: Part.4 brought five music-show trophies for 'Adrenaline', including first-ever wins on Show! Music Core and Inkigayo, and the fifth arrived after the group had already ended its promotions.

Which June 2026 Ateez EP debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200?

Golden Hour: Part.5 owed the debut to fans buying the record: about 223,000 of its 228,000 first-week units were album sales, a career high, and it became the group's third chart-topper there.

Which London festival did Ateez headline in June 2026?

BST Hyde Park, whose headline slot has gone to Taylor Swift and Adele, heard the first festival performance of the group's new single 'Bad', and the set closed with 'The Real'.

Which American a cappella group featured Ateez on the 2021 single 'A Little Space'?

Pentatonix were reported to have asked for Ateez themselves after watching the group perform, and the song came out as the Grammy winners' single with the Koreans as guests.

Ateez were the first South Korean act to put three releases into which chart's top 10 within a single year?

The UK Official Albums Chart had never had Ateez in its top 10 before June 2023, yet within twelve months they had landed there three times, climbing as high as No. 2.

Which song led Ateez's second studio album, released in December 2023?

Crazy Form was chosen first: the group's leader said they settled on the lead track, picked to show off their performance, and then selected the rest of the album to go around it.

Which app streamed Ateez's free online concert 'Crescent Party' in May 2020, after their world tour was halted?

V Live carried the free show on May 30, 2020 as a consolation for fans: the pandemic had stopped the group's second world tour after only its two opening nights in Seoul.

Which honour did Ateez receive at the 2025 Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards?

The Prime Minister's Commendation was presented on October 23, 2025, while the group was in Kobe playing the last night of a Japanese tour, and a day before their seventh debut anniversary.

Which MLB team invited Ateez to throw the first pitch in April 2024?

Los Angeles Dodgers: four members went to Dodger Stadium for a game against the Mets, and Yunho, a baseball fan since childhood, threw the pitch and called it a day he would never forget.

What was the name of Ateez's first concert run, which visited five US cities in March 2019?

The Expedition Tour was announced when the group was barely three months old; its five US dates reportedly sold out, and shows across Europe were added for April.

What was the title of Ateez's first studio album, released in October 2019 with 'Wonderland'?

Treasure EP.Fin: All to Action gave the group its first No. 1 on Korea's weekly album chart within a year of debut, and after that breakthrough the culture ministry named them its 2020 ambassadors for Korean culture abroad.

In which 2021 KBS2 drama were Ateez's Yunho, Jongho, Seonghwa and San cast?

Imitation, adapted from a webtoon about the idol industry, had the four play idols in fictional bands: three in the rising boy group Sparkling and one in the chart-topping Shax.

Which MBC show did Ateez's Hongjoong and Yunho host as DJs from September 2022 to December 2023?

Idol Radio rebuilt its third season around the two hosts, taking on a concept and colours borrowed from Ateez's own storyline, and kept them on air for fifteen months.

In February 2024 Ateez were named the first K-pop Artist of the Year by which organisation?

Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independently owned record shops, marked the title with an exclusive vinyl pressing of the group's latest album carrying two unreleased tracks.

With which veteran singer did Ateez make the 2021 album Season Songs and single 'Be My Lover'?

Kim Jong-kook's tie with the group began when they won a TV contest episode devoted to his songs; he then turned up for a cameo in their Halloween video, and the joint summer album followed.

Ateez's Japanese single 'Limitless' served as the opening theme for which anime?

Duel Masters WIN, a TV Tokyo anime, opened with 'Limitless', a song about trusting your own potential whatever the odds; it later gave its name to the group's second Japanese single album.

On which platform were Ateez America's fifth most-discussed musicians of 2020, behind BTS and Drake?

Twitter's own survey put the group behind only BTS, Kanye West, Beyoncé and Drake, at a time when Ateez had still never entered the Billboard 200.

Two Ateez members joined Rain and Monsta X on 'Summer Taste', a campaign song for which drink brand?

Pepsi's Taste of Korea campaign released the collaboration in July 2021, with girl group Brave Girls completing the line-up.

Which string instrument drives Ateez's single 'Ice on My Teeth' over an R&B foundation?

Violin gives the track its hook; one member said the mix of that sound with a strong beat felt fresh and exciting the first time he heard it.

Since 2018 Ateez have made a tradition of special performance videos marking which holiday?

Halloween became an Ateez tradition in the group's debut year, and the 2021 edition reworked that autumn's lead single.

Which Italian fashion house named an Ateez vocalist its global ambassador in October 2025?

Dolce & Gabbana signed him after repeat appearances at Milan Fashion Week, and by August 2026 he was fronting a global campaign shot by Steven Meisel.

Ateez performed at which French jeweller's 'Crystallization of Time' exhibition in Seoul in 2024?

Cartier made the group a surprise booking: Ateez performed at the exhibition's opening event, which the brand's ambassador Jisoo of Blackpink attended.

Ateez played a Global Spin Live session and joined a first K-pop exhibition at which American venue?

The Grammy Museum had the group perform, give an interview and take audience questions in 2022, then gave Ateez and their label a two-month pop-up exhibition.

Which American rapper joined Ateez on 'Work Pt.4', the third official remix of their 2024 single?

G-Eazy's verse arrived ten weeks after the original, whose video casts the group in odd jobs from diner shifts to gold mining.

In which Latin American city did Ateez play their first stadium concert, at Allianz Parque in 2023?

São Paulo hosted the milestone five years into the group's career, on a leg that also reached Mexico City, Santiago and Bogotá.

Which Korean ministry made Ateez its 2020 ambassador and dubbed them 'Next Generation Leaders'?

Culture, Sports and Tourism officials chose the group in May 2020, when touring had stopped, so the role began with a relay challenge urging safer habits during the pandemic.

Two future Ateez members first met as teenage trainees at which agency before both changed labels?

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency behind BTS, is where the pair met while one of them was in his first year of high school.

Which Ateez lead single from June 2023 carries the subtitle 'K-Hot Chilli Peppers'?

Bouncy has choreography to match its subtitle: the members mime flaking, grinding and biting a pepper, gestures chosen to give the song fun, energetic colours.

Which song led Ateez's first comeback EP in January 2019, under three months after their debut?

Say My Name fronted Treasure EP.2: Zero to One, which reached number five on Billboard's World Albums chart and announced the group abroad.

Which song did Ateez fans vote ahead of 'Eternal Sunshine' to lead the group's seventh EP in 2021?

Deja Vu won the vote and went on to reach number four on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart, the group's best showing there at the time.

Which 2021 lead single was the first Ateez song to enter South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart?

Fireworks (I'm the One) peaked at only number 148 there, yet its EP went double platinum on sales of more than 500,000 copies.

At which event did Ateez play their first joint K-pop concert, in Chiba in May 2019?

KCON gave the seven-month-old group its first shared bill, and Ateez were back on the convention's American stages twice more that summer.

Which boy group, then trainees at Ateez's label, opened the North American shows of a 2022 tour?

Xikers were still months from their own debut when they warmed up those arenas, appearing at every stop except the one in Canada.

Ateez's agency began in 2013 as Seven Seasons, a label founded specifically for which boy group?

Block B were the reason Ateez exist: the group's future captain admired them so much that he sent their label a letter and a mixtape asking to be taken on.

Ateez became 2020 ambassadors for which charity campaign, one a member had promoted since their debut?

Polished Man funds trauma prevention and recovery for young survivors of violence, and fans had been raising money through its website before the official partnership began.

Which Ateez member became the label's second trainee, six months after the group's future leader?

Yunho ended six months in which the company had a single trainee; the other six members arrived over the following year.

Which piano ballad on Ateez's fourth EP, sung partly in falsetto, is dedicated to the group's fans?

Star 1117 is an R&B song built for joining in: its writers gave it a chorus that is deliberately easy to sing along to.

Ateez won Worldwide Fans' Choice in Nagoya in December 2019 at which annual K-pop ceremony?

Mnet Asian Music Awards night fell on the very day the group's first Japanese album came out, and Ateez won the same fan-voted prize again in 2020.

Which Japanese music festival, staged in both Osaka and Chiba, did Ateez play in August 2024?

Summer Sonic put Ateez on two festival stages in two days, and a Tokyo fan meeting followed three days later.

Which New York stadium hosted one of Ateez's first North American stadium concerts in 2024?

Citi Field joined BMO Stadium and Globe Life Field on the run, the first time the group had booked stadiums on the continent.

In which Saudi city did Ateez become the first fourth-generation K-pop group to hold a solo concert?

Jeddah already knew the group: Ateez had played the city's K-pop festival a year earlier, before returning alone in July 2023.

Which Ateez world tour reached cinemas in May 2025 as a concert film shot at Seoul's Jamsil Arena?

Towards the Light: Will to Power was filmed at its opening Seoul shows in January 2024 and screened in ScreenX and 4DX as well as regular 2D.

Which Ateez song was re-recorded to lead the group's 2022 Japanese EP Beyond: Zero?

Rocky took Beyond: Zero to number two on Japan's Oricon weekly album chart, the group's best result there until a chart-topper six months later.

Three Ateez members played bandmates in which fictional boy group in a 2021 KBS2 idol drama?

Sparkling were written as rising rivals to the drama's top band, which had a fourth Ateez member in it, and the trio sang on an actual soundtrack single, 'Diamond'.

Ateez's 2020 cover of 'The Black Cat Nero' reworked a song by which Korean dance act of the 1990s?

Turbo's own vocalist appeared in the special video Ateez made for the song after their version won a television covers contest.

Ateez's 'Answer: Ode to Joy' borrows its subtitle from the choral finale of whose Ninth Symphony?

Beethoven finished the symphony in 1824; Ateez first staged their reworking of it on a 2021 television contest before putting it on record.

Fans at a 2022 Ateez TV recording were sent a teaser file, 'Propaganda', via which Apple feature?

AirDrop and Bluetooth carried the audio to the studio audience two months after QR-code posters had appeared in Seoul and outside the group's Madrid concert.

Which Ateez member learned taekwondo from his father and says it keeps him flexible for dancing?

San was even recommended to the group's label by one of his father's taekwondo students, a trot singer.

Ateez's 'Wonderland' was certified Gold by Pro-Música, the recording industry body of which country?

Brazil's certification body made the award for sales of over 20,000 units, and has handed the group a second Gold disc for a 2023 lead single.

Which American ceremony named Ateez its K-pop Artist of the Year in March 2025?

iHeartRadio Music Awards recognition came five weeks before the group was also nominated for Favorite K-Pop Artist at the American Music Awards.

Which lead single arrived with a video a week before Ateez's first repackaged EP in December 2021?

Turbulence opened Zero: Fever Epilogue, which became the group's second Billboard 200 entry, at number 73, and went platinum in South Korea.

Which song did Ateez release for the live final of a 2021 Mnet contest between six boy groups?

The Real was performed that night by seven members, as one was on hiatus, and it returned in December rearranged as a 'Heung version'.

On which weekly TV chart show did Ateez earn their first triple crown, with a late-2023 lead single?

Music Bank is also where the group had collected a 13th music-show trophy in January 2023, for the single 'Halazia'.

Which producer, credited on Ateez songs since their early EPs, made the group's first studio album?

Eden has shaped much of the group's sound, and his team, Eden-ary, even released its own official remix of the 2024 single 'Work'.

Which veteran SM act was named host of the 2021 Mnet contest where Ateez finished third?

TVXQ were announced as hosts in January 2021, though only Max Changmin ended up presenting the six-group battle.

At which ceremony, then in its 30th edition, did Ateez receive a first Bonsang in January 2021?

Seoul Music Awards judges gave the group a second main prize a year later, two weeks after Ateez had played their first in-person concerts in two years.

Ateez's third win on a KBS covers show in May 2021 tied which girl group's record for an idol act?

Mamamoo shared the record for two years, until a fourth Ateez victory in June 2023 gave the boy group the outright lead.

Which American label has issued Ateez albums alongside Legacy Recordings and the group's agency?

RCA Records belongs to Sony, the same music giant that took a one-third stake in Ateez's agency in 2017, a year before the group debuted.

The first video of all eight future Ateez members had them dance to 'Pick It Up' by which rapper?

Famous Dex soundtracked the trainees' YouTube performance video five months before the group debuted, and weeks before the name Ateez was revealed.

Ateez released the soundtrack song 'Let's Get Together' in September 2022 for which web drama?

Mimicus received the track one day after two Ateez members were announced as the new DJs of an MBC radio programme.

Which vocal quartet, winners of Phantom Singer 3, features on Ateez's track 'Answer: Ode to Joy'?

La Poem are four classically trained singers, one of them a countertenor, whose name blends 'la bohème' with 'poem'.

Which American fashion brand marked its 50th anniversary in 2025 with an Ateez capsule collection?

Avirex, founded in New York in 1975 and known for its leather bomber jackets, announced the collaboration that September.

Which song lost the fan vote to lead Ateez's third EP but still got a music video on release day?

Illusion had been previewed two weeks earlier in a performance video alongside its rival, and both songs got full music videos on 10 June 2019.

Ateez recorded 'Like That' for the 2022 animated adaptation of which South Korean webtoon?

Lookism got its Ateez song on 7 December 2022, three weeks before the group closed the year with their first Korean single album.

Ateez filmed a January 2021 commercial for a webOS television made by which South Korean company?

LG signed the group for its television software three days before Ateez collected a first main prize at a major Korean ceremony.

Which Dutch DJ produced 'Work Pt.2', the first official remix of Ateez's 2024 single?

Don Diablo delivered his version five days after the original, and two more official remixes followed that summer.