Zerobaseone

Zerobaseone (stylized in all caps; abbreviated as ZB1) is a South Korean boy band formed through Mnet's reality competition program Boys Planet and managed by WakeOne. The group consists of nine members: Kim Ji-woong, Zhang Hao, Sung Han-bin, Seok Matthew, Kim Tae-rae, Ricky, Kim Gyu-vin, Park Gun-wook, and Han Yu-jin.

Zerobaseone debuted on July 10, 2023, with the extended play (EP) Youth in the Shade and was commercially successful upon release, selling over two million units, peaked number one on South Korean Circle Album Chart, and was among the best-selling albums worldwide, according to International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). In addition, the EP's lead single, "In Bloom", charted on Billboard Global 200. The group earned a "Rookie Grand Slam" (2023–2024) by sweeping the 10 Rookie of the Year awards from different domestic award ceremonies, including Golden Disc Awards, MAMA Awards, Melon Music Awards and Seoul Music Awards.

Name
Zerobaseone represents the "journey of the nine trainees to be completed as one after their debut". It refers to the "glorious beginning" of the nine members, starting from zero (0) and ending with one (1), and implies the members' commitment to share with their fans the unfinished journey of their group from zero to one. Zerobaseone is abbreviated as ZB1.

Formation through Boys Planet and other activities
Zerobaseone was formed through Mnet's reality competition series Boys Planet, which aired from February 2 to April 20, 2023. The show brought 98 contestants from around the world, primarily in South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States, and Canada, to compete and to debut in a multinational boy group. Out of a pool of 98 contestants, only the top nine would make the final lineup. All members were announced in the finale episode, which was broadcast live on April 20, 2023. The group will be active for two years and six months.

Before appearing on the program, several members had already been active in the entertainment industry. Kim Ji-woong was a member of the boy group INX and an active actor who had appeared on multiple BL web series, such as Kissable Lips and Roommates of Poongduck 304. In 2020, Kim Tae-rae competed in the competitive singing show, Top 10 Student. In 2021, Park Gun-wook competed in the survival reality show, Wild Idol. However, he did not make it into the final lineup of the boy group, TAN.

2023: Debut with Youth in the Shade, and Melting Point
In April 2023, WakeOne announced that Zerobaseone started to prepare with the goal of debuting in the middle of the year.



On May 14, Zerobaseone released a spoiler film, Youth in Shade, after completing their first group schedule at KCON Japan 2023. The released video features two members, Zhang Hao and Sung Han-bin, who at the end of the video face each other with a small candle in the middle, after which the words 'Youth', 'In The', and 'Shade' appear intersecting. On May 26, WakeOne confirmed that Zerobaseone would debut in July 2023.



On June 22, the first episode of the group's pre-debut reality show Camp Zerobaseone was aired on Mnet. The reality show consists of 3 episodes aiming for a journey that will help the members bond and get to know one another even better. On June 26, the album was reported to have amassed over 780,000 pre-orders within five days, surpassing 1.08 million copies by July 4, setting the record for the highest number of pre-orders for a K-pop debut album. The group officially debuted on July 10, with their first EP Youth in the Shade along with its lead single "In Bloom" and music video. On the same day, they held a press showcase in the afternoon at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul and also broadcast live their fan showcase titled "Zerobaseone Debut Show: In Bloom" on Mnet at 20:00 (KST), it also live streaming via Mnet K-Pop YouTube channel, Abema, and Mnet Japan. The group earned their first music show win on SBS M's The Show eight days after their debut. In conjunction with their debut promotion, the group held their first fan concert at Gocheok Sky Dome on August 15 to an audience of 18,000. Youth in the Shade subsequently sold more than 2 million copies, setting a sales record for a K-pop debut album.

On August 20, it was announced that Zerobaseone would be releasing their second EP in November. On October 6, it was announced that the group's second EP Melting Point would be released on November 6. On October 26, the album amassed over 1.7 million pre-orders and reportedly sold over 2 million copies in its first week of release, making them the first K-pop group to do so in debut year.

On November 29, WakeOne confirmed that Zerobaseone will be making their Japanese debut and hold a fan-meeting in Japan under Lapone Entertainment in March 2024. Later, it was announced that the Japanese debut date would be on March 20, 2024.

2024–present: Japanese debut, You Had Me at Hello and first tour
On March 7, Zerobaseone released their debut Japanese single "Yura Yura (Unmei no Hana)" (ゆらゆら -運命の花-) along with its music video. The single was a commercial success, setting a new first day sales record for a debut single by a K-pop artist in Japan with over 187,000 copies sold. It ranked number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart with over 302,000 copies sold, making Zerobaseone the first foreign artist to sell more than 300,000 copies in the first week with their Japanese debut single.

On March 31, Zerobaseone revealed a spoiler film "Summer Came Early" at the end of their special stage performance at the 2024 KCON in Hong Kong and announced that they will be releasing a new Korean album in May 2024. It was later reported that the respective album is slated to be the group's third EP titled You Had Me at Hello along with the lead single "Feel the Pop" to be released on May 13 and preceded with a pre-release song titled "Sweat" on April 24.

On April 29, Zerobaseone announced the schedule for their first tour starting from Seoul in September 20, 2024 to Kanagawa in December 5, 2024.

On July 5, it was announced that Zerobaseone will release new music at the end of August.

Endorsements
In July 2023, Zerobaseone was announced as the first brand models for Bring Green, a South Korean skincare brand. In the same year, the group was also selected as the brand muse for several clothing brands, such as Romantic Crown for its 2023 Fall/Winter Collection in September, Skoolooks for the launch promotion of its school winter uniform collection in November, and SPAO for a collaboration collection inspired from the group's song "Good Night" in December. In April 2024, coincidentally with their first formation anniversary, Zerobaseone collaborated with Line Friends to release nine new characters as the group's alter ego. Dubbed as "zeroni (제로니)", each character is named after each member's nickname.

Members

 * Kim Ji-woong (김지웅)
 * Zhang Hao (章昊; 장하오)
 * Sung Han-bin (성한빈) – leader
 * Seok Matthew (석매튜)
 * Kim Tae-rae (김태래)
 * Ricky (沈泉锐; 리키)
 * Kim Gyu-vin (김규빈)
 * Park Gun-wook (박건욱)
 * Han Yu-jin (한유진)

Awards and nominations
Zerobaseone achieved a "Rookie Grand Slam" (2023–2024) by sweeping 10 Rookie of the Year Awards from different domestic award ceremonies.