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The rookie boy group of Boys Planet, ZEROBASEONE, has often been in the news thanks to their impressive popularity. Whether during or after the survival show, the nine-member team has amassed many loyal fans that have helped them break multiple records even before their debut.
The final lineup of ZEROBASEONE (aka ZB1) was announced on the live broadcast of Boys Planet on April 20, 2023. It included Zhang Hao, Sung Han-bin, Seok Matthew, Ricky, Park Gun-wook, Kim Tae-rae, Kim Gyu-vin, Kim Ji-woong, and Han Yu-jin.
Although Boys Planet was the successor of Girls Planet 999 (the show that created Kep1er) and came in much later, conversations about the former’s boy group creation receiving more attention from worldwide fans continued throughout the show. Boys Planet’s popularity also saw an increase because of some of its popular members, such as actor Kim Ji-woong (who acted in a BL series), Chinese music prodigy Zhang Hao, and Ciipher’s Keita, among others.
5 records that Boys Planet’s group ZEROBASEONE broke ahead of their debut with the YOUTH IN THE SHADE album
Ahead of their debut on July 10, 2023, many people had their eyes set on ZEROBASEONE stepping into the music industry. Despite being just a project group (i.e., promoting for no more than two and a half years and disbanding later), the nine-member group has amassed impressive popularity with many global fans excited for their future.
The Boys Planet group's popularity rests on various factors, such as trainees going viral for particular meme-worthy dialogs, getting MCountdown and Studio CHOOM performance stages as a prize, and many other things. These gave the group a stead-fast growing loyal fandom that have now created and broken multiple records to make them one-of-a-kind rookie boy groups.
1) Becomes the first-ever K-pop artist to clock in over one million debut album pre-orders
On July 4, ZEROBASEONE was officially announced to have surpassed 1.08 million stock pre-orders for their debut album, YOUTH IN THE SHADE. The group achieved this feat in 13 days since their pre-orders were open and approximately five days before their debut.
The nine-member group became the first K-pop group to cross one million pre-orders with a debut album in their debut era. They even broke a 26-year-old record by becoming the first boy group to record one million pre-orders for their debut album after SECHSKIES in 1997. Many fans had already predicted this achievement since the group had previously recorded 780,000 pre-orders in just five days.
2) The first-ever K-pop group to become a million seller with their debut album in just one day
The virality of ZEROBASEONE through their ever-increasing pre-order period made many believe that the group would cross a million sales with their debut album - and they turned out to be right. On July 10, the sales for the rookie group’s YOUTH IN THE SHADE album recorded one million orders in just nine hours on the Hanteo charts.
This massive achievement made them the fastest million-seller in K-pop history and the first-ever idol group to surpass one million sales for their debut album on the first day. By the end of their debut day, ZEROBASEONE recorded 1.2 million sales.
3) Highest first-day sales of any K-pop idol group in China
Thanks to the Chinese trainee Zhang Hao, who not only ranked number one on Boys Planet but even secured the center position of the group and a solo song in the debut album, ZEROBASEONE earned the historical record of having the highest first-day sales of any K-pop idol group in China.
The 23-year-old Zhang Hao ranking at the top in the finale was already record-breaking in its own way. He was the first foreign trainee to become a K-pop group’s center member and even ranked number one on a Korean survival show. To prove their loyalty and support, Zhang Hao’s C-bar (Chinese bar) crossed 100,000 sales in just 24 hours of the album’s pre-order opening period. As per a few fans on Twitter, Zhang Hao’s C-bar had crossed 300,000 sales by July 10.
4) Highest pre-ordered debut album of any K-pop group on Ktown4u
Ktown4u, one of the most popular album distributors known to international fans, recorded an impressive number of sales for ZEROBASEONE’s YOUTH IN THE SHADE as well. The mini-album became the highest pre-ordered debut album by any K-pop idol group on the platform by surpassing 184,000 pre-orders. The previous record holder was NCT’s subunit, DOJAEJUNG’s Perfume, which had recorded 184,000 pre-orders.
5) Fastest K-pop group to achieve one million followers on Instagram
On April 26, fans on Twitter celebrated how the then-yet-to-debut ZEROBASEONE had become the fastest K-pop group to achieve one million followers on Instagram. At one point, they even surpassed YG Entertainment’s BABYMONSTER in terms of followers.
The Boys Planet group achieved one million followers in less than a week, i.e., in just six days. The first post uploaded on the Instagram account was on April 20, and by April 26, fans discovered their global star power.
ZEROBASEONE made their much-awaited debut on July 10, 2023, with mini-album YOUTH IN THE SHADE and its title track, In Bloom. It remains to be seen what more records the project boy group breaks in the coming years.
