&Team
&Team is a Japanese boy band based in Japan and South Korea that was formed by YX Labels. The group is composed of nine members: K, Fuma, Nicholas, EJ, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki, and Maki. They were formed through the reality/survival program &Audition – The Howling as their label's first group. &Team released their debut single "Under the Skin" on November 21, 2022, and officially debuted with their first extended play First Howling: Me on December 7, 2022.
Name
The group's name, &Team, refers to "9 diverse members forming a team and connecting diverse worlds".History
2020–2022: Pre-debut activities and formation
K, Nicholas, EJ, and Taki competed on the South Korean survival show I-Land in 2020 which produced the boy group Enhypen. On January 1, 2021, Big Hit Japan announced the launch of the "Big Hit Japan Global Debut Project" to search for artists to debut as a group in Japan and become active worldwide. On March 19, Big Hit Entertainment re-branded and re-structured into Hybe Corporation. On April 26, K and EJ made cameo appearances in the music video for Enhypen's "Drunk-Dazed".On November 4, it was announced that K, Nicholas, EJ and Taki would participate as confirmed members of the planned group and would be joined by additional trainees to be selected through a new audition program. &Audition – The Howling – began airing on July 9, 2022, and the nine final members were unveiled on September 3 via live broadcast from Tokyo. On September 26, their fandom name was then announced to be LUNÉ.
2022–2023: Debut, first fan meeting, and first releases
Hybe Labels Japan announced that &Team would release their debut extended play, First Howling: Me on December 7, 2022. The group's self-variety show, 2=&TEAM学園, began airing on November 12; various guests were invited while viewers were able to see their debut preparations in South Korea and Japan. On November 21, 2022, &Team released their first music video and digital single, titled "Under the Skin".On December 5, 2022, a webtoon featuring the group's members, Dark Moon: The Grey City, was published. Two days later, they released First Howling: Me alongside the music video for "Scent of You"; in the first week of its release, the EP sold 151,000 copies.
On March 2, 2023, it was announced the group would hold their first Japanese fan meeting tour 2023 &Team Fantour Luné Mare: Tsuki-Nami, from May 27 to June 16. On March 2, it was announced that members EJ, K, Nicholas, and Taki would release "W.O.L.F. " on March 16 as the soundtrack for their webtoon Dark Moon: The Grey City.
On May 7, &Team released "Blind Love" as the theme song of the NTV drama Dr. Chocolate.
On May 14, the track list for their new mini album was released, revealing their title track "Firework". &Team released their second extended play First Howling: We on June 14, 2023.
On September 3, &Team held their first anniversary event &Team 1st Anniversary in Japan, as well as in Seoul on September 9.
On November 15, the group released their first studio album First Howling: Now. Following the release of the album on November 15, the album placed first on the Billboard Japan Hot albums and second on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan.
On December 19, &Team announced that they would embark on a concert tour in 2024, titled First Paw Print. The tour will occur from January 21 to March 3 and will take place in seven Japanese cities and one South Korean city.
2024: "Samidare", "Aoarashi", "Jyuugoya" and ''Yukiakari''
On March 12, 2024, &Team announced that they would release their first single on May 8. On April 6, the title of their first single album was revealed to be "Samidare".On June 10, the single album Samidare was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for the first time, with cumulative sales of over 500,000 copies. On June 14, &Team announced that they would release their second single "Aoarashi" on August 7.
On July 10, the music-themed Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California announced that a special K-pop exhibit will take place in August 2024, displaying the accessories and performance gear worn by artists under Hybe.
On August 14, it ranked first on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 singles chart for the first time. On August 20, Aoarashi entered the World Music Awards "United World chart" for the first time, ranking 30th with a score of 96,000. On August 31, it was announced that &Team would be responsible performing the opening theme song "Beat the Odds" for the anime "Trillion Game".
On September 28, it was announced that &Team would be releasing a pre-release single "Jyuugoya" on October 23 before coming back with their second full-length album 2=雪明かり, on December 18.
On December 3, &Team announced that they will be performing both the opening theme "Magic Hour" and the ending theme "Wonderful World" for the Japanese animated television series based on the manga by Murata Mayu, Honey Lemon Soda, serialized in the manga magazine "Ribon".
On December 6, it was announced that they would be cooperating with TV Tokyo to produce their first podcast show called "&TEAM's "ごエンがあって、しゃべらせてもらってます.", which will start on January 7, 2025 and will be broadcast on YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms every Tuesday of the week.
2025: Film acting, first Asia tour, and Korean debut
On January 8, it was announced that &Team would be making their first appearance in a Japanese film. The live-action film "Ya Boy Kongming! THE MOVIE" adapted from the Japanese manga Ya Boy Kongming! would be released on April 25 of the same year. &Team played a key role in the story. In the film, they represented the music label Key Time on the stage of the Music Battle Festival and competed with the other two major music labels for the championship. In addition to the stage performances, members EJ, Nicholas, and Harua will challenge their acting skills. They will also appear in the "Ya Boy Kongming! THE MOVIE" Kick-off Party event on February 22 of the same year.On February 12, &Team announced that they would be releasing their third single "Go in Blind" on April 23. On March 7, &Team announced schedule for their first Asia tour, titled Awaken the Bloodline, which begins in May. Following the Four Seasons series, the album's sales once again broke its own record, and on May 13, it was certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for the first time in April for sales of more than 750,000 copies, with total sales exceeding 800,000 copies. At the same time, their debut album "First Howling: ME" was also certified platinum in April.
On August 8, 2025, &Team received their first Million certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan for their third single, "Go in Blind," as shipments surpassed one million copies as of July. This "Million" certification is a significant milestone, recognizing the cumulative sales of over 1,000,000 physical units of their single.
On September 3, during the last show of their third anniversary event, &Team announced that they would make their Korean debut on October 28 with their mini-album Back to Life. They also announced a six-episode documentary program titled &Team 100日密着: Howling Out to the World, which was broadcast on Hulu Japan, Nippon Television, and YouTube weekly starting October 2.
On October 28, &Team made their official Korean debut with the mini-album Back to Life. The album achieved immediate commercial success, selling 1,139,988 copies on its release day, making them a double million-seller following their previous Japanese single. This feat set a record by topping the Oricon Daily Album ranking, making it the first Korean album by a Japanese artist to do so. They achieved a television triple crown with their song, “Back to Life”, on SBS M’s The Show, MBC M’s Show Champion, and KBS2’s Music Bank on November 4th, 5th, and 7th, 2025, respectively.
Members
- K
- Fuma – sub-leader
- Nicholas
- EJ – leader
- Yuma
- Jo
- Harua
- Taki
- Maki
Filmography
Special programs
Best Artist 2022 FNS Kayousai 2nd Night CDTV Live! Live! Christmas 4 Hours SP CDTV Live! Live! New Year's Eve Special 2022 → 2023 The Music Day FNS Musical Festival Ongakunohi Music Expo 2023 Best Artist SBS Gayo Daejeon KBS Song Festival MBC Gayo Daejejeon Tokyo Music Festival The Music Day Ongakunohi Idol Star Athletics Championships – Chuseok Special Tokyo Music Festival Best Artist CDTV Live! Live! Christmas SP CDTV Live! Live! New Year's Eve SP- ''76th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen on New Years Eve''
Videography
Web novels
- ''Dark Moon: The Grey City''
Webtoons
- ''Dark Moon: The Grey City''
Photobooks
- ''&TEAM Memories: Our First Link''
Annual packages
&TEAM 2024 Season's Greeting 'My Best Friends'- ''&TEAM 2025 Season's Greeting 'Puzzle of Me'''
Live performances
Concert and tours
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance |
| January 21 | Kyoto | Japan | Rohm Theatre Kyoto | 70,000 |
| January 27 | Fukuoka | Japan | Fukuoka Sunpalace | 70,000 |
| January 31 | Saitama | Japan | Omiya Sonic City | 70,000 |
| February 2 | Miyagi | Japan | Tokyo Electron Hall Miyagi | 70,000 |
| February 7–8 | Kanagawa | Japan | Pacifico Yokohama | 70,000 |
| February 17–18 | Seoul | South Korea | KBS Arena | 70,000 |
| February 28 | Aichi | Japan | Nagoya Congress Center (Century Hall) | 70,000 |
| March 2–3 | Osaka | Japan | Orix Theater | 70,000 |
| March 6–7 | Kanagawa | Japan | Pacifico Yokohama | 70,000 |
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance |
| July 20–21 | Tokyo | Japan | Ariake Arena | 80,000 |
| July 25–26 | Hyogo | Japan | World Memorial Hall (Kobe World Hall) | 80,000 |
| August 17–18 | Fukuoka | Japan | Marine Messe Fukuoka | 80,000 |
| August 30–31 | Seoul | South Korea | Korea University (Hwajung Tiger Dome) | 80,000 |
| September 28–29 | Aichi | Japan | Portmesse Nagoya (Exhibition Hall 1) | 80,000 |