TFBoys


TFBoys, also known as The Fighting Boys, is a Chinese boy group launched by Time Fengjun Entertainment, consisting of three members, Karry Wang, Roy Wang, and Jackson Yee. The group debuted on August 6, 2013, with their album Heart Dream·Start. In 2017, they each established individual studios and have largely pursued solo careers since. On August 6, 2023, they held their ten-year anniversary concert in Xi'an.
TFBoys are one of China’s most successful idol groups. They are regarded as the first generation of TF Family, the collective name for all male trainees and boy groups under Time Fengjun, and helped popularize the idol trainee system of teenage idols in China.

Career

2013–2014: Formation and debut

TFBoys first appeared on August 6, 2013, with a promotional video sent out by Time Fengjun Entertainment called "Ten Years". October 4, they held a showcase of their debut EP at the Sun Moonlight Center in Yuzhong District, Chongqing. They debuted on October 18, 2013, with the release of a single album "Start to Heart", including the title track "Heart".
The group subsequently released a series of hits in 2014, including "Magic Castle", "For Dreams, Always Be Ready" and "Manual of Youth". Their album "Manual of Youth" went on chart at number 1 on YinYueTai V Charts for 5 consecutive weeks and has won multiple music awards.
On August 3, 2014, TFBoys held a fan appreciation meeting for their first anniversary at the Beijing Hualian Changying Shopping Center. After the event, Li Xiaolin, chairperson of International Cooperation Department of China Population Welfare Foundation, and her party issued a letter for TFBoys that stated them as ambassadors for the charity "Happy Smiles". TFBoys have been giving donations to children that suffer from cleft lip and palate through their large social media platform. The number of topic interactions on this issue has exceeded 800 million. At the time of their first anniversary, it has raised more than 370,000 yuan. A total of nearly 40,000 netizens participated in the donation. The donation helped more than 100 children with cleft lip.

2015–2016: Mainstream popularity, international success and contributions

On January 14, 2015, TFBoys attended the "2014 Weibo Night" ceremony and won the top charity contribution award for their previous year of charities.
On September 16, they sang a promotional single "Love With You" for the "2015 MusicRadio我要上学 " charity project. The project was aimed at left behind children in poverty stricken areas who dream of attending school.
On September 23, they participated in the 2015 Bazzar Star Charity Night and helped raise 4.17 million yuan in funds for the "为爱加速 " charity in the Siyuan Basha poverty-stricken county. In November, TFBoys became a public interest spokesperson for the Chongqing Public Security Fire Department. Later on in the year, they attended the "QQ Red Scarf Project" public welfare conference jointly sponsored by Tencent QQ, QQ Space, China Poverty Alleviation Fund and Tencent Public Welfare to customize winter warm clothes for young people in remote and poverty-stricken areas.
TFBoys held their 2nd anniversary fan meeting to a sold-out show at the Master Card Center in Beijing on August 15 entitled "出道兩週年紀念 《TFBoys Fan's Time》". The event was two and a half hours and they sung their best hits including "Manual of Youth" and "Heart". In September, Jackson Yee appeared on his first solo live broadcast for the video app "美拍 ". The number of people that watched live totaled 8.128 million, more than 863 million likes, and had more than 8.529 million comments. He broke the previous record set by his group back in June.
In December, the group released their first EP The Big Dreamer. On the album includes the song "Adore", the lyrics convey the thoughts and feelings of the boys entering puberty. Lyrics like "I want to share happy things with you", "This is my first time to be nervous around someone" and "Is this love? I still don't understand yet" express the inner emotions of young people. "Adore" was Song of the Year at the ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards. The award shows honors the top 10 biggest hits in mainland China. The EP peaked at number 1 on the Billboard China V chart for 6 weeks.
In 2016, they won Top Group at The 4th V Chart Awards. The group also starred in their own web drama Finding Soul.

2017–present: Individual activities and "Our Time"

In 2017, the group starred in their own drama Boy Hood, an inspirational youth drama which focuses on baseball. The main OST for Boyhood "Go! Amigo" hit number 1 Billboard China V Chart for 4 weeks in a row. They also won Top Group of the Year at the 5th V Chart Awards for a second consecutive time.
On August 11 and 13, TFBoys held their 4th anniversary concert titled 'Alive Four' in Nanjing. On the 13th, they posted on Weibo that they would be donating 100 million yuan to the victims and rescue efforts of the 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake. The earthquake was a 7.0 magnitude and killed more than 25 people. That same year, the group announced that the members will set up their own personal studios to focus on their own individual activities.
Roy Wang's endorsements have a more international appeal. His includes Paris L'Oreal brand ambassador, H&M China new generation image spokesperson, Oreo brand ambassador, HP Star series spokesperson, Chopard brand ambassador, FILA brand spokesperson, Xiaomi smartphone endorser, and Line Friends global chief creative officer. In March and April 2018, Wang Yuan fans' purchases exceeded 13.93 million yuan alone. In October last year, the "TFBoys Business Value Insight", produced by the First Financial and Economic Data Center, wrote: "The price level of the consumer group of Roy Wang influence radiation is the highest among the TFBoys..."
In 2018, TFBoys released a book titled "2023: Non-Fiction Growth Story" for their 5th anniversary to showcase the struggles and successes as a group. On August 2, TFBoys attended the unveiling of their wax figures at Madame Tussauds Shanghai.
On August 5, 2023, the group released new single titled "See You Tomorrow". On August 5, the group held their 10th Anniversary concert titled "Ten-year engagement " in Xi'an, China, driving Xi 'an tourism GDP up to 460 million.

Artistry

The group's musical style is mainly dance-style music with rap elements, often classified as "bubblegum pop". Their songs have been noted for having uplifting and positive lyrics, which explores the trials of growing up and teenage love, such as "Manual of Youth" and "Imperfect Kid".

Impact

TFBoys is considered to be one of the most popular Chinese boy bands and is seen as a Chinese pop-culture sensation. Since their debut in 2013, they have won many major music awards and earned more than 200 million Weibo followers combined. Their sales of band merchandise average more than $17 million per month. Their success was attributed to their fresh school-boy looks, which filled the void of young male idol groups in China; as well as their "wholesome and boy-next-door" image.
Due to their image, the group has won a large number of "mother fans", women in their mid–20s to 60s who have developed maternal instincts for the boys.

Politics

The government supports the boy band group, which has been featured for four consecutive years on the CCTV New Year's Gala. The Communist Youth League’s official Weibo account often promotes the group’s activities. On International Children’s Day in 2015, the Communist Youth League released a video featuring TFBoys singing "We Are the Heirs of Communism", the song of the Young Pioneers. They have been selected as a brand ambassador of China's 2020 Chinese Mars Mission. The band is part of the government's efforts to promote its policies among China's youth. Critic Zhu Dake sees the boy band as serving to provide modernized propaganda.

Members

Extended plays
  • ''Big Dreamer''

    Filmography

Feature films

Television dramas

Web dramas

Reality shows

Awards

V Chart Awards
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2014Favorite Artist TFBoysWon
2014Live Popular SingerTFBoysWon
2015Live Popular SingerTFBoysWon
2015Favorite Artist TFBoysWon
2015Hot Trend Artist of the YearTFBoysWon
2016Top Group TFBoysWon
2017Top Group TFBoysWon

ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2015Top 10 Songs of the Year"Manual of Youth"Won
2015Best GroupTFBoysWon
2015Hot Trend Group of the YearTFBoysWon
2018Top 10 Songs of the Year"Firefly"Won
2018National Choice GroupTFBoysWon

Top Chinese Music Awards
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2015Most Popular Song"Manual of Youth"Won
2015Most Popular GroupTFBoysWon
2015Most Popular Group TFBoysWon

QQ Music Awards
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2015Most Popular Mandarin GroupTFBoysWon
2015Best New GroupTFBoysWon
2015Social Networking Kings"Pamper"Won
2016Most Popular Mandarin GroupTFBoysWon

CSC Music Awards
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2016Most Popular GroupTFBoysWon
2016Top 20 Songs"Big Dreamer"Won

Freshasia Music Award
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2016Best GroupTFBoysWon
2016Recommended Music Video of the Year"The Rest of Our Summer"Won
2017Best GroupTFBoysWon

iQiyi All-Star Carnival
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2014Song of the Year"Manual of Youth"Won
2014Most Popular GroupTFBoysWon

Weibo Night Awards
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2015Charity Contribution AwardTFBoysWon
2017Weibo KingTFBoysWon
2018Weibo Positive Influence IdolTFBoysWon
2018Outstanding Public Figure of the YearTFBoysWon
2019Weibo Most Influential GroupTFBoysWon

Mobile Video Festival
YearCategoryNomineeResultsRef.
2016Hot Trend Idol of the YearTFBoysWon