Seventeen (Korean: 세븐틴; stylized in all caps or abbreviated as SVT) is a South Korean boy band. Formed by Pledis Entertainment, the group consists of thirteen members: S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino. Seventeen is considered a "self-producing" idol group, with the members involved in songwriting, music production, and choreographing, among other aspects of their music and performances.
The group debuted on May 26, 2015, with the extended play (EP) 17 Carat, which became the longest-charting K-pop album of the year in the US and the only rookie album to appear on Billboard's "10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015" list. They have since released five studio albums that have all peaked atop South Korea's Circle Album Chart, alongside several EPs in both Korean and Japanese. The group's 2023 EPs FML and Seventeenth Heaven both set records for the best-sold albums in history, with FML becoming the best selling album of 2023 according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Both records earned the group the MAMA Award for Album of the Year in the 2023 and 2024 ceremonies, respectively. Signature songs of the group include "Very Nice", "Super", and "Fallin' Flower".
They primarily perform as one group but are also divided into three units—hip-hop, vocal, and performance—each with a different area of specialization, and have also produced six sub-units: BSS, JxW, HxW, CxM, DxS, and V8. Throughout their career, they have collectively received renown for their concert tours and other live performances, to the extent of being labeled "Performance Kings", "K-pop Performance Powerhouse" and "Kings of Synchronization" by domestic and international media outlets.
Name
The name Seventeen is derived from the expression "13 members + 3 teams + 1 group", representing how the 13 members are divided into three different teams and come together to form one cohesive group. The name refers to original plans to debut 17 total members. It is often abbreviated to "SVT" by the group in marketing and events and by local and international media.
The official name of Seventeen's fan club is "Carat" (Korean: 캐럿), as announced at a concert on February 14, 2016. Named after the measurement unit for diamonds, it is a reference to their debut EP 17 Carat and its opening song "Shining Diamond". Seventeen has a global fan club hosted via Weverse and a Japan-specific fan club.
Background and formation
Since the group’s debut in 2015, the name Seventeen has represented “13 members + 3 teams + 1 group”, referring to the 13 members being divided into the hip-hop, vocal and performance teams while forming one group. This structure emerged from the group’s pre-debut formation process.
In April 2012, Pledis Entertainment announced that it was preparing a boy group under the tentative name Seventeen. The group was envisioned as having 17 members with an average age of 17, and Pledis was considering dividing it into three units for activities in South Korea, China and Japan. The group did not debut as planned in 2012; by December 2012, Pledis was describing Seventeen as a group scheduled to debut in 2013. The company began releasing promotional videos for Seventeen TV and planned to broadcast the trainees' training process and daily lives through Ustream and later upload parts on YouTube. Pledis stated through the group's official fan café that the trainees appearing in the program were not confirmed as final members and that the eventual lineup would be determined through further training and evaluation.
By August 2014, Pledis was still preparing Seventeen for a debut that year. The fifth and final season of Seventeen TV, titled Last Seventeen TV, culminated in the fourth Like Seventeen concert on August 16. Described as the group's final pre-debut concert and a final evaluation before debut, the show included performances selected from earlier stages as well as a new song intended for a future album.
Han Sung-soo later explained that Pledis's small size influenced its pre-debut strategy for Seventeen. With few conventional ways to publicize a new group, the company used online broadcasts to allow fans to become familiar with the trainees before their debut.
During the final months before their debut, Seventeen continued appearing in online broadcasts. In February 2015, Pledis launched Hoshi and Seungkwan's Andromeda (호시, 승관의 안드로메다), a live program streamed on AfreecaTV. Hosted by Hoshi and Seungkwan and featuring appearances by the other members, the program was described as an extension of Seventeen TV that allowed the group to communicate directly with fans. It continued following the group's debut and was noted for its informal format and focus on the members' individual personalities.
By April 2015, Pledis had publicly introducing Seventeen as a 13-member group and introduced the lineup through the MBC Music reality program Seventeen Project: Debut Big Plan. Reports stated that the group had originally been intended to have 17 members but that 13 had been confirmed following the training process. Seungkwan later said that the pool of prospective members had at one point reached over 30 before the final 13 became official members. Trainees came and went from the project throughout the years, and beyond the final thirteen members of the group also included Jang Do-yoon, Samuel Kim and Kim Min Gue.
The members were reported to have spent an average of approximately four years as trainees. At the group's debut press conference, S.Coups said that it had been difficult to repeatedly see reports describing their debut as imminent only for it to be postponed, but regarded the additional preparation as contributing to the formation of a more complete team
The prolonged preparation period also shaped the group's creative direction. Woozi said that Seventeen had initially been prepared under a conventional idol-group system before its direction shifted toward self-production. Hoshi recalled that, while waiting to debut, the trainees began creating choreography for pop songs and making music among themselves. After Pledis staff responded positively to their work, the company adopted the “self-producing idol” concept for the group's debut.
Han later recalled that the members had demonstrated similar initiative during trainee evaluations, at one point bringing their own lighting equipment and electric fans to create stage effects. Rather than suppressing that energy to fit prevailing trends or a predetermined concept, he said Pledis sought to develop the qualities the members naturally displayed. Han connected this approach directly to the decision to have Seventeen participate in self-production from their debut. He also said that the company's pre-debut reality programming was designed to maximize the members' teamwork. After their debut, Pledis would establish a broad direction, discuss it with the members and then develop the specific work together.
History
2015–2016: Debut with 17 Carat, and Love & Letter
Seventeen's official debut came at the end of Seventeen Project: Big Debut Plan with a live showcase on May 26 hosted by labelmates Lizzy and Raina. Three days later, Seventeen's first extended play (EP) 17 Carat was released digitally. 17 Carat became the longest-charting K-pop album of the year in the US and was the only rookie album to appear on Billboard's "10 Best K-pop Albums of 2015" list.
On September 10, Seventeen released their second EP Boys Be, which later became the highest-selling rookie album of the year. The EP's success earned the group awards at the Golden Disk Awards, Seoul Music Awards, and Gaon Chart K-pop Awards. Seventeen became the only K-pop group on Billboard's "21 Under 21 2015: Music's Hottest Young Stars" list. Seventeen held a four-show concert series in Seoul titled "Like Seventeen – Boys Wish" from December 24 to 26 as a year-end celebration. After the concerts'…