Astro is a South Korean boy band formed by Fantagio that debuted in 2016. The group is composed of six members: Cha Eun-woo, MJ, JinJin, Moonbin, Rocky and Sanha. They debuted with the single "Hide & Seek" from their debut EP Spring Up, and were subsequently named by Billboard as one of the best new K-pop groups of 2016.
History
Pre-debut
The members of Astro were known as iTeen Boys while training as part of Fantagio iTeen, a rookie talent development program under the management agency Fantagio. The group's name and members were announced in August 2015. That month, they starred in a web drama series titled To Be Continued. The web drama featured the members as themselves, as well as Kim Sae-ron, Seo Kang-joon, and Hello Venus. In January 2016, Astro starred in their own reality show, Astro OK! Ready, which was aired on MBC Every1 at 7PM KST.
2016: Debut with ''Spring Up'', ''Summer Vibes'' and ''Autumn Story''
Astro's debut extended play Spring Up, was released on February 23, 2016, featuring title track "Hide & Seek". The group held a debut showcase where they announced their official fan club name Aroha. Within a week of its release, Spring Up reached #6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart in the United States, as well as #4 on the Gaon Music Chart. On February 25, the group released the music video for "Cat's Eye", containing clips from their web series To Be Continued. In March, 6 the group was the only Korean act invited to the LeTV Entertainment Awards in China. Their second extended play Summer Vibes was released on July 1 with the title track "Breathless", with a music video featuring former I.O.I member and current Weki Meki labelmate Choi Yoo-jung. The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart and #21 on the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart. Astro performed at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 31 for KCON 2016. They held their first solo concert on August 27–28 at the KEPCO Art Center in Seoul. The group also held showcases in Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand throughout the months of October and November. Astro's third extended play Autumn Story, was released on November 10. The music video features labelmate Sei of Weki Meki.
2017: ''Winter Dream'', ''Dream Part.01'', first tour and ''Dream Part.02''
On February 22, 2017, Astro released Winter Dream, featuring title track "Should Have Held On To You ". Despite the album being the final piece to the groups seasonal album concept, it was not promoted on music shows. On May 29, Astro released their fourth extended play Dream Part.01, featuring title track "Baby". The group held their first tour, titled "The 1st ASTROAD", from July 15–August 29, with dates in Seoul, Osaka, and Tokyo. On November 1, Astro released their fifth extended play Dream Part.02 featuring the title track "Crazy Sexy Cool". On January 10, 2018, the group released a limited edition of their album Dream Part.02 'Wish' version which sold out all 10,000 copies in pre-orders alone. The special album contains a poem by member Eunwoo, a hidden 'thanks to', and polaroid photos which the members took themselves.
2018: Global fanmeeting tour, ''Rise Up,'' and group hiatus
Throughout February and March 2018, Astro embarked on a fan meeting world tour visiting cities in countries such as the United States, Canada, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. On July 24, 2018, Astro released Rise Up featuring title track "Always You". The album was not promoted on music programs due to internal issues at their label, Fantagio. Despite not being able to promote in their home country the group toured cities such as Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo in their "ASTROAD II in Japan" tour throughout the month of August, 2018.
2019: ''All Light,'' ''Venus,'' ''Blue Flame,'' and Moon Bin's hiatus
On January 16, 2019, they released their first full-length album, the first album release in general following their 8-month period hiatus, All Light. To further promote their first full-length album the group announced "The 2nd ASTROAD Tour", which included cities across Asia and North America. On January 21, 2019, the label Fantagio announced four US shows following their 2nd Tapei Tour, to conclude with further tour dates in Asia. On January 29, 2019, Astro gained their first music show award during promotions for their release “All Night" on the SBS MTV music program The Show. On April 3, 2019, Astro released their Japan debut EP, Venus featuring three original Japanese tracks along with three Japanese versions of their Korean singles "Baby", "Always You", and "All Night". The album garnered a successful debut, debuting #2 on the daily album chart of Japan's largest music site Oricon. On November 12, 2019, Fantagio Music announced that Moon Bin would be going on a hiatus to recover from health issues and focus on his treatment On November 20, 2019, Astro released their sixth extended play Blue Flame. Moon Bin focused on recovery from physical health concerns, allowing him to take a break from group promotions as parts were re-distributed temporarily to other members. Despite this, he participated in the album and appeared in the music video for Blue Flame.
On March 13, 2020, Astro released special single album One&Only for their 4th anniversary debut. On May 4, 2020, Astro released their seventh extended play Gateway, promoting the song "Knock". On May 13, 2020, They received an award from the Korean music show, "Show Champion", for the song "Knock", marking the group's second win. On June 28, 2020, Astro held an online "Ontact" concert '2020 ASTRO Live on WWW.' to communicate with fans in a new way. On June 28, 2020, Astro released digital single "No, I Don't" and they performed it for the 1st time at the "2020 ASTRO Live on WWW."
