Do you know what the “five-year curse” is?
There’s a superstition among K-pop fans that every year, one of the groups that are completing their five-year debut anniversary will be cursed by a magical force that makes bad things happen to the group. Those things can vary from accidents, break-ups, and multiple other bad rumors.
Another pattern that the possible cases seem to have in common, is that they always happen to boy bands only, more specifically those with a formation of five members.
This might seem a little crazy at first, but the “five-year curse” has proven its existence through many famous groups. This has led many fans to believe in it, and fear for their biases when they complete five years of their careers.
The most famous cases are H.O.T, DBSK, and SS501, who were led to break-up after five years as a group, but there are also other smaller cases that add fuel to the curse’s popularity.
For example, after Lee Joon and Thunder announced a possible withdrawal from MBLAQ, many fans joked that it was due to the curse, since the group had just completed their five-year anniversary. For this reason, we decided to bring you the most famous stories related to the possible curse, so you can make up your mind about it.
1. H.O.T
One of the biggest successes in the K-pop history, H.O.T debuted in 1996 with their album “We Hate All Kinds of Violence,” which faced controversy from the get-go due to plagiarism accusations.
Back then, K-pop wasn’t popular, but they still managed to become one of the biggest groups in Korea, which has led them to be referred to as the founders of K-pop.
Unfortunately, only five years after their explosive success, the band came to an end as their contract came to term and they did not renew. It’s said that it was due to financial reasons, but no one ever found out the true reason for their break-up. Could it have been the first episode of the curse?
2. DBSK
Another break-up situation from SM Entertainment that we’ll never know the full truth about, DBSK might have been another victim of the curse.
The group debuted with a five-member formation in 2004, and hit the charts with their single “Hug.” The boys became instantly famous and gathered many into the fold of their fandom.
However, in 2009, the members Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu attempted to split with SM, claiming that their thirteen-year contract was excessively long and abusive, and that the profits were unfairly distributed.
The situation did not end well for them. The group broke in two, with the three aforementioned members becoming JYJ, and the two who were left, Changmin and Yunho, continuing as TVXQ. JYJ was put under lots of restrictions and TVXQ continue with one of the biggest K-pop fandoms, but most fans still wish they were all together.
3. SS501
Another worldwide success, SS501 debuted in 2005 with the mini-album “Warning,” and soon hit the charts with their single “Never Again“.
Five years later, though, when their contracts with DSP Media expired, none of the five members renewed, and they all signed as solo artists with different agencies. They said that it was because no other agency would take them as a whole group, but did promise a future reunion.
This situation didn’t involve a painful fight against their company in order to nullify their contracts, but it follows the pattern of the curse: five boys who face difficulties five years after their debut.
4. BIGBANG
This may not have ended in a break-up, (thankfully) but BIGBANG did suffer a lot in 2011, five years after their debut under YG Entertainment.
It all started with Daesung‘s car accident, in which a man ended up passing away. This affected Daesung and BIGBANG in a tragic way, and they were all psychologically affected.
A few months later, G-Dragon was caught smoking marijuana in a party, which is extremely condemned in South Korea. Although this didn’t compromise his career, it certainly compromised BIGBANG’s image back then.
Somehow, the group managed to stick together despite these incidents, and they overcame the five-year curse by not breaking up after such a hard time. They later released “Fantatisc Baby,” whose music video shows their triumph over the scandals of that previous year.
5. SHINee
The most recent known occurrence that caused suspicion about the curse was with SHINee in 2013. Although, like BIGBANG, they didn’t disband, the year was certainly not easy for the boys.
The “curse” started when Jonghyun suffered a car accident in April. It wasn’t a major accident, but he ended up breaking his nose and wasn’t able to appear in SHINee’s music video for “Why So Serious.”
When the group announced their comeback with “Everybody,” the fans were really happy to be able to see all five of them together onstage. However, right after the promotions started, Onew suffered a neck injury and wasn’t able to perform the choreography along with the other members.
The group managed to overcome the curse by successfully performing their “SHINee World III” tour.
And now this year, MBLAQ has been suffering a lot, with their songs not topping any charts, and with Lee Joon and Thunder’s withdrawal from the group after their current promotions end. It seems they might have been this year’s choice of curse victim.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you believe in the five-year curse? What other groups do you think might have gone through it and overcame it? Share your thoughts and get in on the discussion!
Edited by: Laura Dees
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