Finally returning stateside to see their U.S. fans, known as CHOICEs, A.C.E has announced a 2024 U.S. tour. The REWIND_US will bring the five members of the group to fourteen cities across the country, beginning in Madison, Wisconsin, and finishing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A.C.E first debuted in May 2017 with their single “Cactus.” The members consist of Jun, who trained alongside VIXX and appeared on Mnet’s I Can See Your Voice, Donghun, who was a contestant on Superstar K5, Wow, who trained alongside WINNER, Byeongkwan, who participated in season one of K-Pop Star, and Chan, who was a trainee in JYP Entertainment. These five members came together under Beat Interactive to form their current group, although they continued to participate on competition shows such as The Unit, Mix Nine, and more even after debut.
[#ACE_COMEBACK]
— A.C.E (@official_ACE7) February 22, 2024
에이스(A.C.E) '𝑴𝒚 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍' M/V
❤️https://t.co/8lzmS7uSBl#ACE #에이스 #PETFLIX #펫플릭스#FindMyGirl #FindMyEgo#MyGirl #MyChoice#에이스마이걸 #ACEMyGirl pic.twitter.com/YeYJ7IMEqK
Who Are A.C.E.?
A.C.E (에이스) is a five-member boy group under Beat Interactive and Swing Entertainment. They debuted on May 23, 2017 with their first single album “Cactus”.
Their name stands for “Adventure Calling Emotions”.
Pre-debut
A.C.E was well known for their busking at the Hongdae district in Seoul since 2016. Jason and Chan were to revealed to previously have been JYP Entertainment trainees. Meanwhile, Jun, Donghun and Wow were trainees at CJ. Some of the members also had participated in different reality shows. Jun appeared in the show I Can See Your Voice 4 while Jason appeared in K-Pop Star 2. Donghun also had appeared in the reality shows I Can See Your Voice 4 and Superstar K5.
2017: Debut with “Cactus”, “Callin'”
On May 23, 2017, the group made their debut with the single album “Cactus”.
On October 10, A.C.E announced their first-ever comeback. Their second single album, “Callin'”, was later revealed to be releasing on October 18.
In late 2017, Jason, Donghun, and Wow participated in the reality show MIXNINE while members Chan and Jun participated in the KBS 2TV reality show The Unit. Jun was unfortunately eliminated in the 14th episode of The Unit, which was aired on February 3, 2018. Chan, on the otherhand, had made it to the final lineup for the project group UNB. He will be inactive in A.C.E so that he could participate in UNB.
Meanwhile, Jason and Donghun had made the final lineup, which was revealed on the final episode of MIXNINE on January 26, 2018. Unfortunately, Wow was revealed to have been eliminated in the same episode.
2018: “5TAR (Incompletion)”, A.C.E Adventures in Wonderland
On March 14, 2018, they announced a special digital single as a thank you to their fans called “5TAR (Incompletion)”, which was released the followin day. Chan was unable to participate in the single’s recording.
On May 3, it was confirmed that the project group consisting of the winners from MIXNINE would not be debuting. The final lineup was meant to include Donghun and Jason.
On May 9, Beat Interactive announced that A.C.E will be making a comeback in June as four members. On May 23, the agency confirmed that A.C.E will be releasing new music on June 7. Additionally, it was announced that Jason will now be using his birth name, Kim Byeong Kwan. On May 23, the group dropped the first teasers for their first repackage album A.C.E Adventures in Wonderland.
On August 1, it was officially announced that Chan would be participating in A.C.E’s stage at the 2018 Korea Music Festival, which was to take place the next day on August 2. It was to be the first time they perform “Take Me Higher” with all five members rather than four.
2019: Under Cover, Japanese debut, Under Cover : The Mad Squad
On May 2, 2019, A.C.E announced that they will be coming back on May 17 with their first mini album, later revealed to be titled Under Cover.
On August 29, they made their Japanese debut with the digital single “All I Want Is You”.
On October 7, Beat Interactive announced that the group will be making a comeback on October 29 with their second mini album, later revealed to be titled Under Cover : The Mad Squad.
2020: “My Lover”, HZJM : The Butterfly Phantasy
On March 29, 2020, they made their first Japanese comeback with the digital single “My Lover”.
On May 21, it was revealed that the group’s light stick would be released on May 23, the day of their third anniversary.
On June 24, they released the song “Stand By You” as a pre-release single.
On August 17, it was officially announced that A.C.E would be making a comeback on September 2 with their third mini album HJZM : The Butterfly Phantasy.
2021: “Down”, Siren:Dawn, Changer : Dear Eris, Wow and Donghun’s enlistment
On January 3, 2021, the group announced a remix version of their song “Fav Boyz” titled “Fav Boyz (Steve Aoki’s Gold Star Remix)”, set to be released on January 8. It was the first release in their A.C.E Project.
On February 5, it was announced that Swing Entertainment and Beat Interactive would be co-managing A.C.E. Beat Interactive would be focusing on artist production and global marketing while Swing will be in charge of artist management.
On February 24, A.C.E was annnounced as a part of the second line up for K:CONTACT 3.
On April 2, Beat Interactive released a statement revealing how Wow would be going on a hiatus to focus on recovering. The statement also mentioned how he would not be participating in their upcoming release so that he could recover.
On April 11, they announced their first English digital single “Down”, which was released on April 16. It was their second release in the A.C.E Project and was only sung by four members.
On May 25, A.C.E was revealed to be a part of the third line up for K:CONTACT 4 U.
On June 6, a teaser was dropped confirming their upcoming mini album titled Siren:Dawn. The album was later revealed to be released on June 23.
On June 15, A.C.E was confirmed to be a part of the line up for the 2021 Dream Concert, which was to be held online. The concert then occurred on June 26.
On August 24, A.C.E hinted at their upcoming comeback. The next day, their second repackage album, titled Changer : Dear Eris, was announced to be released on September 2.
On September 10, Wow enlisted as a public service worker. On September 23, Donghun had also enlisted in the army. Their statements revealing their enlistment date were released on August 20th and the 30th, respectively.
2022: Jun, Kim Byeongkwan and Chan’s enlistments, YouTube channel deletion
On February 7, Jun enlisted as an active duty soldier.
On April 11, Kim Byeongkwan enlisted as a member of the KATUSA (Korean Augmentation To the United States Army).
On April 10, Beat Interactive announced that both A.C.E and the agency’s official channels on YouTube had been deleted after they were being hacked. The channel was later restored.
On August 16, Chan enlisted as an active duty soldier.
2023: Wow’s, Donghun’s, Jun’s and Kim Byeongkwan’s discharge, “Effortless”, “Angel”, “Dear My U”
On June 9, 2023, Wow was officially discharged from military service, followed by Donghun on June 22, and Jun on August 6.
On August 13, Beat Interactive announced that members Donghun, Jun and Chan have changed their stage names and would be going by their given real names from this point moving forward.
On October 10, Kim Byeongkwan was officially discharged from military service.
On November 1, it was announced that A.C.E will be releasing their third Japanese single, “Dear My U”, on December 15.
On November 2, it was announced that A.C.E will be releasing the pre-release single, “Effortless”, on November 7, ahead of their fifth mini album.
On November 16, they released the second pre-release single, “Angel”.
2024: My Girl : “My Choice”
On February 5, 2024, A.C.E announced their fifth mini album My Girl : “My Choice”, set to be released on February 22.
Members
Name | Position(s) | Color | Year(s) active | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
English | Korean | Japanese | |||
Lee Donghun (formerly Donghun) | 이동훈 | イ・ドンフン | Main Vocalist | Blue | 2017–present |
Wow | 와우 | ワウ | Main Dancer, Main Rapper, Vocalist, Visual | Purple | 2017–present |
Park Junhee (formerly Jun) | 박준희 | パク・ジュンヒ | Leader, Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Center | Red | 2017–present |
Kim Byeongkwan (formerly Jason) | 김병관 | キム・ビョングァン | Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Vocalist | Orange | 2017–present |
Kang Yuchan (formerly Chan) | 강유찬 | カン・ユチャン | Main Vocalist, Maknae | Yellow | 2017–present |