TAN (group)

TAN was formed through the survival competition show The Wild Idol, which was aired from September 17, 2021, until December 16, 2021. Out of initially forty-five contestants, only the top seven would be included in the final debut lineup.[3]

Prior to appearing on the program, most of the members had already been active in the entertainment industry. Lee Jae-jun debuted in 2012 as a member of C-Clown under the stage name Maru,[4] until the group disbanded in 2015.[5] He then debuted with TREI in 2019,[6] which later disbanded the next year and made his debut once again as one half of the duo JT&Marcus in 2021.[7][8] Lee Chang-sun joined 24K in 2016.[9] They were both contestants in Mix Nine, but neither of them made the final lineup; the latter was eliminated in the first round, placing at 105th overall, while the former was eliminated in the final round.[10][11] After finished at 31st place in Produce 101 Season 2,[12] Seo Sung-hyuk made his debut in project group Rainz in 2017 until the group conclude its activities a year later.[13][14] Im Joo-an debuted with We in the Zone in 2019 until the group disbanded in 2021.[15][16] Bang Tae-hoon briefly appeared in Cap-Teen.[17] Kim Ji-seong is a member of NTX, they debuted in early 2021.[18]

On December 29, 2021, TAN had their first live stage performance with the song "Diving to the Top" on 2021 MBC Entertainment Awards.[19] Two days later, they performed "Last Chance" on MBC Gayo Daejejeon.[20] TAN performed the song once again on their first music show broadcast on MBC's Show! Music Core on January 8, 2022.[21] They then had their first busking at Taebaek Gowon Gymnasium on January 16.[22]

On February 28, 2022, Think Entertainment released a promotional timetable announcing TAN's debut with their first extended play 1TAN on March 10.[23] As per the planned date, the EP with the lead single "Du Du Du" and its music video was released.[24] TAN also had a debut showcase at Yonsei University's Centennial Hall on the same day.[25] The following day, Think Entertainment announced that Jaejun will be a special host on Show! Music Core for two weeks starting on February 12.[26] On the same day, TAN had their debut stage on KBS2's Music Bank.[27]

On May 22, TAN had their second busking at Pohang Space Walk. After performing, they announced that they would make a comeback in June and spoiled parts of the new song.[28] On June 21, TAN released the first part of their second extended play 2TAN with its lead single "Louder".[29] On July 26, TAN released the second part of 2TAN with its lead single "Walking On The Moon".[30] On August 4, the group's name was changed from TAN (Korean: 탄; pronounced tan) to TAN (Korean: 티에이엔; pronounced T.A.N.).[31] They held their first ever showcase on Japan at Toyos PIT, Tokyo, and BIGCAT Live House, Osaka, on September 7 and 9, respectively.[32]

On October 11, TAN released their first single album Dream & Deurim with the lead single "Beautiful Lie".[33] On November 4, they had a fan meeting on Manila. They also had guest appearances on some television shows, such as ABS-CBN's It's Showtime.[34][35] On November 26, they performed at the "1er Festival Coreano en República Dominicana (1st Korean Festival in the Dominican Republic)".[36][37] A month later, on December 18 and 24, they held another fan meeting on Japan at Knowledge Theater, Osaka and TFT Hall 500, Tokyo.[38]

On February 23, 2023, Think Entertainment released a promotional timetable revealing their next release, a special single album for their first anniversary titled Essege, which will be released on March 10. The single album's name came from the combining of the words "Essay" and "Message".[39]