| Broken Valentine | |
| Landscape: | Yes |
| Origin: | Seoul, Korea |
| Genre: | Alternative rock, post-grunge |
| Years Active: | –present |
| Current Members: |
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| Past Members: |
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Broken Valentine is a South Korean alternative rock band notable for their 2011 appearance on the Korean television program Top Band.[1]
Broken Valentine was formed in 2002 under the name "6. August", but renamed themselves "B. August" in 2004 before finally settling on "Broken Valentine" in 2007.
Band membership fluctuated throughout the years as members have gone off for mandatory military service, however by 2007, the current five member lineup was solidified.
In December 2008, the reunited band participated in the "Asian Beat" band competition (Korean round) sponsored by YAMAHA, and became the finalist to represent Korea in the following year's Asian Beat Grand Finale held in Hong Kong. In February 2009, Broken Valentine won the Grand Prize and the Best Composer Award (Byun G) with the song "Answer me", which became their most popular track.[2] Broken Valentine thus became the first team in Asian Beat's history to ever win two awards in the same year.
In 2009, Broken Valentine released their first EP album, the self-produced Calling You. To celebrate this release, the performed a showcase concert, and continued to perform at local gigs and in support of other bands throughout South Korea. However, due to the nature of the South Korean music scene, with limited outlets for independent bands, they found difficulty achieving nationwide recognition, so in 2011, they tried out for the television program Top Band broadcast by the Korean Broadcasting System, a Survivor-like reality show wherein bands compete against each other. Broken Valentine was considered an early favorite, and made it to the round of 16 on the show, but was eliminated at this round by the band "Toxic."[3]
Following their elimination, Broken Valentine held their fourth exclusive concert "Royal Straight Flush" on October 14, 2011 to a crowd of more than 500 people. In December of that year, the band released their new single "Down," which involved all the members writing, composing, and producing.[4] [5] In 2012, they released their first full album, Shade.[6] The following year, they released second full-length album, Aluminum.[7] [8] The album's title track 'Aluminum' was talked about by many music fans after the death of vocal member 'Van.'[9]
On August 3, 2015, it was reported that Broken Valentine's vocal, Van (Kim Kyung Min), had died from drowning, after he went to play in the waters with his friends. Van's funeral procession was held on August 5, 2015.[10] In January of that year, Ansu officially withdrew from Broken Valentine.
In February 2019, Broken Valentine added new members Kim Kyung-jun and Park Jun-ho to the band. On September 21, Broken Valentine returned with their solo concert, "Four Ours," which featured new members Kim Kyungjun and Park Junho, as well as newly composed music.[11] One week later, they released their new song "Not Yours."[12]
On December 29, 2022, the band released their third studio album, 3.[13] The band began album promotions at Nodeul Island Live House on January 14, 2023.[14]
Broken Valentine writes and composes their own songs, mostly written by Byun G and Van. Their music style can be categorized as alternative rock and post-grunge.
| Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | US Heat | US World | |||
| Shade |
| — | — | — | |
| Aluminum |
| — | — | — | |
| 3 |
| — | — | — | |
Songs captured with "" is translated title.