Kevin
케빈Wrote and composed "Step by Step" on Illusion and was part of the trio Nasty Nasty in 2014.
Their story
Children of a reality show
Star Empire, the company behind Jewelry, put its nine trainees on Mnet in 2009 in a reality show called 제국의 아이들. The group name ZE:A is short for that title. Before debut, fans of Brown Eyed Girls' JeA objected to the similar name, but the agency kept it. The single album Nativity came out on 7 January 2010, led by "Mazeltov", and a week later they had their first stage on Music Bank.
Korea and Japan at once
The releases came quickly: two single albums in 2010, a Japanese debut that September and the first studio album, Lovability, in March 2011. The money from their early 2011 tour went to relief after the earthquake in Japan. Spectacular followed in July 2012, its comeback delayed when leader Junyoung was hurt, and he sat through the "Aftermath" video.
Solo names
From 2012 the members became known on their own. Siwan began acting that year, Kwanghee made his name on variety TV, and Hyungsik also turned to drama. The group split into sub-units: ZE:A FIVE, ZE:A4U and ZE:A J. The 2013 EP Illusion gave them their best chart position since debut with "The Ghost of Wind", and First Homme brought "Breathe" in 2014. That August Junyoung started using the name Lee Hoo.
Where they are now
The best album Continue in 2015, with one new song, was the last group release. Minwoo and Taeheon enlisted later that year, and Kwanghee followed in 2017. That spring the members turned to solo work, and Hyungsik moved to the agency UAA. Star Empire said ZE:A had not disbanded and would come back as a group when the time was right. Hyungsik told Yonhap they were still one, but that a stage together was not realistic for now.
