The Rose

In the mid-2010s, the Rose took shape amid Seoul’s busking scenes and rehearsal rooms, unveiling their reflective adult alternative pop/rock sound through the 2017 single “Sorry.” The track quickly developed an independent following, generating millions of streams and spurring headline tours abroad before the band’s first two EPs, Void and Dawn, both landed inside Korea’s Top 30 in 2018. Their debut full-length, HEAL, reentered that same Korean ranking upon its 2022 release, while DUAL, issued the next year, climbed further to Korea’s Top Ten and also registered on U.S. charts.

Singer/guitarist/keyboardist Dojoon Park and bassist/vocalist Jaehyeong Lee first crossed paths while performing on the streets of Seoul’s Hongdae district. Jaehyeong later encountered drummer Hajoon during shared studio time, after which the three formed the indie group Windfall and began composing original material together through busking and social-media cover videos. Singer/guitarist Woosung joined via a mutual acquaintance, and the quartet signed with J&Star Company in 2016.

Rebranded as the Rose and fronted by Woosung, the band made their official recorded introduction with “Sorry” in 2017. The song reached Billboard’s world side-charts and drew coverage from international editions of Rolling Stone and Billboard, while its video accumulated millions of views and the group embarked on a sold-out European tour. Their first Seoul stage appearance that December featured the initial two singles (“Sorry” and “Like We Used To”), several unreleased numbers, and renditions of well-known English-language tracks.

Void arrived in April 2018, followed by Dawn in October of the same year; both EPs placed inside Billboard’s World Albums Top Ten and Korea’s Top 30. Their music was subsequently licensed to television series such as Hell Is Other People in 2019, the same year the expanded single “RED” peaked at number eight on Korean charts.

Following a legal conflict with their label, mandatory military service for three members, and Woosung’s solo release Genre in 2021, the Rose resurfaced with their first album, HEAL, on the Transparent Arts imprint in October 2022, debuting at number 21 in Korea. A world tour encompassing North America, South America, and Europe supported the project. The band returned promptly to the studio for their second album, DUAL, released in September 2023, which reached number eight in Korea and number 83 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.