“From The Sahara To The Sahara”: ATEEZ’s Hongjoong Celebrates Journey From Debut To “Coachella 2024”
Five and a half years ago, on October 24, 2018, ATEEZ debuted under the small label KQ Entertainment with little more than hopes and dreams keeping them afloat as a rookie K-Pop group. Their debut album, Treasure EP.1: All to Zero, sold less than 500 copies in first-day sales, and just over 5,000 after the first week. It was a small debut for sure, and little did they know that they would go on to be one of the most successful K-Pop groups of the fourth generation, not to mention the best-selling group of any non-“Big Four” label.
Their debut song, “Pirate King”, started off their unique and alluring pirate-themed concept, and to match the aesthetic, the music video was filmed in Morocco in the Sahara Desert.
Throughout their TREASURE era, the adventurous pirate theme remained the core of their concept, and even today, it continues to be a solid part of their identity. There’s a reason that the members call their leader Hongjoong “Captain”!
Their growth since their debut has been nothing short of phenomenal, with their latest album, THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL reaching nearly 1.8 million total sales. It’s their third album to surpass the million sales mark, and we doubt that their success will take a downturn anytime soon, especially after their incredible performance at Coachella on April 12!
Worth losing my voice this morning 😁🫡
PIRATE KINGS OF SAHARA#코첼라에_닿은_에이티즈의_항해#ATEEZBreaksCOACHELLA#ATEEZ #Coachella @ATEEZofficial pic.twitter.com/eCrvVDuHro
— 우영’s Oda is going to CHELLAteez~ (@Odyette4657) April 13, 2024
They’re now the first K-Pop boy group to perform on the stage of Coachella, and they took the honor seriously by putting their all into the showcase. Afterwards, Hongjoong took to Instagram to share his gratitude and pride for what ATEEZ has accomplished, and the caption included a throwback to their debut!
The stage of Coachella that ATEEZ performed on was none other than the Sahara Stage, which is a fateful occurrence that completes the loop back to their debut when they filmed “Pirate King” in the actual Sahara Desert.
Hongjoong’s caption on the post states, “My first Coachella🔥From the Sahara to the Sahara✨”. It shows that he hasn’t forgotten his roots, which matches his and the other members’ humble, grateful personalities.
He even shared during the show that, though he had always dreamed big during their pre-debut and rookie days, he never imagined they would end up on the stage of Coachella!
Hongjoong: “I think the first time we came to LA was about 6 years ago, we were practicing like crazy in a tiny little studio to get a chance to debut. They say dream big, but I don’t think I have ever imagined being here at Coachella. Now here we are, dreams really do come true” pic.twitter.com/3pqYVFacdd
— za👩🏻⚕️ (@zhouang1024) April 13, 2024
There’s no doubt that ATEEZ has made it, and fans couldn’t help but get emotional in the comments of the post.
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We’re so proud of what ATEEZ has accomplished these past years, and we can’t wait to see how much they continue to grow in the future!
