5566 (band)

5566 is a Taiwanese boy-band. The name of the band comes from the fact that there were originally five members, who worked in six areas of media and entertainment. These six areas are singing, acting, television hosting, modeling, CMs and dancing. They are signed under the record labels Jungiery Star. and Avex

Members
5566 is made up of Tony Sun (lead singer), Jason Hsu, Sam Wang, Zax Wang and formerly, Rio Peng.

5566's members not only work together as one, but they also work separately. For example, Sam Wang is also a member of 183 Club. Tony Sun and Zax Wang are actors in many television programmes, while Jason Hsu has been in many promotional campaigns.

History of 5566

Before They Were a Band
Each of 5566's members has had some success before joining to make one band.

Tony Sun had released some solo albums in Taiwan dialect in the 1990s. They were quite well received. He was even called the "Taiwanese little champion." However, his lost a bit of popularity when he had to do military service.

Zax Wang was a member of POSTM3N.

Sam Wang was a national soccer player  and a model. He is a member of another Taiwanese boyband, 183 Club.

Jason Hsu was at first "obese and unpopular in high school". However, he started appearing in several CMs when he lost weight.

Debut
In 2002, 5566's first appearance and sudden rise to popularity has been a controversial topic. They showcased their multiple talents in their first interview, yet their hard work was not respected, drawing lots of criticism and earning them a negative nickname, "Turkey." Their first TV series My MVP Valentine aired on local television, starring the band as the lead roles. The show exceeded expectations by having a higher viewership rating than several drama shows at the time. Not only did this drama help skyrocket 5566 to fame, it was also the driving force behind the careers of Angela Zhang and Johnny Yan.

Due to a serious injury while filming a variety show, Rio Peng temporary pulled out from group activities to recover. Although the remaining 5566 members confirmed that Peng was still part of the group, Peng eventually left, forming his own management company, Wingman Entertainment.

In December of the same year, 5566 released their first album, which sold 240,000 copies in Taiwan. Because the album was re-released in two additional versions, 5566 became infamous for regularly repackaging their albums. This holds true till today; Westside Story OST and Top of the Forbidden City OST are the only two albums that remain unrepackaged.

Controversy
The members of the band are said to have disrespectful behaviour. The band has also been accused of having "most of their songs" as cover versions, "showing no originality and no talent in their song-writing." On the Internet, many debates have been created surrounding the band.

Some believe that the controversy was created to increase media attention and fame.

Discography
5566 have released the following Mandarin-language albums:

References

Other websites
Tony's Blog  (Chinese)
Zax's Blog  (Chinese)
Sam's Blog  (Chinese)
Jason's Blog  (Chinese)
5566's Album Lists and Lyrics 

C-pop
2000s music groups
Pop music groups
Taiwanese musical groups