A Journey To Remember: 8 Milestones In Wanna One's Career That We'll Never Forget

As 2018 slowly winds to a close, Wannables have been dreading one thing above all else: the day Wanna One disbands. But don’t despair just yet! Though their time as a group has been short, they’ve shone more brightly than any of us could have imagined.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and reminisce about what a glorious year and a half it’s been; here are eight important milestones that occurred during Wanna One’s journey. Enjoy!

1. Formation of the group

If we’re going to do this properly, then it’s only natural that we start at the beginning! On the day it all started, Korea’s national producers selected our final 11 trainees during the “Produce 101 Season 2” finale. What a beautiful and emotional day that was!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn60lUGUnQ8

2. First win with “Energetic”

Having only just debuted, Wanna One earned their first win in such a short time! During the entirety of “Energetic” promotions, they won first place a total of 15 times. Talk about impressive! The clip below shows the members’ surprised faces as they’re announced as first place, and believe me when I say their reactions are priceless.

3. Appearances on almost every variety show

From “Happy Together” to “Weekly Idol” to “SNL Korea,” Wanna One sure made their way around the world of variety. If you watch below, you’ll see the members role-playing as lead characters in K-dramas, much to the “Happy Together” hosts’ amusement. A ton hilarious moments were born out of these shows, though, so it’s almost impossible to pick a favorite!

4. Scoring loads of CF deals

Filming a CF is usually a marker of success for an idol, and boy did Wanna One prove their popularity! In fact, brand deals for Innisfree skincare and Hite beer alike all came Wanna One’s way relatively early on. While filming for a Yo-Hi commercial, the members each shot their own version of the ad while incorporating their personalities, resulting in quality content for Wannables! Compared to normal commercials, Wanna One’s CFs are definitely more fun to watch.

5. Touring the world

Not only did they perform at various locations for KCON, Wanna One held their own shows in Korea, the U.S., Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and so many more! With a tour schedule like that, they must have worked incredibly hard to see their fans all over the world. And congrats to you lucky people who were blessed enough to see them live!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WW5jxJ-JQo

6. Collaborating with senior artists

Despite the fact that Wanna One debuted just last year, the amount of collaborations they’ve been a part of is impressive. The unit songs on their “1÷x=1 (Undivided)” album were produced by Zico, Heize, Nell, and Dynamic Duo, and the results had us beyond shook. Additionally, the special stage below provided us with a SECHSKIES x Wanna One collab, something we never even knew we needed!

7. Setting records on music charts

In both physical and digital sales, Wanna One is a force to be reckoned with. For example, “Beautiful” gained over 100,000 unique listeners on Melon within an hour! This amount of listeners broke the then-record for the highest number of song listens during a one-hour time frame, even after the chart rules were changed. How crazy is that?!

8. Winning a heck-ton of awards

No, I do not exaggerate when I say “heck-ton.” Not only did Wanna One sweep up most of 2017’s rookie awards, but they even won “Best Male Group” at 2017 MAMA and “Song of the Year” at MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards in 2018. It’s incredible how well-decorated Wanna One’s trophy shelf is by now, and there are still more award shows to come! Congratulations to all of them; they truly deserve this success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrSmwGrIoSs

What has been your favorite memory of Wanna One? Let’s all get together and have a good cry in the comments below!

jadicus35 is a ordinary college student by day, and a not-so-closet fangirl by night. She spends most of her time on Tumblr when she’s not (but really should be) studying and/or pretending to be a functional human being.