BGYO (formerly Star Hunt Academy Boys or SHA Boys) is a Filipino boy band formed in 2018 through ABS-CBN's Star Hunt Academy (SHA). The group is composed of five members: Gelo, Akira, JL, Mikki, and Nate.
BGYO debuted on January 29, 2021, with their single, "The Light". The group released their second single, "He's Into Her", as part of the official soundtrack of the Philippine romantic comedy series of the same title. The song led to the group's first achievement, earning the "Best Theme Song" award at the 2021 Asian Academy Creative Awards. Their debut album, The Light, achieved record-breaking success, topping iTunes Philippines' Top 100 albums chart for twelve consecutive days, making it the longest top charting album by a Filipino act on the platform. BGYO's achievements also reached the international stage, with the group featured in Grammy's "The Many Sounds of Asian Pop" listicle in 2023.
Name The name BGYO is an acronym for "Becoming the change, Going further, You and I, Originally Filipino". Contrary to popular belief, the group's name is not a shortened form of the Filipino word bagyo "storm" or "tropical cyclone."
History 2018–2020: Formation and introduction In 2018, ABS-CBN launched the Star Hunt Academy program, a project led by entertainment head Laurenti Dyogi for the purpose of introducing Filipino talents in the international market. 250 auditionees ranging from ages 16–19 from different places in the Philippines were evaluated, from which the first set of male trainees were selected. It was initially planned to debut a 7-member idol boy group but was minimized to five. The final lineup ended with Akira, Gelo, JL, Mikki, and Nate. They were trained for two years under Filipino and South Korean mentors from MU Doctor Academy. Vocal coach Kitchy Molina and Austrian-native dance coach Mickey Perz were some of the notable Filipino mentors.
On August 3, 2019, the five members were officially introduced as the Star Hunt trainees in the online pre-show of the Big Night of Pinoy Big Brother: Otso through a performance. They have attended the 2019 Southeast Asian Games thanksgiving celebration.
In May 2020, Dyogi released a dance practice video of Akira, Gelo, Mikki, and Nate dancing to Seventeen's "Let Me Hear You Say" to show their training progress. In the subsequent months, the academy has released vlogs of the trainees on YouTube and performance videos on Twitter. The group was also invited to perform on the "Happy Hallyu Day 4" which lasted from August 22 and 29. On October 18, BGYO as "SHA Boys" became part of the ASAP Natin 'To and performed BTS' hit song "On". On October 31, they also performed on the "2020 Philippines-Korea Cultural Exchange Festival".
On December 4, 2020, the official debut month of the group in January 2021 was announced, together with the contract signing with Star Magic and record label Star Music. On December 6, the group performed on the opening of Pinoy Big Brother: Connect. On December 12, the group appeared on It's Showtime and went viral with their performances of Sarah Geronimo's hit songs "Tala" and "Kilometro".
2021-2024: Debut and early years
The Light Era
Ahead of their debut, Star Hunt Academy released a series of teasers for the group. On January 13, they revealed the group's official name, accompanied with its official logo. MU Doctor collaborated with South Korean producers Rogan & Ddank for BGYO's debut single "The Light", released on January 29. The English lyrics were written by Korean-American composer and songwriter Distract, and the Tagalog lyrics written by the members themselves to "reflect their own story in the song". The single was choreographed by Lay Back, known to have worked with SuperM, Hyolyn, and Zico.
In March 2021, BGYO was featured in the Spring 2021 issue of L'Officiel. On March 31, the group was announced as "Myx Spotlight Artist" for the month of April. On April 9, BGYO was revealed to record the official soundtrack of iWantTFC's digital Philippine romance comedy series He's Into Her. On April 21, BGYO performed on the Wish 107.5 Bus with their debut single. On April 23, 2021, the second single "He's Into Her" was released. On the same day, BGYO was added on the roster of Spotify RADAR program. On May 21, the group's first collaboration single "Feel Good Pilipinas", with KZ Tandingan, was released. On May 17, BGYO participated in the 4th Season of Coke Studio Philippines' "Itodo Mo Beat Mo" where they performed the choreographed rendition of Keiko Necesario's "While We Are Young". Three days after, an original composition of BGYO and Necesario titled "Runnin'" was revealed. On May 29, the group also took part on the virtual red carpet premiere of He's Into Her.
In June 2021, a virtual international fan meet called "BGYO Live Zoom Party" took place, where they performed "The Light", "He's Into Her", and a cover of the song "Un Año" by Colombian singer-songwriter Sebastián Yatra and Mexican pop rock band Reik. They also got the chance to be interviewed on SBS PopAsia on June 10. The group also made an appearance on the official debut of their sister group Bini on June 11. BGYO embarked on their first global caravan named "Feel Good Pilipinas Global Independence Day Caravan" along with various artists, which lasted from June 11 to 20. They also participated on "ALL FOR ONE (Canadian Multiculturalism Day): Celebrating Unity in Diversity", on June 26.
In July 2021, BGYO fronted "The Music Issue" of PARCINQ Magazine with the tagline "P-POP POWER". On August 6, BGYO performed the theme song of He's Into Her at the show's The Benison Ball.Citations for BGYo as part of the "He's Into Her Ball", On August 7, the group experienced their first ever performance on an award show at the Myx Music Awards 2021.For citations about BGYO's performance on MYX Music Awards 2021. On August 20, BGYO released their sophomore single The Baddest,For citations about "The Baddest" being the sophomore single of BGYO. with Liza Soberano on the music video.For citations about "The Baddest" official music video. On August 25, #BGYO was included on Twitter's "Top Hashtags in the Philippines" for the first half of 2021. On August 28–29, the group was invited to perform on the "Happy Hallyu Day 5: A Virtual Fest". "Kulay" was released on September 23 as a theme song of the Miss Universe Philippines 2021 National Costume Competition.For citations about the release of BGYO's "Kulay" and being the official single of Miss Universe's Philippines 2021 National Costume competition.
In October 2021, the group released their debut album The Light, which includes "The Light", "The Baddest", "He's Into Her"; five new songs "When I'm with You", "Kundiman", "Sabay", "Fly Away" and "Rocketman", and four international versions of "The Light"—Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Spanish, and Japanese.For citations about "The Light" album as BGYO's debut album. On November 6–7, the first ever sibling group concert in the Pinoy pop history, "ONE DREAM: The Bini and BGYO Concert", took place. On November 12, the group took part in the official Christmas theme song of ABS-CBN's Christmas Station ID, entitled "Andito Tayo Para sa Isa't Isa". On November 21, a joint virtual fan meet with BGYO's sibling group Bini for their Indonesian and Thai fans, "Global Party Asia Tour", took place.For citations of Global Party Asia Tour: On November 29, BGYO performed on 34th Awit Awards.
In December 2021, BGYO appeared and performed on their first international award show at the 2021 Asian Academy Creative Awards, of which they were also a finalist in the "Best Theme Song" category for "He's Into Her". On December 3, the group plunged into their first international concert, "1MX Dubai 2021 (Filipino Music Festival)", along with various artists in Dubai World Trade Centre, United Arab Emirates.For citations of 1MX Dubai 2021,
In February 2022, "ONE DREAM: The Bini and BGYO Concert Version 2022" was re-broadcast. On February 27, the group performed in the grand finals of "Uplive World Stage".For citations about BGYO in the Grand Finals of "Uplive WorldStage", On March 19, BGYO appeared on "Saludo Excellence Awards 2021". On March 22, the group took part on "Star Magic's 'Beyond the Stars' Trade Event". On March 25, the release of the group's first original soundtrack for 2022, Mahal Na Kita, took place. On April 1, the group's first collaboration single with their sister group Bini, Up!, was released.Citations for the release of "Up!" as a collaboration single of BINI and BGYO: On April 9–10, BGYO experienced their first Araneta Coliseum performances via "2022 PPOPCON: The Ultimate P-pop Fan Gathering".Citations for the 2022 PPOPCON as follows: On April 10, BGYO appeared on the "ABS-CBN and PACE Media Congress Digital Caravan". On April 22, "Best Time" was released.Citations for "Best Time" as the original soundtrack of He's Into Her Season 2:
On May 1, they participated in Xiaomi Fan Festival 2022. On May 2, the group participated on Simply K-Pop Con-Tour as a guest.For citations about BGYO on guesting with Arirang TV's "Simply K-Pop Con-Tour", On May 25, they performed at the "4th Herons Heroes Awards - University of Makati" and "A Light of Hope Virtual Concert: for the Youth, their Moms and Educators". On May 28, they took part on the "Tarlac 149th Founding Anniversary". On June 5, they performed on the PBA 47th Season - Opening. On June 6, they were recognized as the "Best International Artist" on the Korean star voting web application Dong-A.com's "Idolpick (아이돌픽)" for seven consecutive weeks and hailed as the "Best Idol for the month of June",For citations of BGYO's accolade on "Idolpick (아이돌픽)" which gave them the opportunity to appear on several digital billboards in Seoul, South Korea.For citations of BGYO's digital billboards in South Korea as prize on "Idolpick (아이돌픽)", On June 14, Netflix Philippines premiered their first variety show, "Alas Netflix", featuring BGYO in its first 3 episodes.For citations on BGYO appearance on "Alas Netflix",
BE:US The release of "Tumitigil ang Mundo" on July 13, 2022, marked a new chapter of BGYO's music career. The track is the first single on their upcoming sophomore album. The group also embarked on their first mall tour as BGYO, "Best Time with BGYO Mall Tour", which lasted from July to August 2022. On July 15, the group took part in the "TUGATOG: The Filipino Music Festival 2022" alongside other Pinoy idol groups.Citations for the TUGATOG: Filipino Music Festival as follows: The group played a part in Nickelodeon's Bikini Bottom Bash, a birthday celebration for SpongeBob SquarePants.For the citations about BGYO as part of the "Nickelodeon's Bikini Bottom Bash", BGYO also participated in a benefit concert on July 22, "BE YOU: The World will Adjust", together with Red Velvet, Bini, and Lady Pipay in the Mall of Asia.Citations for BE YOU: The World will Adjust Benefit Concert as follows: They are also part of "Star Magic 30th Anniversary Tour: Beyond The Stars" kick-off,For the citations about BGYO as part of the "Beyond The Stars Concert Tour kick-off at the Resorts World Manila, supposedly they will participate on the United States leg of the tour in California but, not materialized.