2022 is a year for all our favorite artists. There were lots of successful comebacks and debuts this year. This year also marks the year that concerts, fan meets, and international events came back like the pandemic didn’t even happen. To sum it up, it was the year that we, fans, get to enjoy our fan life with our idols.

One of the groups that made it big this year is Golden Child.

Golden Child turned 5 this year and they proved that they really are one to watch out for. They are making their name not only in the music scene but also in variety shows and musicals. Golden Child showed a different kind of AURA this year.

Now that 2022 is about to end, let’s take a look and REPLAY Golden Child’s amazing year!

Japan debut, ranking 1st on Oricon Daily Singles Chart and Billboard Japan, and Japanese comeback

Golden Child welcomed 2022 with their Japan debut! Their first-ever Japan album is titled “A WOO!!” with the title track of the same name.

Fans have been anticipating this since it’s been 5 years since they debuted and they haven’t released their Japan album. Finally, it happened in 2022!

Along with their Japanese single “A WOO!!”, Golden Child also released a Japanese version of their songs “DamDaDi” and “Wannabe”.

It was a successful debut because on their debut day, Golden Child ranked 1st on Oricon Daily Singles Chart! Their Japan debut also ranked 1st on Billboard Japan!

Additionally, “A WOO!” recorded a total of 12,555 copies sold from January 24 to 25, 2022.

Watch “A WOO!!” here:

4 months after their Japanese debut, Golden Child came back with a brand new Japanese album “RATA-TAT-TAT”.

The new album came with the title track of the same name and a Japanese version of their hit 2021 song “Burn It”. Since this was released in May, this album marks the first song they released without their leader, Lee Daeyeol.

Unlike their first Japanese album wherein they did the showcase online, Golden Child went to Japan to hold their showcase. They were very happy to have met their Japanese fans for the first time since the pandemic.

And just like their Japan debut, “RATA-TAT-TAT” was a success too!

Watch “RATA-TAT-TAT” here:

2022 PLAY concert

It was the end of the year last year, December 31, when Golden Child surprised Goldenness with the announcement of their 2-day concert “PLAY” that will happen in 2022.

Golden Child successfully held a 2-day concert last February 5-6 at the KBS Arena. As for their international fans, the concert was available for online streaming.

It was a fun 2 days with Golden Child and Goldenness as they performed their best songs for Goldenness. They even performed a love song medley of their songs.

Golden Child also performed their Japanese debut song “A WOO!!” for their Korean fans.

On the second day of their concert, Daeyeol, Golden Child’s leader, made an announcement that he will be enlisting in the military soon.

It was a bittersweet day for both the fans and Golden Child. Together with Goldenness, Golden Child surprised Daeyeol with letters written by fans. Fans threw paper airplanes to the stage with their messages for Daeyeol. It was a very sad moment but also an intimate sight between an idol and his fans. Everyone was crying inside the venue.

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They ended their concert with their song “Milky Way” and you can see that Golden Child, especially Daeyeol, was very emotional that night.

It was really hard to say goodbye to Daeyeol that night, but he is on his way to fulfilling his duty as a citizen of his country, and of course, making us proud!

Watch this fancam of Daeyeol during the concert:

Golden Child worked so hard during the rehearsals and the actual days of their concert to make this happen. They sure gave us a one-of-a-kind show just like they always did.

Watch their concert behind here:

Lee Daeyeol’s military enlistment

As what is stated above, Lee Daeyeol enlisted in the military this year.

On March 21, it was announced that Daeyeol will be enlisting in the military on March 29. Daeyeol posted a handwritten letter on their Twitter page, officially announcing his enlistment.

All members, except Jangjun, who had COVID at that time, sent Daeyeol off to his base camp. They all said goodbye to him and wished him the best throughout his enlistment.

Watch this video when Daeyeol entered his camp:

On Goldenness day, May 4, Daeyeol surprised Goldenness with a “DAEYEOL LOG”. A few members took a trip with him before he left and they even shaved his hair to help him prepare for his upcoming enlistment.

It’s been 9 months since he enlisted and both Golden Child and Goldenness are excited to see him again! Golden Child constantly updates about him and were talking about him in interviews and even in their lives. Daeyeol event went to one of their music shows for their comeback last August.

Jaehyun’s ‘Urban Myths’ and a drama cameo

It was also last year when it was announced that Jaehyun will star in the upcoming movie “Urban Myths”.

The movie premiered last April 18 and Goldenness came to support and watched Jaehyun’s debut movie! It was an accomplishment for Bongjae since we know how much he worked hard on this movie!

Have you watched the movie yet?

Goldenness were surprised last November 30 when Jaehyun appeared in the drama “Revenge Of The Others”! It was indeed a surprise since no one really knows he’ll be doing a cameo in that drama.

We can’t wait to see him do a lead role in a drama!

Y’s ‘Midnight Sun’

It was announced last March 24 that Choi Sungyoon, popularly known as Y, was cast in the musical “Midnight Sun”. This marks his second musical since his debut. He previously starred in “Altar Boyz” in 2021 together with Hong Joochan.

Sungyoon played the lead role named Jeong Haram. This musical also stars his fellow labelmate Kwon Eunbi, who played one of the Haena in the musical.

Sungyoon showed his amazing singing and acting skills in the musical. He even showed his quirky and charismatic side at the same time. He prepared so much for this musical and was proud to be chosen for this role.

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Members of idol groups sing as one when they perform with their members. But when they sing alone and individually, you’ll see that they have unique and different vocal colors. Sungyoon showed just that in this musical. I am really a fan of his beautiful voice!

He amazingly played his role for Haram and hopefully, he can be cast in another musical again soon!

Joochan’s ‘Equal’

Last year, it was also announced that Joochan was cast in the upcoming musical “Equal”. The musical started in late December 2021 and went on until February 2022. A re-run was also held in late April 2022.

Joochan played the role of Nicola and he was commended for his amazing singing voice. He once again showed his powerful singing voice. He’s not the main vocal for nothing! He definitely proved that he is one of the best singers of his generation.

It is amazing that despite his busy schedule, Joochan still perfectly played his role as Nicola. Sometimes, on the days after his shows, he would go live and greet the Goldenness who came to see and watch him.

USA and Grand American tour

Since the world starts to go back to normal, different artists around the world starts to do shows and concerts in different countries. As for this year, Golden Child did their first US tour!

Golden Child started their first US tour last June 24 and went on to tour until July 11. They visited 10 cities in the US and happily met their dear American fans!

It was a fun experience since it was Golden Child’s first US tour and they finally performed for their fans.

With the US tour still fresh in everyone’s mind, Golden Child announced a second tour this year! This time, cities from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil are a part of their tour list, calling their second tour the Grand American tour. Unfortunately, Bomin wasn’t able to join the tour this time, but TAG, who wasn’t a part of the first US tour, finally came!

The Grand American tour ended before the holidays and the members were back in South Korea last December 14.

Best music video award

Not just one but two of their music videos won the best music video award!

At the K Global Heart Dream Awards last August 25, the music video for their songs “Burn It” and “Ra Pam Pam” won the best music video awards!

Each music video showed a story and you can really tell that they took the time to conceptualize these music videos. “Burn It” and “Ra Pam Pam” deserved those awards! Both music videos are a cinematic revelation to the K-pop world!

Watch “Burn It” here:

Watch “Ra Pam Pam” here:

On top of their cinematic music video for “Burn It”, they also released a drama version of their song. Watch it here:

6th mini album ‘Aura’

On August 6, 2022, Golden Child released their 6th mini album titled “AURA” with the title track “REPLAY”. Even with the short period of promotions, Golden Child was still able to perform at music shows. Goldenness missed them so much and seeing them perform again is a memorable moment!

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Golden Child also met a lot of their fans through fan signs and music shows!

Their 6th mini album consists of 6 songs with the title track “REPLAY”.

Watch “REPLAY” here:

TAG also composed his own song “Purpose” and even directed the members’ recording of the song. You can watch it here:

Another song that the members have been spoiling about since last year is a song that they called “the knocking song”. Finally, the song titled “Knocking On My Door” is a part of their 6th mini album.

You can listen to “Knocking On My Door Here”:

Festivals and concerts

Golden Child was invited to a lot of shows, concerts, and festivals not only in South Korea but also abroad.

Korea National Day K-pop Concert in Dubai

Festivals and shows abroad are a great way for them to meet their fans! Exploring different countries is also a great experience along with performing for their fans!

Online contents for Goldenness

Golden Child released a lot of content on their Youtube channel such as Ch. Golcha, behind videos, and even videos for their overseas tours.

Golden Child released “2022 Golympics” together with ollehtv. It’s an 8-part episode wherein the members went on an MT type of get-together!

When they went on their US tour, they did a series of vlogs called “Golden Memories”. Watch the teaser for their US tour vlog here:

Golden Child also got to see a lot of London. You can watch their London vlog here:

Additionally, Golden Child released videos with their fellow labelmate, Drippin’, this year!

Golden Child also released a video for their 5th anniversary.

Other activities

Aside from their group activities, Golden Child members had solo schedules as well. They were regular guests on radio shows and even become special DJs on some radio shows.

Jangjun and Joochan are hosts of the show “Idolympics”. Jangjun is also a cast member in KBS Joy’s “Genuis Tomorrow” and his show “Ssap Possible” ended this year.

The members also did their individual segments, “Seungmin’s Music Workshop”, “Dong Dong Game Center”, “Joochan’s Shining Street Light Night”, via VLIVE and Weverse this year.

Aside from the individual segments, the members would go live on Weverse as well. Despite their busy schedule, they still spent time virtually with Goldenness.

On each of their birthdays, they also did their birthday lives and celebrated it with Goldenness!

Golden Child were truly busy this year and you can basically see them everywhere! Although it looks tiring, I’m sure they had fun doing all these for their beloved fans.

2022 was a success and I hope the coming year will be another year of success and accomplishments!

Goldenness are proud of you Golden Child! We hope to meet you a lot this coming year!

Happy New Year to Golden Child and Goldenness! Let’s welcome the new year happily!