The first of five spin-offs from the chart-dominating K-pop collective, Super Junior-K.R.Y. are known for their lush, epic vocal pop ballads, many of which have appeared in TV drama series.

K-pop, like other East Asian pop movements, is well-known for its "sub-units" that spin off from larger parent groups. Super Junior-K.R.Y. were the very first of these. Formed in 2006, just a year after the debut of their parent group, Super Junior, the sub-unit consisted of three main vocalists: Yesung, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. While the music of Super Junior was very varied -- ranging from rap-rock to electro-pop and everything in between -- K.R.Y.'s focus was on lush, Disneyesque ballads with a '90s soul-pop feel that best showed off the three members' fine singing voices. The group initially focused on recording soundtrack songs for TV drama serials: their first tune was the heartfelt "The One I Love," from the show Hyena, and their next songs appeared in series like Snow Flower and To the Beautiful You.

Super Junior-K.R.Y. toured Asia in 2010, accruing a big fan base, especially in Japan, where their 2012 winter special concert in Yokohama sold out of all 15,000 tickets in three seconds. Kept busy with their day job in the main Super Junior group, the trio did not in fact release a record until the 2013 single "Promise You." Issued only in Japan, it hit number two in the Oricon chart. They then went on hiatus for two years while Yesung completed his compulsory military service, returning in 2015 with another Japan-only single, "Join Hands," which went to number three. Another, longer hiatus ensued while the other two members took military service, which ended in 2019. K.R.Y.'s first mini-album, When We Were Us -- the first Korean record release in their 14-year career -- arrived in 2020, topping the Korean charts and entering the Top Ten in Japan. ~ John D. Buchanan, Rovi