In 2019, SM Entertainment created their own “Avengers of K-Pop”, SuperM. This supergroup is made up of seven members from four of SM Entertainment’s top boy groups: SHINee, EXO, NCT, and WayV. Here’s how each member joined the company.

1. Baekhyun

Baekhyun is the leader of SuperM and a member of EXO. At age 11, Baekhyun started training to become a singer, and in high school he was the lead singer of a band called Honsusangtae.

When Baekhyun was studying for his entrance exams for the Seoul Institute of the Arts, an SM Entertainment recruiter spotted him. He ended up joining SM Entertainment through the SM Casting System in 2011, then trained for approximately a year before debuting in EXO.

2. Taemin

Like Baekhyun, Taemin discovered his love for music at a young age, as well as his love for dance. Some parents aren’t supportive of their child’s idol dreams, but that wasn’t the case for Taemin. When his parents saw just how talented he is, they encouraged him to audition for SM Open Weekend Audition Casting in 2005.

SM Entertainment must have seen what Taemin’s parents saw in him because they signed him right away! When SHINee made their debut in 2008, Taemin became one of the youngest idols in K-Pop history. He was just 14 years old.

3. Kai

Kai began his dance journey at the tender age of 8. Although he started off with jazz, Kai switched to ballet after seeing The Nutcracker ballet. In the beginning, his parents wanted him to pursue piano and Taekwondo, but Kai’s father eventually encouraged him to audition for SM Entertainment.

Kai won SM Entertainment’s SM Youth Best Contest in 2007, Kai signed with the company, and began training there at just 13 years old. Five years later, he debuted alongside Baekhyun in EXO.

4. Taeyong

Like many would-be idols, Taeyong received a musical education at the famous School of Performing Arts in Seoul. At age 18, an SM Entertainment recruiter scouted Taeyong when they saw him on the street.

After passing his audition by singing South Korea’s national anthem, Taeyong joined the predebut training group SM Rookies in 2013. He made his official debut with NCT U in 2016, then debuted as the leader of NCT 127 later that same year.

5. Ten

Ten could have debuted in a different group, in a different company had he said “yes” instead of “no” back in 2010. At age 14, Ten won first place on the Thai show Teen Superstar, but he decided to turn down the opportunity to sign with Starship Entertainment.

Instead, he successfully auditioned for SM Entertainment through their global auditions in 2013. He joined SM Rookies at the end of that year, and went on to debut in NCT U in 2016, followed by WayV in 2019.

6. Lucas

Like Ten, Lucas joined SM Entertainment after passing a global audition, in Hong Kong. Passing that audition is impressive enough, but even more impressive is this: Lucas was accepted after only modeling for SM Entertainment once! There was just no mistaking his talent, or his good looks.

In 2017, Lucas joined SM Rookies, and a year later he was unveiled as one of the newest members of NCT 2018. Like Ten, he is also a member of WayV.

7. Mark

SM Entertainment searches around the world for top talent, and they found it all the way in Canada! After being encouraged by his brother to pursue music, Mark successfully auditioned for SM Entertainment in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Like many of his SuperM members, Mark was part of the predebut team SM Rookies. In 2016, Mark debuted in NCT U, then in NCT 127.