The Star (album)

Seven months after their debut, on October 5, 2020, JO1 held a press conference at Tokyo's Esports Ginza Studio to announce the release of their first studio album, The Star, and their first online concert, Starlight.^[6] In keeping with the theme of their previous release, the album's concept images were unveiled on the same day and featured the members dressed in light-colored star-studded costumes, expressing their "shining selves".^[7]

The album was released in four editions on November 25, 2020, with seven new songs as well as all songs from previous EP singles, Protostar and Stargazer.^[8] The three limited editions (Red, Blue, Green) each has 15 tracks, including "Starlight", "Shine a Light", and a new song that is unique to each edition. The limited edition Red comes with a bonus DVD called JO1 Party, which is a talk segment with the members. The limited edition Green and Blue come with a photo book and an accordion card, respectively.^[9] The normal edition comes with a solo poster and features 19 tracks, including all new songs in the limited editions and JO1 version of Produce 101 Japan's "Yancha Boy Yancha Girl" and "Happy Merry Christmas".^[7] It was also released in digital format for streaming and download.

To celebrate the album's release, JO1 organized a live stream event on their official YouTube channel that day.^[10] They also appeared in a special episode of Music On! TV and released their second official Line sticker set.^[11][12] JO1 later released performance videos for "Safety Zone" and "Monstar",^[13][14] both directed by Naokazu Mitsuishi [ja].^[15][16]

JO1 promoted the album by performing "Shine a Light" in several television shows, including the 2020 FNS Music Festival on December 2, 2020.^[17] They also performed it alongside "Infinity" at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards Japan and the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) where they won the Rising Star Award and the Best New Asian Artist, respectively.^[18][19][20] In December, member Junki Kono performed an acoustic solo rendition of "Infinity" and "Voice" on the music YouTube channel The First Take.^[21] Both songs were later released as digital singles on January 13, 2021.^[22] On February 25, JO1 made their debut performance in South Korea by appearing on M Countdown.^[23] On February 28, JO1 headlined for Tokyo Girls Collection for the second time in a row, performing songs from the album.^[24] From November 3 to December 6, 2020, a special exhibition titled JO1 Museum: The Star was held sequentially at six HMV Museums across the country.^[25]

Concerts

Starlight

Quick facts Venue, Associated album ...

JO1 1st Live Streaming Concert "Starlight"

Live-stream concert by JO1
Venue	Pia Arena MM
Associated album	The Star
Date	December 19, 2020
Duration	2:20
Attendance	120,000
JO1 concert chronology
Starlight (2020) Starlight Deluxe (2021)

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Starlight (stylized as JO1 1st Live Streaming Concert "Starlight") was the first online concert by JO1, held on December 19, 2020, via Pia Live Stream [ja].^[6][40] The concert lasted two hours and twenty minutes and included talk and game segments.^[41] It attracted an estimated 120,000 viewers from 30 countries and regions besides Japan, including the United States, Australia, China, South Korea, and Indonesia.^[42][43] The concert was broadcast on TBS' cable television channel TBS Channel 1 [ja] on January 31, 2021, featuring an exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with the members.^[44]

The set list for the show was the following:^[6]

1. "Shine a Light"
2. "Monstar"
3. "Kungchikita" (JO1 ver.)
4. "GrandMaster" (JO1 ver.)
5. "Happy Merry Christmas" (JO1 ver.)
6. "Yancha Boy Yancha Girl" (JO1 ver.)
7. "Go"
8. "Oh-Eh-Oh"
9. "Tsukame (It's Coming)"

Encore

10. "Be With You"
11. "Infinity"

Starlight Deluxe

Quick facts Venue, Associated album ...

Starlight Deluxe

Live-stream concert by JO1
Venue	CJ ENM Studio Center
Associated album	The Star
Date	February 20, 2021
Attendance	120,000
JO1 concert chronology
Starlight (2020) Starlight Deluxe (2021) Open The Door (2021)

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Starlight Deluxe (stylized as JO1 Live Streaming Concert "Starlight Deluxe") was the second online concert by JO1, held on February 20, 2021.^[43] It was live streamed from Paju, South Korea.^[45] The show, themed around the group's journey into space, in space with the group, featured a longer set list, a series of spacecraft-themed VCRs, and a live band.^[46][47] It was viewed by more than 120,000 people from 40 countries and regions, including Japan, the United States, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, India, and France.^[48] The band versions of "Oh-Eh-Oh" and "Grandmaster" were released as digital singles on August 8, 2021.^[49]

The set list for the show was the following:^[46]

1. "Shine a Light"
2. "Monstar"
3. "Running"
4. "Go"
5. "Yancha Boy Yancha Girl" (JO1 ver.)
6. "My Friends"
7. "Young" (JO1 ver.)
8. "Voice"
9. "Be With You"
10. "Tsutaerareru Nara"
11. "Safety Zone"
12. "So What"
13. "Grandmaster" (Band ver.)
14. "Oh-Eh-Oh" (Band ver.)

Encore

15. "Tsukame (It's Coming)"
16. "Infinity"

Azusa Takahashi of Real Sound [ja] praised the group's rapid growth, which is visible throughout The Star, particularly in singing. She also stated that one of the album's charms is the amount of possibility shown by the wide range of tastes in the songs. Although some tracks were performed in Produce 101 Japan, she described them as "cohesive while retaining the freshness of the time." Takahashi closed her review by writing that the album is good in showing "factors that makeup JO1 as an artist", which include the bond between members, the "spices" found in the songs due to the members' uniqueness, and gratitude to their fans.^[50]

The Star debuted at number one on the Oricon Daily Albums Chart with an estimated 114,560 copies sold.^[51] It eventually peaked at number two on the weekly chart behind BTS' album Be, selling 158,333 copies and earning a Gold certification from the RIAJ.^[52][53] The album also peaked at number two on Billboard Japan Hot Albums and topped the sales component chart on its release week.^[54][55] The album's commercial success also propelled JO1 to third place on Billboard Japan Artist 100.^[56] By the end of 2020, the album has sold 173,753 physical copies, placing it at number twenty-one on the Oricon's annual ranking.^[57]

Because its release date did not occur within the aggregation period in 2020, The Star ranked number ten on the Billboard Japan album sales chart in the first half of 2021, with 195,255 physical copies sold.^[58] It eventually ranked twenty-second on the 2021 Year-End Hot Albums chart.^[59]

"Starlight", "Shine a Light" and "My Friends" are common track 1, 2 and 15, respectively, for all limited editions.

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[60] Track listing is based on The Star normal edition.