H.O.T, High-Five Of Teenagers, debuted in 1996 in SM Entertainment (Also known as SM Town) with the producer Lee Soo Man. The lead singer Kang Ta (Ahn Chil Hyun) was discovered in Lotte World when a manager saw him singing and dancing. He began his training at age 14 and was a back up dancer for singer Yoo Young Jin. Also a backup dancer for Yoo Young Jin, Moon Hee Jun entered the company by attending auditions. Moon Hee Jun then recommended youngest member Lee Jae Won whom he knew from school. Rapper Jang Woo Hyuk was asked to try out for the band after winning first place in a dancing competition. Lastly, Tony An (An Seung Ho) was discovered by Brothers Entertainment in LA, California, and placed in SM Town with Andy Lee, who was removed from H.O.T and later put into ShinHwa.

The band's debut album "We Hate All Kinds of Violence", 1996, brought H.O.T under some criticism when their song "Warrior's Decent" was found to be a plagiarization of a Cyprus Hill song. Their next song from that album "Candy" sent H.O.T to the top of the charts with its catchy and cuter image. Their second album "Wolf & Sheep", 1997, brought more controversy when their title song was banned from stations because of explicit language. The second song released from that album "Full of Happiness" topped the charts and set a record for selling over 100,000 copies in 10 days. Toward the end of their career as a group the members began writing much of their own music and lyrics. Their last three albums "Resurrection", "Iyah" and "Outside Castle", had lyrics almost entirely composed by the members. In addition to that, Moon Hee Jun and Jang Woo Hyuk did much of the choreography for their dances.

Even within H.O.T, the band went beyond the spectrum of music for business ventures. They stared in a soccer themed movie "Age of Peace", also releasing a sound track by the same name, which was only released in theaters in Japan and ran slightly under 30 minutes long. Directed by Lawrence Lee, the movie was released in 2000 and, besides the members themselves, was wholly computerized. Many products of the band were put out as well, such as necklaces, perfume (in 3 scents, blue as Hero Spicy, green as Optimist Fresh, and red as Twinkle Floral) and a soda brand in 3 flavors with the catch phrase "I only drink H.O.T"

Throughout their career, H.O.T kept a clean image and participated in many public service ads. They have retained their good image even under intense scrutiny and rumors. The members have had friendly rivalries and collaborations with many other artists as a group and then as solo artists. Many artists have inlisted their help in their albums. A friend of the band, Kim Hwan Sung from NRG, died tragically at the age of 19 and Kang Ta wrote the main track to NRG's following album that was released in his honor.

The disbandment of H.O.T in May of 2001 came as a shock, coming on the heals of their denial of rumors of breaking up and proclamations of "H.O.T Forever" The break up caused controversy as to what the actual reason for it was. Rumors had it that the break up was due to financial issues, the royalties the members received were about 1 cent per album sold. Members Moon Hee Jun and Kang Ta signed contracts with SM Town while Lee Jae Won, Tony An, and Jang Woo Hyuk were offered much less profitable contracts and left the company. Moon Hee Jun and Kang Ta came under a lot of criticism for allegedly causing the break up by not signing their contracts as a group though many believe Lee Soo Man arranged the break up.

After the split of H.O.T, members Lee Jae Won, Tony An, and Jang Woo Hyuk formed the group JTL (J for Jang Woo Hyuk, T for Tony An and L for Lee Jae Won) who have since then moved on to solo careers. Moon Hee Jun went solo with a much criticized rock image and Kang Ta remaining in the pop genre. Kang Ta has done a few project albums, the first being in the group "S" with ShinHwa member Shin Hye Sung and singer Lee Ji Hoon, and next with Taiwanese singer Vanness Wu from F4. All of the members have taken part in the business world since being in H.O.T. Jang Woo Hyuk, who has earned a reputation as "The Prince of Dance Music", was the first by creating Newest Academy, a dance school. Moon Hee Jun created PS Studio and PS Entertainment. Kang Ta created Kt Studio and has become a shareholder in SM Entertainment. Tony An created Tn Entertainment but also ventured out of the entertainment world and into the fashion world by becoming the CEO of Skoolooks and Shineinhs. Lastly, Lee Jae Won has created T.I. Story.

There are a few images that are synonymous with the band H.O.T. Imigery of H.O.T as angels originated from their music video "Promise of H.O.T" where all the members were animated as angels. The color white represents the band because it is their official "fan color" and is still used for each member in their solo activities. Fans of H.O.T are referred to as "White Angels" and H.O.T's fan club is known as "Forever The White Angels".

H.O.T set a lot of records and became the first to do many things. Below is a list of some of those. Credit to the Dedicated to H.O.T. forum.

• First singer in the Nation of Korea to hold a solo group concert in the Seoul Olympic Stadium
• First singer/group to have tickets sold out in 10 minutes (Olympic Stadium Concert in 2001)
• H.O.T is the ONLY group/singer that caused the subway system of Korea to extend their hours
• For the first time, the school district gave out an order to allow the whole nation's students to be dismissed early because of an H.O.T concert
• First singer to have official fanclub exceeded over 100,000 members (unofficial fanclub exceeded over 200,000 members)
• First Korean star to have a fan club established in China (Over 8,000,000 members)
• First singer ever to have their own beverage drink and perfume brand
• First singer/group to have their own balloon color, regular color, events with the fans
• First singer/group to have their own television shows
• H.O.T fans were the first ever to start writing fanfics (in Korea)
• H.O.T fans were the first to raise money and advertise and pay for a singer's album (Moon Hee Jun 3rd album)
• First singer to claim the first place in album sales after only 2 months after debut
• First singer to receive 7 daesangs in 1 year
• First singer to reach number 1 on the comeback day
• First singer to have an animated music video
• First group to receive a KBS daesang award
• First singer to hold a 'fanmeeting'
• First Korean singer to perform with Michael Jackson
• First singer to have animated characters
• Has the highest record for the most traffic of bus and police in concerts and performances
• Has the highest record for most number of bodyguards used in a concert
• The first singer to hold a birthday party in a gym
• First singer to participate in an OST for a Disney movie
• First to establish a fanclub (in Korea)
• All formal albums (H.O.T's 1st though 5th albums) achieved over 100,000 copies in a given time
• First singer to have a 3D movie (Age of Peace)
• First singer to achieve the comedian status (Moon Hee Jun)
• First singer in the nation to have a novel released about them (Lee Ji Lyun's Hyub ga ggi)
• First singer to have a television station prepare 1 hour stage performance as comeback special
• First singer to have a television station prepare 1 hour stage performance as ‘adieu' (goodbye) special
• First Korean group to attend MTV Awards (The promo video for this 'We Are The Future' earned an American MTV Video Award for Best International Video in 1998)
• First Korean group to break music record in Korea music industry