On September 21, Lay and S.M. Entertainment released teaser images for the album on different social media platforms. On September 25, the single "I Need U" was released as Lay's gift to his grandparents' on their 50th wedding anniversary.[1]
On September 27, it was confirmed by S.M. Entertainment that Lay will be releasing his second album Lay 02 Sheep on October 7, 2017.[2] Lay was a producer and personally executed the composition, arrangement and lyrics writing of all the songs as well as the directing of the music videos. On October 6, 2017 S.M. Entertainment released a teaser for the music video of "Sheep".[3]Lay 02 Sheep was officially released on October 7 (Lay's birthday) through online stores.
The music video for "I Need U" ranked #1 on Billboard'sChina Weibo Live Chart. In 12 hours, it hit more than 26 million views online, consecutively being the major 3 music chart's winner.[4][5] "I Need U" charted in 17 countries and ranked #1 on iTunes in 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Portugal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Hong Kong, China and more.[6][7]
On October 7, Lay performed a flash mob of "Sheep" in Sanlitun, Beijing.[8] The album premiere, "2017 Zhang Yixing Showcase" was held at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on October 12.[2] On October 21, Lay kickstarted the first stop of his "Lay 02 Sheep Signing Promo" at Hongqiao Art Centre, Shanghai.[9] The second wing of his "Lay 02 Sheep Signing Promo" continued at Shenzhen on October 29.[10] On November 5, the "Lay 02 Sheep Signing Promo" was wrapped up at Changsha, Hunan.[11] He subsequently performed the song at the reality talent show, The Next Season 2 on Dragon TV which he guested.[12] On December 31, Lay performed "Sheep", "Boss" and "Mask" on Hunan TV's Year End Concert.[13]
On its first day of digital sales, the album broke 5 records on QQ Music: Gold (¥250,000 in 30 seconds), Double Gold (¥500,000 in 45 seconds), Triple Gold (¥750,000 in 52 seconds), Platinum (¥1 million in 1 minute 10 seconds) and Diamond Record (¥5 million in 9 hours 11 minutes).[14] The album later broke a Double Diamond (¥70 million) record on May 3, 2018.[15]
The album entered iTunes Worldwide at #9, being the first Chinese singer to enter iTunes Worldwide Top 10 Albums list.[16] Within 2 hours, the album ranked #1 on iTunes in 10 countries including Japan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and more.[17]Billboard China ranked the lead song, "Sheep" at #2 on the Top 10 Chinese Songs of 2017.[18]
