Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls (Korean: 원더걸스) was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony" and 5 members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna's departure in July, Yubin was added into the group prior to the release of their debut studio album, The Wonder Years (2007). The album spawned the hit single "Tell Me", which topped various South Korean music charts.
Wonder Girls further established themselves as one of the top girl groups in the country with the hit singles "So Hot" and "Nobody", released in 2008. After being released as a single in the U.S. in 2009, "Nobody" charted at No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Wonder Girls the first South Korean act to enter the chart.[1] The group began their entry into the American market the same year as an opening act for the Jonas Brothers' World Tour, performing English versions of their songs.
In early 2010, Sunmi left the group to pursue an academic career and was replaced by Hyerim prior to the worldwide release of the single "2 Different Tears" later that year. Their second studio album, Wonder World (2011), yielded the hit single "Be My Baby". In 2012, Wonder Girls starred in the TeenNick movie The Wonder Girls, and released their last 3 singles as a quintet, notably "Like This" and "Like Money", before going on a 3-year long hiatus. In 2015, it was announced that Sunye and Sohee decided to leave the group while Sunmi would resume promotion with the remaining members. The 4-piece adapted a band-oriented concept for their acclaimed third and final studio album, Reboot (2015), and the No. 1 2016 single "Why So Lonely".
Wonder Girls are also known as "South Korea's Retro Queens",[2] as their music has been noted to contain elements from the 1960s through 80s.[3] In 2017, Billboard ranked Wonder Girls at number 3 on their "Top 10 K-pop Girl Groups of the Past Decade" list.[4] The group officially disbanded on January 26, 2017, after unsuccessful contract renewal negotiation with some of its members. On February 10, 2017, they released their final single "Draw Me", which also served as a celebration of their 10th anniversary.
Artistry and influences[edit]
Musical styles[edit]
The Wonder Girls are known for their signature retro sound and concept. Their music has been noted to contain elements from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.[3] The Wonder Girls are known as "South Korea's Retro Queens",[2] as their music has been noted to contain elements from the 1960s, such as in their hit "Nobody", 1970s, such as in the reggae track "Why So Lonely", and 1980s, heard on the songs "Tell Me", "So Hot", "2 Different Tears", "Be My Baby" and "I Feel You". Their music videos also allude to vintage fashion and performance, with "Nobody" being mostly inspired by African-American 1960s culture and famous R&B group The Supremes, while "I Feel You" takes place in 1987 and shows the members playing their own instruments and various other scenes with heavy 1980s inspiration.
Impact[edit]
Wonder Girls ranked number one on Gallup Korea's polls for Singer of the Year for two consecutive years in 2007 and 2008,[78][79] with "Tell Me" and "Nobody" likewise topping their polls for Song of the Year in 2007 and 2008, respectively.[80] "Tell Me" was voted the number one idol hit of all time in a survey of 22,000 participants conducted by Research Panel Korea in 2013,[81] and was included in Mnet's list of Legend 100 Songs that have captured the public since the 1960s in 2014.[82] Billboard ranked Wonder Girls the third best K-pop girl group of the past decade in 2017, writing how they "dominated South Korea with their modernized retropop sound" with hits "'Tell Me' and 'Nobody' [becoming] some of K-pop's first-ever viral successes".[83] The same publication ranked "Nobody" number 43 in their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time, deeming its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 "a breakthrough moment in K-pop history".[84] "Tell Me" was ranked one of the top 10 greatest K-pop songs of all time by Melon (number 9)[85] and Rolling Stone (number 10).[86] In 2022, Us Weekly named them one of the best girl groups of all time.[87]