Jewelry (group)
Encyclopedia
Jewelry is a South Korean girl group
. After releasing their first album
with low sales, the group eventually rose to prominence via their second album
and reached their commercial peak with their fourth album Superstar, which spawned a number-one hit for them. After branching out in Japan with only limited success, the group came back with two new members in 2008 with the hit song "One More Time". As of 2010, they are the longest running Korean girl group ever, surpassing super-group Baby V.O.X.
. After less-than-stellar sales of the first album, two of the singers were replaced. A year later, their second album, Again
, was released, with much better results. Full of strong R&B ballads (as opposed to the sexy dance songs that were popular at that time), the album quickly yielded two high-charting singles — "Again" and "Tonight" — which started the group's rise to popularity. This was quickly followed by their third album Beloved
, which had a very cutesy theme. Their first single "니가 참 좋아" ("I Really Like You") was very poppy and had Jewelry adopt a cutesy concept to match the song, with colorful outfits and perky dances. The title track, Be My Love, was also promoted. Even though album sales for Again and Beloved were great, the group was unhappy with their current image, and did not want to be known for only their cute and innocent songs.
. After releasing a few materials there with mediocre sales, the group eventually left to return to their native country to release their fourth album.
member Lee Min Woo
) was a driven rock
song and surprisingly became a huge hit. They followed this up with the sexy R&B number "Passion", which also charted strongly. Both of these singles prominently featured "sexy" member Seo In-Young dance scantily-clad in short solos, which brought the group much press attention (both positive and negative). In 2006, Jewelry took a break from the Korean music industry in order to focus on Japan. During that time, member Ji-Hyun left to pursue an acting career. In early November, news also leaked out that another member, Cho Min-Ah, has also left, which forced their record company to look for a second replacement member. As Park Jung-Ah and Seo In-young had solo projects, a new album was not expected until mid-2007.
's song, composed by Sannie Carlson (Whigfield
). "One More Time" has mirrored the success of Jewelry's 2005 hit single, "Superstar" in South Korea, reaching the No. 1 spot on MBC's
Music Core and KBS's Music Bank, two weeks after the song's debut. The single has also achieve success online, topping the charts of various music websites, including Melon, Dosirak, Bugs Music, M.Net.com, Muz and Juke On. "One More Time" became the most successful single of Jewelry to date, staying on the no.1 spot for 7 weeks in a row on MBC's
Music Core and KBS's Music Bank. In spring of 2008, a second single, "모두 다 쉿" ("Everybody Shh!"), was released and promoted.
The group was awarded with a Daesang (대상, a "Top Award"), for highest digital sales in 2008.
on January 22, and the full single was made available on February 6. Baby J and Eunjung made their live comeback on M. Countdown on February 5, where they sang "들어봐" ("Listen") and the lead single from their mini-album, "데이트" ("Date"). The music video for "Date" features cameo appearances from Jewelry members Park Jung Ah and Seo In Young.
They released a new single in June 2009 titled "Super Star" with the song "Rally" which features rapper Nassun. The song is for MNet's talent competition, Superstar K
, which is similar to American Idol and Britain's Got Talent. A music video was also released and features the group's performance of the song on Mnet's M! Countdown as well as scenes of Superstar K.
About a week prior to the album release, the song "Strong Girl" was released as a digital single. Their 6th album Sophisticated was released on the 27th of August and features the single "Vari2ty", the music video for the song was also released on the same day.
It was announced in December 2009 that members Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah would be leaving the group after completing promotional activities for Sophisticated and fully commit to their solo careers. Park stated that as an original member of Jewelry and being with the group for 10 years, it was time for her to depart. Korean media reports Superstar K top 10 contender Semi as highly likely to replace them.
A repackaged edition of their 6th album entitled "End And.." was released on December 17, 2009 with the single "Love Story". It was composed by the same producer of Davichi
's hit song "Hate Though I Love You" and describes the feelings of Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah's departures.
On January 17, 2011, Jewelry released their comeback teaser with their new members. The teaser featured the group practicing their choreography and also had clips of the girls casually hanging out together. The group underwent a 180-degree change, shedding their cutesy image and changing into a more powerful 'locking' hip hop dance style and b-girls concept. It was revealed that the group would have their comeback release a digital single on January 27, 2011, entitled "Back It Up", produced by Outsidaz. Two days later on January 19, 2011, it was revealed that Jewelry's fourth member, Yewon, had joined Jewelry. Yewon was revealed by fans through a 'Jewelry Puzzle Game', which also revealed a 20-second teaser of "Back It Up". It was known that Yewon was a trainee under Star Empire Entertainment for five years and was born in 1989.
On January 27, 2011, "Back It Up", the digital single, was released. It was a 180-degree change of Jewelry, shedding their sexy image into a cute and more fun image. The single had a genre of swing and retro. The single reached a certain amount of success however it was not as successful as their previous single with the two members, Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah, One More Time which topped the charts for seven consecutive weeks. The band ended their promotions on the middle of March 2011 and had announced their upcoming comeback on mid May 2011.
On May 9, 2011, Jewelry's label, Star Empire Entertainment, shared some old videos of Jewelry rehearsing various songs before they made their comeback in January with two new members. Then after sharing videos of them, Star Empire announced that Jewelry was set to come back the next week however they have not yet set an official comeback date for the group. Then two days later, the company released a photo teaser of the four members which had a fantasy "elf" inspires concept. Then on May 13, 2011 they released their second batch of teaser photos. Then two days after, they released their digital single "Pass". The MV teaser was released a day after featuring Hwang Kwang Hee
of boyband ZE:A
.
Eunjung
Yewon
Semi
In Young "Elly"
Minah
Jihyun
Yoojin
Eunmi
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
. After releasing their first album
Discovery (Jewelry album)
Discovery is the debut studio album by K-pop girl group, Jewelry. It was released on March 30, 2001 on Star Empire Entertainment.- Overview :...
with low sales, the group eventually rose to prominence via their second album
Again (Jewelry album)
Again is the second studio album by K-pop group, Jewelry. It was released on July 31, 2002 on Star Empire Entertainment.-Overview:...
and reached their commercial peak with their fourth album Superstar, which spawned a number-one hit for them. After branching out in Japan with only limited success, the group came back with two new members in 2008 with the hit song "One More Time". As of 2010, they are the longest running Korean girl group ever, surpassing super-group Baby V.O.X.
Baby V.O.X.
Baby V.O.X. was one of South Korea's girl groups, associated with record company DR Music. Although it initially had much internal turmoil, Baby V.O.X. eventually became a cohesive group from 1999 to 2005, releasing hit albums.However, after the failure of their last album Ride West, it began to...
Debut
Jewelry debuted in 2001 with their first album DiscoveryDiscovery (Jewelry album)
Discovery is the debut studio album by K-pop girl group, Jewelry. It was released on March 30, 2001 on Star Empire Entertainment.- Overview :...
. After less-than-stellar sales of the first album, two of the singers were replaced. A year later, their second album, Again
Again (Jewelry album)
Again is the second studio album by K-pop group, Jewelry. It was released on July 31, 2002 on Star Empire Entertainment.-Overview:...
, was released, with much better results. Full of strong R&B ballads (as opposed to the sexy dance songs that were popular at that time), the album quickly yielded two high-charting singles — "Again" and "Tonight" — which started the group's rise to popularity. This was quickly followed by their third album Beloved
Beloved (Jewelry album)
Beloved is the third studio album by K-pop group, Jewelry. It was released on July 4, 2003 on Star Empire Entertainment.-Overview:In 2003, Jewelry returned to their previous "cute" concept, but less emphasis on the cuteness, unlike the first album...
, which had a very cutesy theme. Their first single "니가 참 좋아" ("I Really Like You") was very poppy and had Jewelry adopt a cutesy concept to match the song, with colorful outfits and perky dances. The title track, Be My Love, was also promoted. Even though album sales for Again and Beloved were great, the group was unhappy with their current image, and did not want to be known for only their cute and innocent songs.
Entry into Japan
After the success of their second album, Jewelry left for Japan to start on their career there in 2004 with their first single Kokoro ga Tomaranai under the independent label Giza StudioGIZA studio
is a Japanese record label....
. After releasing a few materials there with mediocre sales, the group eventually left to return to their native country to release their fourth album.
Breakout album: Superstar
By the time their fourth album Superstar came out in the beginning of 2005, Jewelry has since shed their "cute image" concept. Following the trend in Korean pop, they became sexier and more womanly, which helped bring about their current level of success. The first single "Superstar" (written by ShinhwaShinhwa
Shinhwa is a popular South Korean boy band and hip hop group. The group has six members , and debuted on March 24, 1998. It has enjoyed massive success alongside the likes of Sechs Kies, g.o.d., Turbo , Fin. K.L., H.O.T. and S.E.S...
member Lee Min Woo
Lee Min Woo
Lee Min Woo , mononymously credited as M as a solo artist, was born on 28 July 1979. He is a South Korean entertainer, known as a member of six-member boy band Shinhwa. Lee was the fourth member picked for the group. As part of Shinhwa, he has recorded nine studio albums as a vocalist and a rapper...
) was a driven rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
song and surprisingly became a huge hit. They followed this up with the sexy R&B number "Passion", which also charted strongly. Both of these singles prominently featured "sexy" member Seo In-Young dance scantily-clad in short solos, which brought the group much press attention (both positive and negative). In 2006, Jewelry took a break from the Korean music industry in order to focus on Japan. During that time, member Ji-Hyun left to pursue an acting career. In early November, news also leaked out that another member, Cho Min-Ah, has also left, which forced their record company to look for a second replacement member. As Park Jung-Ah and Seo In-young had solo projects, a new album was not expected until mid-2007.
Group reconfiguration, return
In early 2008, Jewelry returned to the music scene with their new members Baby J and Eunjung with the release of their fifth album, Kitchi Island. Released on February 20, 2008, the album featured the single "One More Time", a cover of In-GridIn-Grid
Ingrid Alberini is an Italian dancer and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 2003 international club smash "Tu es foutu", also known as "You Promised Me"...
's song, composed by Sannie Carlson (Whigfield
Whigfield
Sannie Charlotte Carlson , best known as Whigfield and also as Naan, is a Danish singer best known for the song "Saturday Night", a hugely popular single during the summer of 1994.-Biography:...
). "One More Time" has mirrored the success of Jewelry's 2005 hit single, "Superstar" in South Korea, reaching the No. 1 spot on MBC's
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC (Hangul : 문화방송주식회사, Munhwa Bangsong Jushikoesa) is one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks. Munhwa is the Korean word for "culture". Its flagship terrestrial television...
Music Core and KBS's Music Bank, two weeks after the song's debut. The single has also achieve success online, topping the charts of various music websites, including Melon, Dosirak, Bugs Music, M.Net.com, Muz and Juke On. "One More Time" became the most successful single of Jewelry to date, staying on the no.1 spot for 7 weeks in a row on MBC's
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC (Hangul : 문화방송주식회사, Munhwa Bangsong Jushikoesa) is one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks. Munhwa is the Korean word for "culture". Its flagship terrestrial television...
Music Core and KBS's Music Bank. In spring of 2008, a second single, "모두 다 쉿" ("Everybody Shh!"), was released and promoted.
The group was awarded with a Daesang (대상, a "Top Award"), for highest digital sales in 2008.
2009
In early 2009, members Baby J and Eunjung returned to the Korean music market, under the name "Jewelry S", debuting as a sub-group. Their mini-album, Sweet Song was released in digital formatDigital distribution
Online distribution, digital distribution, or electronic software distribution is the practice of delivering content without the use of physical media, typically by downloading via the internet directly to a consumer's device. Online distribution bypasses conventional physical distribution media,...
on January 22, and the full single was made available on February 6. Baby J and Eunjung made their live comeback on M. Countdown on February 5, where they sang "들어봐" ("Listen") and the lead single from their mini-album, "데이트" ("Date"). The music video for "Date" features cameo appearances from Jewelry members Park Jung Ah and Seo In Young.
They released a new single in June 2009 titled "Super Star" with the song "Rally" which features rapper Nassun. The song is for MNet's talent competition, Superstar K
Superstar K
Superstar K is a South Korean television talent show series which is held monthly. First held in 1998, Superstar K has increasingly gained more attention as the equivalent of American Idol...
, which is similar to American Idol and Britain's Got Talent. A music video was also released and features the group's performance of the song on Mnet's M! Countdown as well as scenes of Superstar K.
About a week prior to the album release, the song "Strong Girl" was released as a digital single. Their 6th album Sophisticated was released on the 27th of August and features the single "Vari2ty", the music video for the song was also released on the same day.
It was announced in December 2009 that members Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah would be leaving the group after completing promotional activities for Sophisticated and fully commit to their solo careers. Park stated that as an original member of Jewelry and being with the group for 10 years, it was time for her to depart. Korean media reports Superstar K top 10 contender Semi as highly likely to replace them.
A repackaged edition of their 6th album entitled "End And.." was released on December 17, 2009 with the single "Love Story". It was composed by the same producer of Davichi
Davichi
Davichi is a South Korean duet female group made up of Lee Hae-ri and Kang Min-kyung . Davichi is derived from the Korean word "Dabichi" meaning the light to shine over the world....
's hit song "Hate Though I Love You" and describes the feelings of Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah's departures.
2010–2011 Back It Up Album, Pass
On June 14, 2010, it was announced that Semi, one of the Top 10 finalists in Superstar K Season 1, would be joining Jewelry. On November 17, Star Empire Entertainment announced that they were planning on changing the group's name but later announced on December 15 Jewelry would retain their group name and would not change it; they also announced the group's comeback was delayed until January 2011.On January 17, 2011, Jewelry released their comeback teaser with their new members. The teaser featured the group practicing their choreography and also had clips of the girls casually hanging out together. The group underwent a 180-degree change, shedding their cutesy image and changing into a more powerful 'locking' hip hop dance style and b-girls concept. It was revealed that the group would have their comeback release a digital single on January 27, 2011, entitled "Back It Up", produced by Outsidaz. Two days later on January 19, 2011, it was revealed that Jewelry's fourth member, Yewon, had joined Jewelry. Yewon was revealed by fans through a 'Jewelry Puzzle Game', which also revealed a 20-second teaser of "Back It Up". It was known that Yewon was a trainee under Star Empire Entertainment for five years and was born in 1989.
On January 27, 2011, "Back It Up", the digital single, was released. It was a 180-degree change of Jewelry, shedding their sexy image into a cute and more fun image. The single had a genre of swing and retro. The single reached a certain amount of success however it was not as successful as their previous single with the two members, Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah, One More Time which topped the charts for seven consecutive weeks. The band ended their promotions on the middle of March 2011 and had announced their upcoming comeback on mid May 2011.
On May 9, 2011, Jewelry's label, Star Empire Entertainment, shared some old videos of Jewelry rehearsing various songs before they made their comeback in January with two new members. Then after sharing videos of them, Star Empire announced that Jewelry was set to come back the next week however they have not yet set an official comeback date for the group. Then two days later, the company released a photo teaser of the four members which had a fantasy "elf" inspires concept. Then on May 13, 2011 they released their second batch of teaser photos. Then two days after, they released their digital single "Pass". The MV teaser was released a day after featuring Hwang Kwang Hee
Hwang Kwang Hee
Hwang Kwanghee , also known mononymously as Kwanghee, is a member of the nine-member South Korean boyband ZE:A, which debuted on 7 January 2010 with the single Mazeltov...
of boyband ZE:A
ZE:A
ZE:A , also known as Children of Empire, is a South Korean 9-member boy band formed under Star Empire Entertainment. The group released their debut EP, Nativity, and lead single, "Mazeltov" on January 7, 2010, alongside their showcase performance five days later...
.
Members
Jooyeon "Baby J"- Birth Name: Ha Jooyeon
- Birthday: July 16, 1986
- Position: Main Rapper, Main Dancer
- Time With Band: 2008 to Present
Eunjung
- Birth Name: Kim Eun Jung
- Birthday: November 28, 1986
- Position: Leader, Lead Vocalist
- Time With Band: 2008 to Present
Yewon
- Birth Name: Kim Yewon
- Birthday: December 5, 1989
- Position: Main Vocalist
- Time With Band: 2011 to Present
Semi
- Birth Name: Park SeMi
- Birthday: October 8, 1990
- Position: Vocalist
- Time With Band: 2011 to Present
Former Members
Jung Ah- Birth Name: Park Jung Ah
- Position: Leader, Lead Vocalist
- Time With Band 2001-2010
In Young "Elly"
- Birth Name: Seo In Young
- Position: Main Vocalist
- Time With Band 2002-2010
Minah
- Birth Name: Cho Min-Ah
- Position: Vocalist
- Time With Band 2002-2006
Jihyun
- Birth Name: Lee Jihyun
- Position: Vocalist
- Time With Band 2001-2006
Yoojin
- Birth Name: Jung YooJin
- Position: Vocalist
- Time With Band 2001-2002
Eunmi
- Birth Name: Jun EunMi
- Position: Vocalist
- Time With Band 2001-2002
Timeline
| Term | Year | # Album | Current Members | Former Members | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2011- | 7th | Eunjung | Baby J | Semi | Yewon | ||||||
| 3 | 2008—2010 | 6th | Park Jung Ah | Seo In Young | ||||||||
| 5th | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 2002—2006 | 4th | Lee Ji Hyun | Cho Min Ah | ||||||||
| 3rd | ||||||||||||
| 2nd | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 2001 | 1st | Jung Yoo Jin | Jun Eun Mi | ||||||||
Korean albums
| Year | Information |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Discovery Discovery (Jewelry album) Discovery is the debut studio album by K-pop girl group, Jewelry. It was released on March 30, 2001 on Star Empire Entertainment.- Overview :... |
| 2002 | Again |
| 2003 | Beloved |
| 2005 | Superstar |
| Passion (Repackage) | |
| 2008 | Kitchi Island |
| Kitchi Island 2 (Repackage) | |
| 2009 | Sophisticated |
| End And... (Repackage) | |
| 2011 | Back It Up Jewelry |
| Pass - Jewelry |
Japanese albums
| Year | Information |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Jewelry First
|
Japanese singles
| Year | Title | Release date | Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Mune Ippai no Kono Ai wo Dareyori Kimi ni" | June 16, 2004 | 35 |
| "Delight Sweet Life" | August 25, 2004 | 49 | |
| 2005 | "Shiro no Fantasy" | January 19, 2005 | 69 |
| "Superstar" | July 27, 2005 | 113 |
Awards
| Years | Awards |
|---|---|
| 2002 |
|
| 2003 |
M.net KM Music Festival The Mnet Asian Music Awards , is a major music award show that is held by Mnet Media annually in South Korea, involving the participation of some of the most well-known actors and singers... : Best Female Group Seoul Music Awards The Seoul Music Awards is an awards show founded in 1990 that is presented annually by the Sports Seoul for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea.- Categories :... : Bonsang Award Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disk Awards is an awards show founded in 1986 that is presented annually by the Music Industry Association of Korea for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea... : Best Music Video Director Award |
| 2005 |
M.net KM Music Festival The Mnet Asian Music Awards , is a major music award show that is held by Mnet Media annually in South Korea, involving the participation of some of the most well-known actors and singers... : Best Female Group Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disk Awards is an awards show founded in 1986 that is presented annually by the Music Industry Association of Korea for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea... : Popular M/V Award (Super Star) KBS Music Awards The KBS Music Awards was a major music awards show that is held annually in South Korea.-KBS Music Awards, era:*2005: Kim Jong Kook*2004: Rain*2003: Lee Hyori*2002: Jang Nara*2001: g.o.d.*2000: g.o.d.*1999: Jo Sungmo*1998: H.O.T.... : Best Female Group |
| 2008 |
M.net KM Music Festival The Mnet Asian Music Awards , is a major music award show that is held by Mnet Media annually in South Korea, involving the participation of some of the most well-known actors and singers... : House/Electronic Music Award (One More Time) Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disk Awards is an awards show founded in 1986 that is presented annually by the Music Industry Association of Korea for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea... : Digital Daesang Award |
External links
- Jewelry - Official Fan Café