T-ara (; ) is a South Korean girl group formed in 2009, currently consisting of four members: Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their close partnership with composer Shinsadong Tiger. They have been referred to as the "Chameleons of K-pop" for their versatile concepts and experimentation with musical genres. The group achieved commercial success in several regions in Asia including South Korea and China, and their single "Roly-Poly" (2011) became one of the most downloaded domestic singles since 2011 and the most downloaded girl group single to date.
T-ara made their debut with the single "Lies" in 2009. Their debut studio album Absolute First Album (2009) was well received critically and spawned the hit singles "TTL (Time to Love)", "Bo Peep Bo Peep", and "You Drive Me Crazy". Both their debut Japanese single and studio album reached number one on the Oricon weekly charts and were subsequently certified gold. They subsequently gained nationwide recognition after releasing "Roly-Poly" (2011) which went on to become the Gaon chart's best-selling single of the year. T-ara signed onto Japanese management agency J-Rock for $4.7 million—reportedly the highest figure of any Korean girl group expanding into the territory at the time. T-ara's Korean EP Black Eyes (2011) spawned three consecutive number ones: "Cry Cry", "We Were in Love" and "Lovey-Dovey".
In 2012, T-ara experienced a dip in popularity as the group faced accusations of internal discord, resulting in Hwayoung's immediate departure with Areum following a year after. T-ara's later material was released to varying degrees of success before the group began focusing on promotional activities in China, where they attracted attention for their cover of Chopstick Brothers "Little Apple" (2014). T-ara's final release as six members was tentatively scheduled for May 2017, ahead of Soyeon and Boram's expiring contracts. However, conflicts with their management delayed What's My Name? until June 2017, effectively ending their involvement. After a four-year hiatus, T-ara reunited and released their first independent single album, Re:T-ara, in 2021. T-ara has sold 1.14 million albums and over 35 million digital singles as of 2020, making them among the best-selling girl groups.
Name
The group's name, T-ara, is based on the English word for "tiara". The name T-ara stems from the idea that they will become the "queens of the music industry". This later inspired their official fandom name, Queen's.
History
2009–2010: Formation, debut and breakthrough The original pre-debut five T-ara members (Jiae, Jiwon, Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon) trained together for nearly three years under Mnet Media. In April 2009, they released their pre-debut song "Good Person" for the Cinderella Man soundtrack. The song is a remake of SG Wannabe's soundtrack of the same name. It climbed into the top fifty on various streaming platforms, as well as topping multiple soundtrack charts. Jiyeon teamed up with labelmates SeeYa and Davichi for a collaboration single titled "Women's Generation", which was released in May 2009. The single achieved nationwide success and became the group's first Top three single on the charts.
In June 2009, Mnet Media announced that Jiae and Jiwon would be leaving T-ara due to differences in music style. The first new member to be added was Boram, the daughter of singer Jeon Young-rok and actress Lee Mi-young, who was contacted a month before debut after the CEO of Core Contents Media watched a video clip of her dancing to BoA's "My Name". She had previously released two singles as a solo artist to moderate success, and was also an actress and magazine model. Three weeks before debut, Soyeon, a former SM Entertainment trainee originally slated to be a main vocalist and leader of Girls' Generation, and Qri, a popular Ulzzang at the time, were added to T-ara. In early July 2009, the group was moved from Mnet Media to its subsidiary company Core Contents Media.
T-ara made their debut on MBC's Radio Star talk show on July 29, 2009, which was unusual for Korean artists who usually debuted on music programs instead. They made their debut performance on Mnet's M Countdown on July 30, performing their debut single "Lies", along with its B-side, "Wanna Play?". On July 30, CCM announced that just one day after debut, the group had already received 13 invitations to appear on variety shows. All tracks from the single entered the top 100 charts on online streaming platforms, with "Lies", peaking at number five on MelOn.
In September 2009, Eunjung, Soyeon, Hyomin and Jiyeon collaborated with labelmates Kwangsu, Jihyuk, and Geon-il of Supernova for the single "TTL (Time to Love)". Released on September 15, 2009, it became the first number-one song on all Korean online charts for both groups . T-ara and Supernova teamed up again for "TTL Listen 2", an alternate version of "TTL", featuring all members from both groups, which was released on October 9, 2009.
T-ara released their debut studio album, Absolute First Album, on November 27, 2009. In order to determine the album's title track, Core Contents Media held a survey in which the public had to choose between "Bo Peep Bo Peep" or "Like the First Time". 9,000 people took the survey on various music portals with 53% (4,770 people) choosing "Like The First Time" over "Bo Peep Bo Peep". However, the latter was promoted on music shows instead for unknown reasons. "Bo Peep Bo Peep" peaked at number four on the Gaon chart, while "Like The First" peaked at number ten. They held their comeback performance on Music Bank on December 4, 2009. At the 24th Golden Disk Awards, T-ara was awarded Rookie of the Year.
The group won their first music show award with "Bo Peep Bo Peep" on the New Year's Day episode of Music Bank. The song went on to win five awards in total: two on Music Bank and three on Inkigayo, earning them their first "Triple Crown". Later in January 2010, the group announced promotions for their B-side track, "Like The First Time", which ended quickly as Soyeon was diagnosed with H1N1. The same month, T-ara made a cameo appearance on the seventh and eight episodes of God of Study, in which Jiyeon played a main role.
In February 2010, the group announced a re-release of their debut album under the title Breaking Heart. The lead single, "You Drive Me Crazy" and B-side track "I'm Really Hurt", were digitally released on February 23, 2010, and peaked at number one and number thirty-one on the Gaon chart, respectively. T-ara won two consecutive Mutizen awards on Inkigayo for "You Drive Me Crazy" and one on M Countdown. "You Drive Me Crazy" became the third best-selling girl group song of the year. Several other T-ara tracks also appeared on Gaon's year-end singles chart. Breaking Heart was released physically on March 3, 2010, peaking at number two on the weekly Gaon chart and number thirty-five on the yearly chart. After promotions for "You Drive Me Crazy" ended, T-ara performed "I'm Really Hurt" on music shows until early April 2010. On July 16, 2010, T-ara's representatives announced the addition of Ryu Hwa-young as the seventh member of the group. The reason given was that with so many solo projects, they would be able to have a more complete lineup for T-ara when individual members were filming or doing other appearances. They also stated that it would allow the members to undertake more solo activities, and would give them all some relief from their heavy schedules.
In November 2010, the group appeared in the third season of the reality show Hello Baby, where they took care of Moon Mason and his two brothers. T-ara released "Wae Ireoni", the lead single for their first extended play, Temptastic, on November 23, 2010. The single peaked at number four on Gaon's weekly digital chart and at number two on the download chart. It sold over 1.7 million digital copies by 2011. Temptastic was released in digital format on December 1, 2010, along with their second single, "Yayaya". The album's physical release was delayed until December 3 due to the bombardment of Yeonpyeong earlier in November 2010. T-ara received two consecutive wins for "Wae Ireoni" and "Yayaya" on M Countdown.
2011–2012: International expansion and bullying controversy
T-ara's second EP John Travolta Wannabe was released on June 29, 2011. It charted at number three on the Gaon Album Chart and sold 30,116 copies in 2011. The EP's only single, "Roly-Poly", peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart and number one on the Korea K-Pop Hot 100 chart. It became a breakthrough hit, topping South Korea's charts in 2011 as the top-grossing and highest-selling release of the year, with over four million digital units sold. "Roly-Poly" was awarded Best Music Video at the 3rd Melon Music Awards, Singer of the Year (July) at the 1st Gaon Chart Awards, and was nominated Best Dance Performance by a Female Group and Song of the Year at the 13th Mnet Asian Music Awards.
The group released a limited edition re-issue of John Travolta Wannabe, titled Roly-Poly in Copacabana, on August 2, 2011. It featured an alternate version of "Roly Poly". "Roly-Poly in Copacabana", a Eurodance remix of the hit, was named after the song "Copacabana", which was popularized in the 80's in Jongno disco clubs. The album peaked at number three on the Gaon chart. T-ara released their debut Japanese single "Bo Peep Bo Peep" on September 28, which peaked at number one on the Oricon weekly singles chart with nearly 50 thousand copies sold, making them the first non-Japanese girl group to top the chart with a debut single in Oricon history. The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and was certified Gold by the RIAJ for both full-length cellphone downloads and PC downloads.
In November 2011, T-ara released their third extended play Black Eyes which charted at number two on the Gaon charts. The album was preceded by the release of "Cry Cry", which peaked at number one on both the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 and Gaon's weekly singles, and won two consecutive first-place awards on M Countdown. The music video for "Cry Cry" was noted for having a billion South Korean won production budget and a thirty-minute drama story line. The group released their second Japanese single, a remake of "Yayaya" from their Temptastic EP, on November 30. The single peaked at number seven on the Oricon charts and number six on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
In December 2011, Core Contents Media announced that T-ara's third leader Hyomin would be passing on her leadership to Soyeon. The group performed a three-day mini-concert tour titled X-mas Premium Live, that was held at the Shinagawa Stella Hall in Tokyo, Zepp in Nagoya, and Zepp in Osaka. T-ara rose to become the second biggest girl group in Korea in 2011 by ranking at number eight on the Gallup Korea poll. T-ara and Davichi released their Christmastide ballad, "We Were in Love" on December 23, 2011. It was later included on T-ara's Funky Town re-release album. The single reached number one on the Gaon Chart and peaked at number two on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100. In November 2011, CCM announced that T-ara will not be attending any year-end award ceremonies due to their heavy schedules in and outside South Korea, which resulted in the group's immediate elimination from most of the country's award nomination lists.