Wonder Girls debuted in 2007 with the single “Irony” and consisted of five members: Hyuna, Sunmi, Sohee, Sunye, and Yeeun. Hyuna left the group in July of that year and Yubin was added right before the group’s release of The Wonder Years. This album would top the charts and was certified platinum.
“So Hot” and “Nobody” were released in 2008, but it wasn’t until 2009 when “Nobody” was released in the United States. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, topping at seventy-six, and Wonder Girls became the first kpop group to chart in the States. That same year, the girls officially launched their U.S. careers as the opener for The Jonas Brothers’ World Tour, singing English versions of their hits.
Sunmi left the group to pursue her academic career and was replaced by Hyerim. The group released several singles and their second studio album before going on what would be a three year hiatus in 2012. Sunye and Sohee left the group in 2015 and Wonder Girls transitioned to a band concept as Sunmi returned to the group as the bassist.
Wonder Girls is known as ‘South Korea’s Retro Queens’ as their songs tend to have an older style with elements from past decades. Billboard ranked them third on their Top 10 Kpop Girl Groups of the Past Decade list; unfortunately, the group disbanded that year due to unsuccessful contract negotiations. They released their final single “Draw Me” on February 10, 2017 as both a farewell and a celebration of what would have been their 10 year anniversary.
~ Jordan
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