GIRLS' GENERATION - 2014 (Updated 6 November 2014)

2014

January

The year started with the revelation of romantic relationships of 2 members; Sooyoung & Jung Kyung Ho; Yoona & Lee Seing Gi. Their ageny, SM Entertainment, has confirmed and gave its blessing.

February

Girls' Generation's fourth mini album/EP titled "Mr. Mr" was digitally released worldwide on the 24th. The physical album was made available in stores from 27th.

*[Extended play - mini album with less than 25 minutes or 4 tracks]

March

Following the release of the group's mini-album 'Mr. Mr." in February, Girls' Generation appeared for the first comeback performance after 14 months since the last one in January 2013 with "I Got A Boy". Their comeback performance was on the 6th on Mnet's M Countdown. The choreographer for the title song "Mr.Mr.", Jilian Meyers, has worked with other internationally known artists such as Janet Jackson, Celine Dion and Kylie Minogue. The album was peaked at #1 for highest monthly album sales for the month with 70,295 and total album sales since release at 158,119 on the Gaon Album Chart.

It's not April's fool but another member of Girls' Generation is confirmed to be dating. SM Entertainment confirmed that Tiffany and Nickhun (2PM) are a couple; and JYP Entertainment also revealed that the couple have been dating for four months. Elsewhere, in Thailand, Taeyeon were given a very touching welcome by Thai SONE during a fan meet while on promotional activities for 'Bing'.

The group kicks off the Girls' Generation 3rd Japan Tour on 26 April in Fukuoka, Japan. There are a total of 17 concerts from 26 April to 13 July in 7 cities: Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka, Saitama and Tokyo.





May

On 5th, it was revealed that Girls' Generation will perform KCON (K-Pop Convention) 2014 in Los Angeles. KCON will take place over two days, August 9th and August 10th, with artists split between the two days of performances.

On the 6th and 7th, Girls' Generation performed at the Hiroshima Green Arena followed by performances on the 23rd, 24th and 25th at the Kobe World Kinen Hall as part of their 3rd Japan Tour. An estimated 15,000 and 18,000 fans attended the concerts held in Hiroshima and Kobe. (Source: Wiki)

On the 18th, SM Entertainment confirmed that Kim Taeyeon of Girls' Generation and Byun Baekhyun of EXO-K has been in a budding relationship. Fans from both idol groups expressed mixed reactions to their relationship.

Time magazine listed "Mr. Mr.", released in February, as one of the top 25 best songs so far for the year.

On the 13th, the group successfully wrapped up its third concert tour “Girls Generation ~Love & Peace~ Japan 3rd Tour”, which started in April in Fukuoka with the final concert at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo. A total of 200,000 fans attended of the 17-concert 3rd Japan tour.

Girls’ Generation has released "The Best' album in Japan on the 23rd. The album includes the group’s hit tracks from albums such as Girls' Generation, The Boys, Girls & Peace and Love & Peace as well as 2 new songs. The Complete Limited Edition in Blu-Ray includes video footages of members' interviews, the making of 'The Best' and Girls' Generation Live History 2010 - 2014.

“After the 1st week of its release, the album has sold more than 75,000 copies, topping the Japan's Oricon weekly music chart. The group, as a result of this achievement, has now set a new record to become the first non-Japanese female group in Asia to ever have three Japanese albums (along with The album Girls' Generation and Love & Peace) peaked at #1 on this chart.” - Source Wikipedia

Pitchfork, a Chicago-based internet publication devoted to music criticism, commentary, news and artist interviews, listed two of the group's songs "I Got a Boy" and "Gee" within the top 20 essential K-pop songs in recent years.

It was revealed that all nine members of the group renewed their contracts with SM Entertainment in August; before the first 7-year contract expiration.

The group became the first K-Pop group ever to have 3 official YouTube videos with 100 million or higher views; "Gee", "I Got A Boy" and "The Boys". "I Got A Boy" also set record for shortest amount of time it took to get 100 million views for a K-Pop group.

Universal Music Japan released Girls' Generation's Japanese song, "Divine." It was made available through online stores, and users who purchase the song were able to enter a lottery for a tickets to the group's "THE BEST LIVE" concert at the Tokyo Dome on December 9. On September 29, the company released the story version promotional video of "Divine" on Entame's website. The same video was released on October 15, 2014 on Universal Japan's YouTube Channel. - Source Wikipedia

The new song "Divine" is available only in the new edition, in both standard and limited edition, of "The Best" album. The Standard New Edition contains only the music CD with 10 tracks; and the Limited New Edition contains a CD with 16 tracks and a DVD with 4 videos. 

"Divine" MV (story version) - YouTube

"The Best" New Edition (Limited)

New edition of "The Best" excludes "Bad Girl", "Time Machine", "All My Love is for You", "Beep Beep" and "My oh My" on all pressings.

On September 30, SM Entertainment announced that Jessica would no longer be a member and the group would continue their activities with the remaining 8 members.

~ Updated 6 November 2014 ~

GIRLS' GENERATION - 2013

'I GOT A BOY'

2013

January

After 14 months since the release of Girls' Generation's 3rd studio album ['The Boys' on 19 October  2011], Girls' Generation cameback with the release of their 4th studio album, 'I Got a Boy'. The album has 10 tracks including a duet 'Lost in Love' by Taeyeon and Tiffany. The album debuted at #1 on the Gaon Albums Chart; stayed at #1 for 2 consecutive weeks for the week ended 5th Jan and 12th Jan; and reclaimed the #1 spot for the week ended 26th Jan.

For this comeback, instead of appearing on MBC's regular music show, an exclusive New Year's Day comeback special television program titled 'Girls' Generation's Romantic Fantasy' [announced on 11 December 2012]; on the same day the new album was announced. Filming and recording for the New Year's Day comeback special television program on MBC actually started on 23 December 2012. The special broadcast titled 'Girls' Generation's Romantic Fantasy' was aired on 1 January 2013 at 11.15 pm.

February

On the 9th, Girls' Generation started their 9-weeks 'Girls & Peace: 2nd Japan Tour'; with the first stop in Kobe. The tour consists of a total of 20 concerts in 7 seven cities; Kobe, Saitama, Niigata, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya and Osaka. The tour ended on 21 April in the city of Osaka. 

March

The group released their first Japanese remix titled Best Selection Non Stop Mix on the 20th. The 60 minute music CD contains 20 tracks including 'The Boys', 'Flower Power', 'Reflection' and 'Paparazzi'.

April

On the 11th, the group released their '2011 Girls' Generation Tour live' album. The album features the 23 and 24 July 2011 Girls' Generation's concerts in Seoul at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena for their 2011 Girls' Generation Tour. Girls' Generation announced on the 26th, their first world tour; Girls' Generation World Tour Girls & Peace starting with Seoul on 8 and 9 June.

June

The start of Girls' Generation World Tour ~ Girls & Peace ~ on the 8 June 2013 in Seoul with the last concert of the tour on 15 February 2014 in Macau. The tour consists of 10 concerts in 7 countries: South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Macau.

The group released their 7th Japanese single, 'Love & Girls' on 19th. According to the Oricon Daily Chart, 'Love & Girls' rose from #6 to peaked at #4 the day after it debuted on the chart. Recording of the music video on 17 April included many selected members of Girls' Generation's Japanese fan sites participating in the 'shampoo dance' choreography.

September

Girls' Generation released their 8th Japanese single, 'Galaxy Supernova' on the 18th. Samantha Thavasa, a Japanese fashion company, announced that Girls' Generation would be the company's endorsement models on the same day. The girls wear Samantha Thavasa skinny jeans in various colors for television ads and for their eighth single 'Galaxy Supernova'. The single peaked at #3 on the Oricon Chart for the week ended 22 September; and at #4 on the Japan Billboard Hot 100. 

October

Girls' Generation participated in 'SM Town Live World Tour III': Beijing on the 19th; Tokyo on the 26th and 27th.

November

On the 5th, Girls Generation won the 'Videos of the Year' award at the 2013 edition of the YouTube Music Awards.

December

The group released their 7th studio album, 'Love & Peace' on 11th. The album peaked at #1 on the Oricon Daily Album Charts as well as the Oricon Weekly Album Chart for the week ended 15th December.

Girls’ Generation’s self-titled debut Japanese album 'Girls' Generation' [released in June 2011] also ranked #1 in the Oricon Weekly Album Chart for the week ended 5th June 2011. Girls’ Generation became the first Korean girl group to have two albums placed #1 on the Oricon Weekly Album ranking.

S.M. Entertainment announced that Girls Generation will perform a solo concert for the 'SM Town Week' on the 22nd. The concert was named 'SMTOWN WEEK GIRLS’ GENERATION – Marchen Fantasy' and the concept was based on a fairytale-like theme.

GIRLS' GENERATION - 2011 TO 2012

2011

 On 20 January, at the Seoul Music Awards, the group received the "Artist of the Year",  "Bonsang", "Popularity" and "Korean Wave" awards. Girls' Generation became the fourth artists in Korean music history (other artist being Seo Taiji, Jo Sungmo and H.O.T.) to be named 'Artist of the Year' for 2 consecutive years. The group also became the only girl group in history to receive 'Artist of the Year' awards for the Seoul Music Awards, and Melon Music Awards for 2 consecutive years. They also received two Daesang Awards at the Golden Disk Ceremony, one Digital Daesang (2009), and one Physical Album Sales Daesang (2010).

In the same month, Girls Generation returned to the Japanese market through the release of their Japanese version of "Run Devil Run" as a digital single on 25 January.

On March 8, SM Japan announced on their official website the release of Girls' Generation third Japanese single and first Japanese tour. It was stated that Girls' Generation would be releasing their third Japanese single, "Mr.Taxi/Run Devil Run", which would include their first, original, Japanese song "Mr. Taxi". and the Japanese remake of their song "Run Devil Run". At the 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan, Girls' Generation was nominated for three awards under the "Best Group Video", "Best Video Of The Year", and "Best Karaoke! Song" categories. 

In June, the group released its debut Japanese studio album "Girls' Generation". The album was promoted via the groups' first Japan tour entitled, The 1st Japan Arena Tour, which was held in Osaka in May. A total of fourteen concerts in six cities was held over a period of a month and a half. "The 1st Japan Arena Tour" was also made available on Blu-ray and DVD on 14 December.

(Note: The 1st Japan Arena Tour consists of 14 concerts from 13 May to 18 July 2011) 

'Girls' Generation' was certified Platinum by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) on 14 June, making it the fifth Korean album to do so following S.E.S, BOA, TVXQ and KARA. Girls' Generation was certified Double Platinum (500,000) on July 8, 2011, a first for any Korean girl group.

Also in July, it was announced that they had come out top in two out of the three nominated categories, winning "Best Group Video" and "Best Karaoke! Song" for the Japanese version of "Genie". The group set a record for the highest sales of the FIRST album as a foreign artist in Japan. Girls' Generation is the fourth artist to reach number-one spot on weekly album chart after BOA, TVXQ, and Big Bang.

The album was re-packaged, as "The Boys" in December. Their most successful album to date, it was certified 'Million' by the RIAJ, and made the group the second Korean artist to earn this achievement in Japan since labelmate BOA's "Best of Soul" in 2005. The self-titled album was the fifth best selling album in Japan in 2011 according to Oricon's full year album ranking for 2011 and won 'Album of the Year' at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. **The single, "Mr. Taxi", sold over 100,000 copies in its first week, beating its predecessors, "Gee" and "Genie". The single also clinched the number #1 spot on Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks and was nominated for 'Video of the Year' at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. (**Source: Billboard Japan 16 June 2011)

Girls Generation 2nd Asian Tour was announced by S.M. Entertainment in June 2011. The tour starts from July 2011 to February 2012 with 9 concerts in 5 cities held in Seoul, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok with a total attendance of about 110,000. Girls' Generation signed a contract with Universal Music Group in 2011 to enter the United States market under Interscope Records. 'The Boys' was scheduled for released through iTunes and various music websites in Asia, including its native country, Korea in October, but was postponed by a few days to coincide with the worldwide album release in October. On October 10, it was confirmed that the album will be released on 19 October and the group perform a comeback on KBS Music Bank on 21 October.

The title track, "The Boys", co-written by member Tiffany and produced by Teddy Riley, famous for his work with Michael Jackson, was released in both Korean and English, and eventually Japanese. Within minutes after the release of "The Boys", the single achieved an "all-kill" status on all major music charts in Korea.

It was announced in November that the group would be releasing their first official Japanese photobook titled "Holiday". The photobook went on sale on 30 November. On 7 December, Girls' Generation released a re-packaged Japanese album "Girls' Generation", which included a Japanese version of the "The Boys", and remixed versions of "The Great Escape", "Bad Girl", and "Mr. Taxi". It included the new song, "Time Machine". The re-package album was released on 28 December.

2012

On 12 January, Girls' Generation attended and won 2 awards at the Golden Disk Awards held in Osaka; the "Digital Bonsang" and the coveted "Digital Daesang". A week later, on 19 January, they won the the "Bonsang" and "Popularity" awards at the Seoul Music Awards. The group also won two awards from the Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards, "Album Of The Year for the 4th Quarter 2011" and "Oricon Special Awards".

Their appearances and performances of the English version of "The Boy" on the Late Show with David Letterman* and  ABC Live! with Kelly* on 31 January and 1 February were the first time that a Korean artist/idols has performed on both shows.They also performed on the French show, Le Grand Journal,* on 9 February, "The Boys" was released on 13 February through Universal Music Group’s Polydor Records in France.  (*Click on the link to watch on Youtube)

Figures for the groups total earnings for 2011 were released in March 2012. Girls' Generation was the top earner for S.M. Entertainment among their labelmates which include Super Junior, TVXQ, Shinee and f(x), earning over 100 billion KRW or approx USD$88.56 million. 

In April Girls' Generation-TTS, or simply "TaeTiSeo" was formed. It's a sub-group consisting of 3 members of GG: Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. The subgroup released their first mini-album "Twinkle" on 2 May. Taetiseo held its debut stage on Mnet’s M Countdown on 3 May. The track "Twinkle" debuted at number 126 on the US Billboard 200, the highest for a K-Pop album on the chart and was achieved without any promotions or activities in the USA (Source: Mwave News).

On May 20, 2012, Girls' Generation performed with their label-mates at the Honda Center in Anaheim, as part of SMTown Live World Tour III. The tour consisting of 11 concerts in 8 cities continued, in chronological order, to Taiwan (Hsinchu City), Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), Indonesia (Jakarta), Singapore, Thailand (Bangkok), China (Beijing) and returning to Japan (Tokyo) as the final stop for 2 concerts held on 26 and 27 October 2013.

On 26 June 2012, it was revealed that Girls' Generation won "Best Album of the Year" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Award Japan for their self-titled debut Japanese album "Girls' Generation" released in June 2011.

"Paparazzi" was released on 27 June as a single from their second Japanese language album. The single's release boosted the group's total singles sales in Japan to over 645,000, according to SoundScan Japan report dated 12 July.

To commemorate Girls' Generation's 5th anniversary in August, the group announced on 5 July, the release of the first Korean Post celebrity stamps. A total of 14 stamps were directly contracted and produced by Korean Post, which included autographed album covers. More than half of the much anticipated 1,200 stamp sheets were sold within an hour of the stamps' release.

On 26 September, "Oh! / All My Love Is For You", the group's second double single was released. The singles earned first place on Oricon’s Weekly Single chart. The group's second Japanese album, "Girls' Generation II: Girls & Peace", was released on 28 November. The album's release was preceded by the the release of the single "Flower Power" on 21 November. "Flower Power" peaked at #5 on the Oricon Chart while "Girls' Generation II: Girls & Peace" peaked at #3 on Oricon's Weekly Albums Chart. "Girls & Peace" has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

The group released the track "Dancing Queen", a remake version of Duffy's Mercy, on 21 December.

Owing to the members' commitments and packed scheduled activities, whether as a group or individual, and the group's participation in the SMTown Live World Tour III, not many new songs were released in 2012.

GIRLS' GENERATION - 2009 TO 2010

SNSD "GEE" 2009

2009

After 6 months of hiatus due to the "Black Ocean" incident, SNSD/GG is back !!! 

A teaser video was released in January 2009 and the first single "Gee" released soon after. "Gee" topped Cyworld's music chart on the release day and all major digital music charts within two days. The group began its album promotion in January 2009 on MBC Show! Music Core where they performed their new single "Gee" and the track "Way to Go!", another song from their mini-album. "Gee" went #1 on KBS Music Bank and SBS Inkigayo a week after their return. "Gee" went on to become a record breaker and phenomenal hit with 9 weekly consecutive number one wins on KBS Music Bank, as well as receiving a triple wins on SBS Inkigayo. "Gee" phenomenal success was a defining event for Girls' Generation which also created the "Gee" craze in Korea and overseas. 

The "Gee" music video on Youtube, uploaded on 6 June 2009 below hit more than 118 million views todate is still being watched by fans worldwide.

'GEE' official MV on YouTube

After a short break, the group would be came back with a new mini-album sporting a "Marine Girl" concept. The new single titled "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" and a mini-album was released digitally in June 2009. The group started their promotional activities, appearing on KBS Music Bank. The performance was followed by a comeback performances on MBC Show! Music Core and SBS Inkigayo on June 27 and 28, 2009. Their first award for their single "Genie" was on the July 10, 2009 on KBS Music Bank and their second award was on the July 12, 2009 on SBS Inkigayo. The song topped on 10 different digital music charts within days of its release.

In November 2009, S.M. Entertainment announced the group's 'Into The New World Tour'. The tickets for the tour went on sale on November 19, and sold out in 3 minutes. The tour initially consisted of two Korean shows on December 19 and 20, 2009. The tour began at Seoul's Olympic Park Fencing Stadium on December 19 and 20 and continued onto other Asian cities including Shanghai.

(Note: Girls' Generation 'Into The New World Tour consists of 7 concerts: in South Korea, China and Taiwan with the first concert on 19 December 2009 in South Korea and the last concert on 17 October 2010.)

SNSD "Oh!" 2010

2010

In January, "Oh!", the group's second full-length album was released. The lead single "Oh!" was digitally released on January 25 with the music video released two days later. On January 30, the group started promotions for "Oh!"and MBC made the whole performance available online.

"Oh!" went to 5 consecutive wins on K-charts on KBS Music Bank and achieved a triple crown on SBS Inkigayo. The music video ranked as the number-one most-viewed YouTube video in Korea by the end of 2010. It was also number one in Hong Kong and made the top ten in both the Taiwan and Japan rankings.

SNSD "Run Devil Run" 2010

From March 11, 2010, photos of the members were released online showcasing a dark concept, dubbed "Black SoShi". A teaser video was released in March with the new single "Run Devil Run". It was announced that the group had signed contracts in May, and would begin working under Universal Music Japan's record label Nayutawave Records for their Japanese promotions, with their first Japanese single expected to be released in September 2010. 

Girls' Generation began promotion in Japan in August. A DVD featuring seven of the group's music videos as well as special bonus footage, was released on August 11, with the special edition of the DVD containing a pink glowstick as well as a pass to the Girls' Generation debut at the Tokyo Ariake Colliseum on August 25. The DVD made Girls' Generation the first female K-pop group to make the Oricon DVD Top-5 ranking. While performing their Japanese activities and promotions, the group participated in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour alongside their label mates on August 21 at Seoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium. They also participated in the subsequent Shanghai, Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo SMTown Live '10 World Tour stops as well.

SNSD "Genie" 2009

The group held their first showcase in Tokyo Ariake Colliseum with an initial 10,000 fans invited and it was reported to be the most large-scale plan for a Korean artist debuting in Japan. However, due to expected high number of attendees, the group's management announced that the showcase would take place three times in the same day rather than once to accommodate the large amount of fans. The group sang five of their Korean tracks at each of the showcases, and the total number of attendees were estimated to be approximately 22,000. At this showcase, the "Genie" Japanese music video was also revealed publicly for the first time, with the teaser having been released a few days prior to the showcase. The Japanese debut single "Genie" entered the DailyOricon Charts at the fifth spot and later rose to the second position on the Daily Charts some time later.  In October, the group released their second Japanese single, "Gee". A week after the release of their Japanese single "Gee", the group released their third Korean mini-album, "Hoot", consisting of five tracks. Girls' Generation commenced their promotional activities with a comeback stage on KBS Music Bank on October 29. "Hoot" rose to the top of the charts and received the number-one spot several times on music shows, proving to be another successful release for the group. The group promoted "Hoot" and "Gee" in Korea and Japan respectively, and participated in Japanese music broadcasts where they performed their two Japanese singles, "Gee" and "Genie" in December. On December 9, 2010, the group attended the Golden Disk Awards and was awarded three awards including the Disk Daesang (Album of the Year) for their 2nd album "Oh!".

The group also became the first girl group to have both a Disk Daesang (2010) and Digital Daesang (2009). On December 15, 2010, the group attended the Melon Music Awards winning the 'Best Dressed Singer' award and 'Hot Trend Song' award for  "Hoot", as well as the 'Artist of the Year' award.