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BoA

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For other things named Boa, see Boa (disambiguation).

Template:Koreanname BoA (born November 5, 1986 in Guri, Korea) is a South Korean pop singer. She has released albums in both South Korea and Japan, and her recording company, SM Entertainment, is positioning her as a cross-cultural star for all of Asia. She has released eight full length albums, three ".5" albums and ninteen singles in South Korea and Japan, and her albums have also been released as "overseas versions" throughout Asia. To date she has sold over 6 million copies of her albums and can speak native-level Korean, plus fluent Japanese and conversational English, and is learning Chinese.

File:BoA OriconPage.jpg
Orizon Style Magazine Page - 09.12.05

BoA broke records in both Korea and Japan with her smash hits, including "No. 1," "Valenti," and "Listen to My Heart". She has made strides in music and acting with chartbreaking albums released in both Japanese and Korean (BoA accounts for over 75% of musical exports from Korea) as well as being a covermodel for huge companies such as Shiseido, Honda, KDDI: Au,Calpis, and recently the Japanese division of Gap. BoA has also become a crosscultural icon, bridging historical tensions between the nations of Korea and Japan.

BoA was awarded "Most Influential Asian Artist" and "Favorite Artist Korea" Prizes at MTV Asia Awards held in Singapore on February, 2004. Her songs are now popular even in Taiwan, PRC and some Southeast Asian countries.

She appears on numerous magazine covers and some commercials, including KOSE, MISSHA, Lipton, Ting, Pantech & Curitel, Elite, Lotte, Maybelline, and Wired XYZ.

BoA also appeared in the Korean Music Festival held in the Sydney Opera House on the 21st of June 2004 and in the Volvo "Hallyu" Concert in University City, California (outside of Los Angeles) on June 11, 2005.

Biography

Early Life

File:Boayoung.png
Screencaps from interview with BoA prior to her debut (1999~2000)

BoA was just a normal South Korean child until at age 11 when her brother went to audition for a contest being held by Korean music conglomerate SM Entertainment. The contest was to find a new multicultural star who would become a first Asian, then world icon. Participants in the contest were encouraged to bring younger siblings, and BoA's brother brought her along. After his audition, the talent searchers asked to see her, and by the time the competition was over, SM had decided on BoA as their new star. After persuading her reluctant parents to allow BoA to pursue a singing career rather than ocntinuing to study, BoA's training began. She practiced singing, dancing, and her language skills (all qualities that would be important to a world-wide star) before finally making her Korean album debut.

ID;Peace B

File:BoA IDPeaceB.jpg
Cover of BoA's Korean debut album: ID; Peace B

After two years of vigorous training, at just 13 years of age, BoA released her first debut album: ID; Peace B on August 26,2000. The album won much acclaim and climbed into the top ten and would go on to sell 218,114 copies, a very impressive debut, especially for a 13 year old. The album and its promotion dazzled people with her powerful singing and dancing and helped garner interest in her overseas. This frenzy of interest resulted in BoA signing a recording contract with Japanese music giant avex trax and her first Japanese debut album.




Jumping into the World

In early 2001 BoA released her first mini album, Jumping into the World, which showcased more of her dancing and vocal skills. After this album was released BoA took a hiatus from the Korean music industry to focus on the Japanese market. The months prior to her first Japanese single release were spent completly in Japan, and BoA was only allowed to speak Japanese in order to solidify her hold of the language. BoA describes those months in Japan as some of her saddest and most lonely.

Listen to My Heart

File:BoA Listentomyheart.jpg
Cover of BoA's Japanese debut album, Listen to My Heart

The recording contract that BoA signed with avex trax resulted in BoA's foray into the Japanese music industry. In 2001] she released her first Japanese single, a Japanese version of ID; Peace B, although the single only debuted at #20 on the Oricon chart it recieved wide-spread publicity since BoA was a foreigner. ID; Peace B was followed by subsequent singles Amazing Kiss (#23), 気持ちはつたわる (Kimochi wa Tsutawaru) (#15), and then the titular track Listen to My Heart (#5). The single Listen to My Heart catipulted BoA into the spotlight (since not many foreigners break into the top 5 in Japan) and went on to sell over 179,000 copies. Finally, her much anticipated Japanese debut album, Listen To My Heart was released on March 13, 2002. On the shoulders of the lead single: Listen to My Heart, the album debuted at #1 on the Oricon chart and would go on to sell over 930,000 copies domestically and over 1,300,000 copies worldwide. This was outstanding not only because it was BoA's debut and she was a foreigner, but moreso because the album's release was during the time of immense tension between South Korea and Japan during the 2002 World Cup. On the same day as the album's release BoA's 5th single,Every Heart -ミンナノキモチ-, was released, the lead song an ending to the hit anime series Inuyasha, the single peaked at #10 on the charts.

NO.1

File:BoA NO1.jpg
Cover of BoA's second Korean Album, NO.1

Less then a month after BoA's chart-topping performance in Japan she released her second full studio Korean album, NO.1. This album catapulted BoA to the top of the charts in Korea and became her largest selling Korean album selling over 572,000 copies(excluding overseas sales). Now BoA's name was popping up all across Asia and her popularity skyrocketed. The album was also released in Japan and peaked at #15 on the charts; a very strong performance, especially for a non- English or Japanese album.






Miracle

In September of 2002 BoA released her second Korean mini-album. Featuring some Korean renditions of her Japanese songs and several original songs, this album is hailed by many as one of BoA's best Korean releases.

Valenti

File:Valenti.jpg
Cover of BoA's second Japanese Album, Valenti

After her dazzling album sales in both South Korea and Japan, BoA continued releasing singles in anticipation for her 2nd Japanese album. She released Don't Start Now (#17), a Japanese rendition of one song from her Korean mini album, and then her largest selling and biggest hit single, Valenti. This single would peak at #2 on the charts, her highest showing on the single chart at that time, and would go on to sell over 200,000 copies. Valenti was quickly followed by two more hit singles: 奇蹟 (Kiseki)/ NO.1 (#3), JEWEL SONG / BESIDE YOU-僕を呼ぶ声(boku wo yobu koe)- (#3). Then, on January 29, 2003, her second full studio album, Valenti was released. This album compounded the success of her previous Japanese album and hit #1 on the charts and became BoA's highest selling Japanese album, selling over 1,250,000 copies domestically (making her the first non-Japanese singer to sell over a million copies of an album) and 1,300,000 copies worldwide. Valenti truely put BoA in the spotlight of the Japanese music scene with other big players such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Utada Hikaru and the album went on to be one of the top 5 selling albums of the year in Japan.

Atlantis Princess

File:BoA atlantisprincess.jpg
Cover of BoA's third full Korean Album, Atlantis Princess

This highly anticipated album again topped the charts in Korea. Released on May 30, 2003, Atlantis Princess would go on to sell over 340,000 copies. This album recieved wide-praise throughout Korea and would move on to receive multiple awards later in the year.

Shine We Are!

While continuing activities in Japan, BoA released her third (and last to date) mini-album Shine We Are!. This album again showcased Korean renditions of her Japanese songs, but would recieve criticism for the darker, more mature image portrayed on the cover.

Love & Honesty

File:BoA Love & Honesty.jpg
Cover of BoA's third full Japanese Album, Love & Honesty

After the release of her hit albums Valenti and Atlantis Princess and her first country-wide tour (in Japan, she has never done a full scale country-wide arena tour in Korea), LIVE TOUR 2003 -VALENTI-, BoA continued to pursue her activities in Japan. With eyes now turned, watching her, BoA subsequently released several hit singles for her upcoming album: Shine We Are! / Earthsong (#2), DOUBLE/Midnight Parade/Milky Way -君の歌 (#2), and Rock With You (#5). Rock With You showcased a new, controversial style for BoA as it was a more "pop-rock" song but still performed reasonably well in sales. Then on January 15, 2004 her highly anticipated 3rd Japanese album was released. It again hit #1 on the Oricon chart and would go on to sell over 650,000 copies domestically and over 800,000 copies worlwide, although it did not sell as much as her album Valenti, it was still among the top albums in sales for 2004). Another single from the album was released a month later, Be the One (#15), many cite that the low sales of this single were due to the fact that consumers would have gotten a higher value from just buying the Love & Honesty album (as it was released over a month earlier and included the song~ "Be the One") than just buying the Be the One single.

My Name

File:BoA My Name.jpg
A picture of BoA perfoming My Name

2004 also brought the release of BoA's fourth full Korean album, My Name. This album brought with it immense controversy as it showcased a complete style shift of BoA from young and cute, to a much more mature look (BoA was soon going to be turning 19 {Note: 19 in Korea, 18 by American standards, please refer to other articles for information on the age counting custom difference in Korea/China}.) This album would again top the charts in Korea and go on to sell over 200,000 copies. These sales, although slightly lower than that of her debut's, are very strong considering the heavy recession in the music industry of South Korea. Some people point to this album as the begining of BoA's decrease in Korean popularity and the album was consequently followed by SM focusing BoA more on the Japanese market.

Best of Soul

File:BoA BestofSoul.jpg
Cover of BoA's first "Best of" Album compilation, Best of Soul

After the release of LOVE & HONESTY, the completion of her highly acclaimed second live arena tour, LIVE TOUR 2004 LOVE & HONESTY, more singles were released: QUINCY / コノヨノシルシ (Konoyono Shirushi)(#4), and メリクリ (Merikuri) (#5). However, instead of releasing her expected fourth Japanese language studio album, BoA released her first "Best of" compilation album of her Japanese singles up to that point (plus a bonus track: La La La Love Song feat SOUL'd Out, and also 'The Love Bug' feat. M-Flo (on the Perfect Press Edition). This album catapulted BoA again to the #1 position on the charts and went on to sell over 1,050,000 copies and 1,200,000 copies worldwide. BEST OF SOUL made BoA the first non-Japanese singer to have two albums sell over a million copies domestically: Valenti and Best of Soul, and again reaffirmed BoA's position as one of the top singers in Japan.

Girls on Top

File:Boa GirlsonTop.gif
Cover of BoA's fifth Korean Album, Girl on Top

In 2005 BoA released her highly anticipated fifth album, Girls on Top. It again topped the charts and so far has sold approximately 115,000 copies. Although these sales were disapointing to many, the truth is that Korean album sales have dropped by over 50% from 2004 alone, so sales of over 100,000 copies are very respectable. The album also hit #1 in Taiwan, showcasing BoA's popularity outside of South Korea and Japan

Post-Best of Soul Japanese Activity

Capitalizing on the success of her BEST OF SOUL album, BoA's 16th single Do the Motion hit #1 on the Oricon chart, making her only the fifth non-Japanese singer to have a single hit #1 and the first in over 21 years. In September BoA went on to release her 17th single, make a secret (#4) and her next single, 抱きしめる(Dakishimeru), is planned on being released on November 23, 2005. She is planning on releasing her fourth full Japanese album either late this year, or early next year.

Post-Girls on Top Korean Activity

BoA celebrated the five year anniversary of her debut on August 25th of 2005 and to advertise for the special event, a new limited edition "MOTO" repackaging for the Girls on Top album was released. Also, it is rumoured that BoA's sixth Korean album may be pushed back from the expected release of summer 2006 as far as early 2007 due to BoA's entrance into the Chinese market.

Chinese Activity

BoA is planning on entering the Chinese market sometime in 2006. She has released several overseas versions of her albums in Taiwan and China already so she is already well known and reasonably popular in both of those countries (on some of these overseas versions are also included Chinese versions of several of the songs on the album, although the production of these Chinese remakes are quite rushed and thus the Chinese in some of the songs is quite poor).

Entrance into the U.S. Market(?)

An official SM representative, Kim Young Min, from Herald Media, has stated that BoA is preparing for her U.S. debut. (Although this most likely is in the distant future, after she has established her presence in the Chinese market.)


Korean Discography

Note: There is no single Korean album sales chart, so rankings are not posted.

Note 2: Sales posted only include sales in Korea and do not include sales in Taiwan, China, Japan, or other countries.

Albums

Singles

  • [2003.10.22] Double
  • [2003.12.03] Rock With You
  • [2004.12.01] 메리-크리 (Merry-Chri)

Special Albums

Special Singles

  • [2003.05.??] The Lights of Seoul (not for sale, given to people who went to the 'Hi Seoul Festival' 2003)

Korean Filmography

  • History Of BoA 2000-2002

Japanese Discography

Note: Sales posted are only those within the Japanese mainland and do not include overseas sales in other countries (unless stated otherwise).

Albums

  • [2002.03.13] LISTEN TO MY HEART~ #1 930,000 copies (over 1,300,000 copies worldwide)
  • [2003.01.29] VALENTI~ #1 1,250,000 copies (over 1,300,000 copies worldwide)
  • [2004.01.15] LOVE & HONESTY~ #1 650,000 copies (over 800,000 copies worldwide)

Singles

  • [2001.05.30] ID;Peace B~ #20
  • [2001.07.25] Amazing Kiss~ #23
  • [2001.12.05] 気持ちはつたわる (Kimochi wa Tsutawaru)~ #15
  • [2002.01.17] LISTEN TO MY HEART~ #5 179,000 copies
  • [2002.03.13] Every Heart -ミンナノキモチ- (Every - Heart - minna no kimochi-)~ #10
  • [2002.05.29] Don't start now~ #17
  • [2002.08.28] VALENTI~ #2 202,000 copies
  • [2002.09.19] 奇蹟 / NO.1 (Kiseki)~ #3 129,000 copies
  • [2002.12.11] JEWEL SONG / BESIDE YOU-僕を呼ぶ声- (BESIDE YOU -boku wo yobu koe-)~ #3 151,000 copies
  • [2003.05.14] Shine We Are! / Earthsong~ #2 144,000 copies
  • [2003.10.22] DOUBLE/Midnight Parade/Milky Way -君の歌 ~ #2 82,000 copies
  • [2003.12.03] Rock With You~ #5
  • [2004.01.09] The Love Bug (M.Flo; BoA)~ #8
  • [2004.02.11] Be the one~ #15
  • [2004.09.01] QUINCY / コノヨノシルシ (Konoyono Shirushi)~ #4 82,000 copies
  • [2004.12.01] メリクリ (Merikuri)~ #5 136,000 copies
  • [2005.03.30] DO THE MOTION~ #1 170,000 copies
  • [2005.08.31] make a secret~ #4 50,000 copies
  • [2005.11.23] 抱きしめる(Dakishimeru / Holding You)~ (not yet released)

Remix Albums

"Best of" Albums

Japanese Filmography

  • 8 Films & More
  • FIRST LIVE TOUR 2003 -VALENTI-
  • LIVE TOUR 2004 LOVE & HONESTY
  • ARENA TOUR 2005 BEST OF SOUL

Awards

2000 Wins Rookie of the Year award in M.net TV's music video festival Wins Rookie of the Year award in the annual music contest of KMTV

2002 Wins the Grand Prize at the SBS pop music contest Becomes one of the 10 best singers on MBC TV Wins the grand prize at Japan Record Grand Awards Participates in NHK best singers' contest in Japan

2003 Becomes one of the 10 Best Singers on MBC TV Wins the grand prize at the Proud Korean Awards Wins the main awards at the Gold Disc Grand Awards in Japan Participates in NHK Best Singers' contest in Japan

2004 Wins the Grand Prize at the SBS pop music contest Wins the most popular singer award among Koreans at MTV Asia Awards (MAA) Wins the main award at the Gold Disc Grand Awards in Japan Participates in NHK best singers' contest in Japan Wins most influential asian artist award from MTV Asia Music Awards.

2005 Wins Best Korean Artist at the World Music Awards

See also

Service also

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