Twice (Hangul: 트와이스; Japanese: トゥワイス) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2015 reality show Sixteen. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. The group debuted on October 20, 2015, with the extended play (EP) The Story Begins. Twice rose to fame in 2016 with their single "Cheer Up": the song charted at number 1 on the Gaon Digital Chart and became the best-performing single of the year. It also won "Song of the Year" at two major music awards shows—Melon Music Awards and Mnet Asian Music Awards. Their subsequent single "TT", from their third EP Twicecoaster: Lane 1, claimed the top spot for four consecutive weeks. The EP was the highest selling K-pop girl group album of 2016, which sold 350,852 copies by year-end. Within 19 months after debut, Twice has sold over 1.2 million units of their four EPs and special album.
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The group officially debuted in Japan on June 28, 2017, under Warner Music Japan with the release of their first compilation album titled #Twice. The album debuted at number 2 on the Oricon Albums Chart, which sold 136,157 copies within seven days, the highest first week album sales of a K-pop artist in Japan in two years. It was followed by the release of Twice's first original Japanese maxi single titled "One More Time" in October. With over 250,000 unit sales, Twice became the first Korean girl group that earned Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for both album and CD single in the same year. Twice ranked third on Top Artist category of Billboard Japan's 2017 Year-End Rankings.
History
2013–2015: Formation through Sixteen and debut with The Story Begins
On December 19, 2013, JYP Entertainment (JYPE) announced that they would debut a new girl group in the first half of 2014, the first female group to come out of the company since the debut of Miss A in 2010. On February 27, 2014, JYPE trainees Lena and Cecilia were confirmed as members of the group tentatively called as 6mix, while other rumoured members included JYPE trainees Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jisoo (later Jihyo) and Minyoung. After Cecilia's departure, JYPE trainee Sana replaced her and 6mix was about to debut when Lena left the company, effectively canceling their debut.
On February 11, 2015, Park Jin-young announced that the lineup of JYPE's upcoming seven member girl group would be decided through Sixteen, a competition survival show that would air on Mnet later that year. The show began on May 5 and ended with Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung as the seven Twice members. Park then announced that he would be increasing the size of the group from seven members to nine by adding Tzuyu, who was the "audience's pick" since she was the most popular contestant by the show's end, and Momo, who was added by Park himself since he felt the group needed someone with Momo's performance abilities. The decision was controversial at the time with many people complaining about eliminated contestants being able to join the group.
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On October 7, 2015, JYPE launched the band's official website and announced via SNS that the group would debut with the extended play (EP) The Story Begins and single "Like Ooh-Ahh". The track was described as a "color pop" dance track with elements of hip-hop, rock, and R&B. The composition team included Black Eyed Pilseung, known for composing successful releases such as Miss A's "Only You." The album and the song's music video were released on October 20. The group held a live showcase the same day, where they performed all tracks from the EP. The music video hit 50 million views on YouTube within five months of their debut and became one of the most-viewed debut music videos for any K-pop group. On December 27, the band performed a remix version of their single "Like Ooh-Ahh" at SBS Gayo Daejeon, Twice's first-ever attendance on a year-end music program.
2016–present: Rise in popularity, first solo concert tour, Japanese debut and Twicetagram
Twice's second EP, Page Two, was released on April 25, 2016. The album includes title track "Cheer Up", a remake of Park Ji-yoon's "Precious Love", and "I'm Gonna Be A Star", which served as the theme song for Sixteen. The group held their comeback showcase the same day at the Yes24 Live Hall located in Seoul, South Korea. Twice won their first music program award with "Cheer Up" on May 5, on M Countdown, exactly one year after the initial airing of Sixteen. This was soon followed by wins on Music Bank and Inkigayo. By August, the Page Two had sold over 150,000 copies, making it the first girl group having a sales record of more than 100,000 units that year. On September 23, Twice released their two official colors, namely Apricot and Neon Magenta, which signify the group and their fan club called "Once". On October 10, the agency released a time table for their third EP, titled Twicecoaster: Lane 1, through their official homepage and SNS, which shows Twice's promotion schedule beginning October 10 until the release of their album on the 24th.On October 19, Twice revealed their official cheering light with their official colours called "Candy Bong", which is inspired by song "Candy Boy" from their first EP.
In celebration of Twice's first anniversary since debut, the group unveiled their new song "One in a Million", through a live broadcast on Naver V Live on October 20. On October 24, Twicecoaster: Lane 1 and the music video of the laid-back but light and cheerful pop dance song "TT" was released online. Twice held their showcase the same day, where they performed "One in a Million", "Jelly Jelly" and "TT" for the first time. On November 11, the music video for "Like Ooh-Ahh" hit 100 million views on YouTube, making Twice the fourth K-pop girl group to reach 100 million views, as well as the first K-pop group to reach this milestone with a debut music video. The music video for "Cheer Up" followed six days later. On November 19, Twice's "Cheer Up" won Song of the Year at the 8th Melon Music Awards. It was then followed by another Song of the Year award at the 18th Mnet Asian Music Awards on December 2.
On December 19, Twice released a Christmas edition of Twicecoaster: Lane 1.
On January 3, 2017, the music video for "TT" hit 100 million views, becoming the fastest K-pop group music video to do so and breaking Twice's own record previously set by "Cheer Up". Later in that same year, "TT" would also become the first video by a K-pop female act to surpass 200 million views. On January 10, JYPE announced Twice's first solo concert tour within just a year and four months after debuting in October 2015. The three-day sold-out concert titled Twice 1st Tour: Twiceland – The Opening was held on February 17–19 at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium. A tour across Thailand and Singapore was also scheduled after the first stop in Seoul. After the Korean leg of the concert tour, Twice released a special album on February 20 titled Twicecoaster: Lane 2, along with its lead single, "Knock Knock". It is the reissue of Twicecoaster: Lane 1. The album sold 266,645 units in February 2017.
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Twice launched their Japanese website and other social media channels in early February. On February 24, they officially announced that their Japanese debut with a compilation album titled #Twice was set on June 28, 2017. In April, JYPE announced Twice's new Korean album release in May before heading to Japan. On May 1, Twice confirmed the release of their fourth EP titled Signal with the lead track of the same name produced by Park Jin-young. This marked their first collaboration with Park. The EP, along with the music video for "Signal" was released on May 15. It contains six tracks, including "Eye Eye Eyes" co-written by members Jihyo and Chaeyoung, and "Only You" written by former Wonder Girls' member Ha:tfelt.
On June 14, Twice digitally released "Signal (Japanese ver.)", along with the short version of its music video, as a preview and countdown to album release. A week later, they released the full music video of the Japanese version of "TT". They officially debuted in Japan with the release of #Twice on June 28. It consists of ten songs including both Korean and Japanese-language versions of their first five singles. On July 2, Twice held their two-part debut showcase titled Touchdown in Japan at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, attended by a total of 15,000 people. #Twice debuted at number 2 on Oricon Albums Chart with 136,157 copies sold within seven days since its release. On October 18, the group released their first Japanese single, "One More Time". The music video was first released on October 6. The single album achieved the biggest first-day sales and became the fastest-selling album of any South Korean girl group in Japan. Both #Twice and "One More Time" earned Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
Twice released their first full-length Korean album, Twicetagram, on October 30 with its lead single titled "Likey". The music video for the song was filmed in Canada in early September. "Likey" was composed by Black Eyed Pilseung and Jeon Gun. It was the group's fourth collaboration with Black Eyed Pilseung. Several composers and songwriters participated in the album including the Korean members of Twice as lyricists and former Wonder Girls' member Hyerim who co-composed the eighth track titled "Look at Me". The album and its lead single debuted atop both Billboard's World Albums and World Digital Song Sales respectively—the group's first number 1, making Twice the first female K-pop act to lead on both charts. They also rose on the Heatseekers Albums as the album debuted at number 10, one position higher than Signal's peak at number 11. The Christmas-inspired reissue of Twicetagram, titled Merry & Happy, along with its title track "Heart Shaker" was released on December 11, 2017. It was officially announced through a press conference in Tokyo that the group would debut on the 68th Kōhaku Uta Gassen, the top-rated annual year-end musical show in Japan produced by NHK. It was held live at NHK Hall on December 31, where Twice performed "TT (Japanese ver.)". They were the first Korean artist to attend the event in the last six years and the fourth K-pop group after TVXQ, Kara and Girls' Generation.
2018–present: "Candy Pop", What is Love?, BDZ, concert tours, Yes or Yes and Fancy You
Twice at the 2018 Golden Disk Awards
Twice's second Japanese single titled "Candy Pop" was released on February 7. The group also embarked on their first concert tour in Japan titled Twice Showcase Live Tour 2018 "Candy Pop", starting on January 19 in Aichi Prefecture. On April 9, they released their fifth EP, What Is Love?, with the single of the same name produced by Park Jin-young. Twice's third Japanese single, "Wake Me Up", was released on May 16 and was certified double platinum by the RIAJ. Their second headline tour Twice 2nd Tour: Twiceland Zone 2 – Fantasy Park began in Seoul on May 18–20. The concert tour attracted over 90,000 fans in six cities across Asia.
Twice performed a cover of The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" as the theme song to the Japanese film adaptation of Sensei Kunshu. The song was released as a digital single on June 15, along with the music video. A second version of the music video featuring the cast of the film was released on June 26. In July, an expanded reissue of What Is Love? named Summer Nights, along with its title track "Dance the Night Away" written by Wheesung, was released.
On September 12, Twice released their first Japanese studio album BDZ. Its lead single of the same name was pre-released as a digital single on August 17. It was followed with their concert tour named Twice 1st Arena Tour 2018 "BDZ", beginning in Chiba on September 29. They released their sixth EP Yes or Yes on November 5. They released their second Japanese compilation album #Twice2 on March 6, 2019.It was also certified platinum from the RIAJ.
In March and April 2019, Twice held their Japanese tour named "#Dreamday", with a total audience of 220,000 during five shows in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya. On April 22, they released their seventh EP Fancy You. The release of Fancy You made Twice the best-selling Korean girl group of all time with a total of 3,750,000 copies sold from their twelve Korean releases, surpassing the twenty-year-old record of S.E.S.
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