(G)I-dle (Korean: (여자)아이들; RR: Yeoja Aideul), stylized in all caps, is a South Korean girl group formed by Cube Entertainment in 2018. The group consists of five members: Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua. Originally a sextet, Soojin left the lineup on August 14, 2021. (G)I-dle debuted on May 2, 2018, with the single "Latata" from their first extended play (EP) I Am. They debuted in Japan under U-Cube with Latata on July 31, 2019.
After signing with Republic Records in the United States in 2020, the group released their third EP I Trust, which made them only the fourth girl group to sell 100,000 copies of an album in its first week. Their 2020 single album Dumdi Dumdi became the second best-selling single album by a girl group of all time. Since their debut, (G)I-dle have released one studio album and six EPs, as well as singles such as "Latata", "Hann (Alone)", "Senorita", "Uh-Oh", "Lion", "Oh My God", "Dumdi Dumdi", "Hwaa", "Tomboy" and "Nxde".
Unlike most K-pop girl groups, (G)I-dle are directly involved in the creation of their music; in particular, Soyeon has helped write and produce a majority of the group's songs, and Minnie and Yuqi have also co-written numerous album tracks. (G)I-dle is considered one of the most successful South Korean girl groups from outside of the "big three" record labels.
Name
In an interview with The Star, group leader Soyeon revealed that the name "Idle" (아이들) came to her when she was composing the "Idle Song". She suggested it to Cube Entertainment, and the name was finalized after undergoing internal competition. However, the name received mixed reactions in South Korea and internationally since "아이들" (aideul) means "children", and "idle" in English refers to someone who avoids work. Accordingly, the group was renamed (G)I-dle, with the "I" standing for individuality, the hyphen showing that the name has been divided into two parts, and "Dle" (deul) as the plural form of "I" in Korean to indicate a group of six different personalities gathering together. When the name is stated aloud, the "G" enclosed in parentheses is not included. Following their return as a quintet, on an episode of 1theK Original's IDDP released on the March 15, 2022, the group confirmed they would like to be referred to verbally as "I-dle".
History
Pre-debut activities
Soyeon was a female trainee who represented Cube Entertainment in the survival show Produce 101, peaking at 20th place on the final episode. However, she did not become a member of the winning girl group, I.O.I. Soyeon also competed in the third season of the rap competition reality show Unpretty Rapstar, finishing as the second runner-up. She later debuted as a soloist, releasing two digital singles, "Jelly" and "Idle Song".
Miyeon previously trained under YG Entertainment between 2010 and 2015, leaving the company after unknown complications regarding her debut with Blackpink and attending a vocal academy. Before joining Cube Entertainment, she was a freelance singer and appeared as an associate singer with Lim Seul-ong in Urban Zakapa's Canada Tour in September 2016. In 2017, Miyeon had a small part in Lim Seul-ong's "You" music video.
Soojin was a former trainee under DN Entertainment in 2015. She trained as a member of the girl group Vividiva with the stage name N.NA but left before the group's debut. Minnie featured in Line Friends' album Dance Party, which was released in November 2017. In September 2017, Shuhua appeared alongside Yoo Seon-Ho in 10cm's "Pet" music video.
On April 5, 2018, Cube Entertainment revealed the name of their upcoming girl group, (G)I-dle. Before their debut, Cube unveiled the lineup to the public through Dingo Music's dance busking at Hongdae, Seoul. The busking performance video exceeded two million views on YouTube less than three weeks after its initial upload on April 15, 2018.
2018: Debut with I Am and "Hann (Alone)"
(G)I-dle released their debut EP I Am on May 2, 2018, with "Latata" serving as lead single. The video for "Latata" exceeded 5.9 million views within the first week, and the EP debuted at number 13 on the Gaon Album Chart issued on May 10. I Am also debuted at number seven and peaked at number five on Billboard's World Albums chart on May 9. One week after release, "Latata" debuted at number 35 on Gaon Digital Chart on May 17. (G)I-dle received their first-ever music show win on SBS MTV's The Show on May 22, twenty days after their debut. On June 5, they entered Billboard's Social 50 Chart for the first time, charting at number 36.
In June, a survey carried out between thirty-five participants in the South Korean music industry named (G)I-dle to the "Next Generation of K-pop" category with 39 points overall. On August 6, the group held a small concert and recorded a flash-mob performance of "Latata" in Times Square and Washington Square Park.
On August 14, (G)I-dle's first digital single "Hann (Alone)" was released. Within 24 hours, the music video surpassed 4.9 million views on YouTube. "Hann" topped domestic music charts including Bugs, Genie and Olleh Music on August 16 and peaked at number two on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. (G)I-dle received their first music show win for the song on Show Champion on August 29. In September, the group made their first appearance at KCON in Thailand.
In November, Riot Games released the song "Pop/Stars" by a virtual girl group called K/DA, featuring vocals from Soyeon as Akali and Miyeon as Ahri alongside American singers Madison Beer and Jaira Burns. They performed the single at the League of Legends World Championship, and it reached number one on the Billboard World Digital Sales chart.
Throughout the rest of 2018, (G)I-dle won several rookie awards at major Korean year-end music award shows, including the Asia Artist Awards, Gaon Chart Music Awards, Genie Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Korea Popular Music Awards and Melon Music Awards.
2019: I Made, "Uh-Oh", Japanese debut and Queendom
(G)I-dle released their second EP, I Made, on February 26, 2019. The EP contains five songs, including the lead single "Senorita", written and composed by Soyeon and Big Sancho. On June 26, (G)I-dle released their second digital single, "Uh-Oh". The song ranked number 22 on NetEase Cloud Music China for the first half of 2019, making them the only K-pop group on the chart.
In July, (G)I-dle held their first performance in the United States during the annual KCON convention and music festival at Javits Center, New York City. They later held a live showcase at the Mainabi Blitz Akasaka on July 23. The showcase sold over 1,000 tickets with 1,500 attendees. It was reported that around 15,000 people applied to attend, although many were unable to attend due to the venue's capacity. On July 31, (G)I-dle debuted in the Japanese market with the release of their EP Latata. On August 19, they collaborated with makeup brand Kate to release a spin-off music video of "Latata (Japanese ver.)".
(G)I-dle subsequently participated in a reality girl group survival show created by Mnet called Queendom. In the first preliminary round, (G)I-dle finished in first place after performing "Latata" re-imagined with a concept of shamanism. The introduction of the performance, Minnie's Thai "enchantment", was well received and was widely discussed among both Korean and Thai fans. In the second preliminary round, (G)I-dle reinterpreted 2NE1's "Fire" but finished in last place. In September, it was reported that Cube Entertainment would partner with e2PR and Strategic Communications to establish a new promotion team to handle (G)I-dle's international public relations. That same month, the group held their first fan meeting, Welcome to the Neverland, at the Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul. Tickets to the show sold out in two minutes.
On October 4, (G)I-dle performed as first-time headliner at the Spotify On Stage Jakarta. They were one of the six acts, including Rich Brian, Ateez, and others. On October 5, the group appeared on Immortal Songs 2, a KBS reality television singing competition, the group's first appearance on the program. They performed a rendition of Koyote's "Sad Dream" as a part of the group's 20th anniversary. (G)I-dle performed "Put It Straight (Nightmare Version)" for Queendom's Fan-dora's Box round. The stage performance reached one million views after fourteen hours of release, and (G)I-dle placed fourth in the round. On October 25, (G)I-dle released "Lion" as part of the EP Queendom Final Comeback. By November 2019, the live performances of "Latata" and "Fire" surpassed 11 and 13 million views, respectively. (G)I-dle finished the show in third place. "Lion" became a sleeper hit, gaining popularity due to their stage concept and re-entering real-time charts of various music sites. A music video for the song was released on November 4, surpassing five million views in two days. "Lion" debuted at number 13 on the World Digital Song Sales and peaked at number five. Meanwhile, the single rose eighty-nine spots to number 19 on the Gaon Digital Chart and topped China's QQ Music Korean Song chart for two consecutive weeks. On December 21, (G)I-dle performed their hit singles at the 2020 Tainan Christmas & New Year Eve Party at Tainan City, Taiwan. Their segment was the most-viewed of the event, with an audience of 80,000 people.
2020: I Trust, I-Land: Who Am I online concert, "I'm The Trend", Dumdi Dumdi and Oh My God
On January 28, the group announced their first world tour I-Land: Who Am I, which would play in 32 different cities around the world. Later, it was announced their opening show in Bangkok and new album in mid-March were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak to ensure the health and safety of the artists, fans, and staff. On January 31, the group appeared on Two Yoo Project Sugar Man 3 to perform Minnie's composed and rearranged version of "Show", originally Kim Won-jun.
On March 26, (G)I-dle was announced as part of the lineup of the 2020 Twitch Stream Aid, a 12-hour live-streamed charity concert aiming to raise money for COVID-19 relief, on March 28. They were the first female K-pop group to participate.
On April 6, the group released their third EP titled I Trust with "Oh My God" as its lead single. The album consists of five songs, including an English-language version of the title track. In conjunction with the release of I Trust, (G)I-dle signed with Republic Records to help break into the American market. The album recorded over 91,311 pre-orders, making it their most pre-ordered EP, and became their highest-selling album, with 100,000 physical copies sold in three days. I Trust debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart, (G)I-dle's first number-one album in South Korea; achieved their highest-ever position on Billboard's World Albums chart at number four; and set a record for a South Korean girl group by topping the iTunes Top Albums chart in 62 countries worldwide. The music video for "Oh My God" broke their personal views record, amassing 17 million views within its first day of release. It later received a nomination for Best K-Pop Video at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. The song also marked the first time the group appeared on the Scottish Singles Chart and charted at number 97, becoming only the third K-pop artist and the second female act to appear on the chart. (G)I-dle's live promotions for "Oh My God" won four music show awards, including their first grand slam public broadcast win on KBS's Music Bank, SBS's Inkigayo and MBC's Show! Music Core. On May 6, (G)I-dle entered Rolling Stone's Top 25 Breakthrough chart as the only K-pop group to chart for the month of April at the top 20 spot with a unit growth of 3.3 million and over 5.5 million total on demand audio streams in the U.S.
In May, (G)I-dle released the official English version of their debut song "Latata" on May 15. On May 31, the group announced that they would be joining the 32-artist lineup at KCON:TACT 2020 Summer on June 23. The group was expected to release two albums in the second half of the year, including a digital single, according to an EBest Investment & Securities Co., Ltd researcher. (G)I-dle held I-Land: Who Am I as an online pay-per-view concert scheduled on July 5 instead of what would have been their first world tour. They performed songs from their debut album as well as "I'm the Trend", composed by Minnie and Yuqi, to a live audience of 11,000 real-time viewers. Subsequently, the group released the digital single, along with its music video on July 7 as a special present for their fans.
On August 3, (G)I-dle released their first single album Dumdi Dumdi, with a lead single of the same name. With the release, Dumdi Dumdi ranked as the second best-selling girl group single album in history, with 94,587 initial sales. However, the song had a slow rise on the Gaon and Billboard charts. It debuted at numbers 27 and 15 on the Gaon Digital Chart and the US Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart and later peaked at numbers eight and 13, respectively. On iTunes, the song topped in 42 regions in the world. The music video for "Dumdi Dumdi" garnered over 17.6 million views in a single day, breaking their previous record with "Oh My God". The group ended promotions winning first place for two weeks in a row on Show Champion, M Countdown and Inkigayo, making "Dumdi Dumdi" the group's most-winning title track. On August 26, they made their first Japanese comeback with the release of their second extended play, Oh My God, along with the Japanese versions of "Oh My God", "Uh-Oh", "Senorita", "Dumdi Dumdi" and an original Japanese track titled "Tung Tung (Empty)", composed by Minnie. On August 27, (G)I-dle resprised their roles as Akali and Ahri in K/DA for the song "The Baddest", featuring American singers Bea Miller and Wolftyla. It was also announced that they were to be featured on the title track "More" with the original lineup Beer and Burns, along with Chinese singer Lexie Liu, released on October 28. Both songs charted at number one on Billboard World Digital Song Sales and were included in K/DA's first EP All Out.
In November, (G)I-dle held an online fan meeting, called GBC in the Neverland, through Global Interpark; "GBC" is the shortened title for "(G)I-dle Broadcast Club".
At the end of the year, (G)I-dle's I-Land: Who Am I concert ranked at number eight for Interpark's Annual Concert in 2020 and the second highest selling online music concert behind Iz*One Online Concert "Oneiric Theater", which ranked fourth overall.
2021: I Burn, focus on members' solo activities and Soojin's departure
On January 11, the group released their fourth EP, I Burn, with its lead single, "Hwaa". According to Hanteo Chart, I Burn debuted at number one on the daily album chart with 75,510 copies sold. The album also debuted atop the Gaon Retail Album Chart, with 59,086 copies sold. The music video for "Hwaa" reached 10 million YouTube views in 29 hours. Two days later, the album was reported to have charted on the iTunes Top Album charts in 51 countries, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Italy and Finland. For the first time since their debut in 2018, all songs from I Burn was charted on the Melon chart. "Hwaa" topped domestic charts and attained commercial success on Billboard charts, peaking at number five on K-pop Hot 100 and number eight on World Digital Songs. The song also topped on NetEase Music's real-time chart and weekly K-pop chart for two consecutive weeks after release. "Hwaa" also achieved 10 music show wins, the most since their debut in 2018; (G)I-dle was also awarded a triple crown for "Hwaa".
On January 27, (G)I-dle released the official English and Chinese versions of "Hwaa". Songwriting credits for the Chinese version of "Hwaa" were given to Yuqi, the group's Chinese member. On February 5, (G)I-dle released a version of "Hwaa" remixed by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, the band's first collaboration with foreign artists.
On March 4, it was announced that Soojin would go on hiatus following alleged bullying accusations from former classmates.
On April 29, (G)I-dle released the song "Last Dance" alongside Universe. Due to Soojin's hiatus, Universe and Cube Entertainment redistributed her vocal parts amongst the remaining five active members in the group. The single peaked at number 142 on the Gaon Digital Chart and at number 16 on the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales chart.
Yuqi became the second (G)I-dle member to debut as a soloist, with the release of her debut single album A Page on May 13. The album consists of two lead singles, "Giant" and "Bonnie and Clyde", with the concept of "A page of Yuqi's autobiography story and endless possibilities". On May 21, it was announced that Soyeon was in the final stages of preparing for her comeback, slated for a June release. She released her first solo EP Windy on July 5.
On August 14, 2021, Cube Entertainment announced that Soojin departed from the group and that (G)I-dle would continue as five-member group thereafter.
2022: I Never Die, first world tour and I Love
On January 17, (G)I-dle performed as a five-member group for the first time as part of the Expo 2020 in Dubai on South Korea's country day.
On February 24, it was announced that (G)I-dle would return with their first studio album, I Never Die, and its lead single "Tomboy" on March 14, their first release as a five-member group. The album's lead single "Tomboy" became the group's first chart-topper in South Korea on both the Gaon Digital Chart, the K-pop Hot 100 as well as South Korea's Billboard, where it remained for two, three and two consecutive weeks, respectively. On March 24, the group managed to achieve "Perfect All-Kills", where a song topped on the top 100 in several domestic music sites. Collectively, it spent 167 hourly becoming the second group to achieve PAK that year. Meanwhile, the B-side track "My Bag" became the group's highest charting b-side, peaking at twenty-two on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart, thirty-four on the K-pop Hot 100, and nine on South Korea's Billboard chart. That same month, the group released a remix version of the song "Tomboy" by Dutch-Moroccan DJ R3hab on May 20. A visualizer video for this remix was released to R3hab's YouTube channel on the same day.
Miyeon became the group's third soloist with the release of her first extended play, My, on April 27.
(G)Idle began their first world tour named Just Me ( )I-dle starting in South Korea, the United States, Chile, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Singapore. The tickets to the show at Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, Seoul on June 18 and 19 was sold-out after the opening of pre-sale tickets. Cube then opened an additional Seoul concert schedule on June 17, and was also sold-out within three minutes. On June 29, we have added two world tours which are Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. It was also confirmed that (G)I-dle would organise their group concert in Singapore on October 1, 2022.
On September 14, it was announced that (G)I-dle is scheduled to release their fifth Korean EP, I Love, on October 17.
