Red Velvet ( Hangul : 레드벨벳) is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment . The group debuted on August 1, 2014, with their digital single "Happiness" and four group members: Irene , Seulgi, Wendy and Joy. In March 2015, Red Velvet added a fifth member, Yeri, to the group.
Red Velvet
Red Velvet at the 2018 Dream Concert
From left to right: Joy, Yeri, Irene , Seulgi , and
Wendy Background information Origin
Seoul , South Korea Genres
K-pop
electropop
R&B Years active
2014–present Labels
SM Entertainment
Avex Trax
[1] Associated acts
SM Town
SM Rookies Website
redvelvet
.smtown.com Members
Irene
Seulgi
Wendy
Joy
Yeri
Since their debut, Red Velvet has earned success and recognition. Their first EP, Ice Cream Cake , topped the Gaon Album Chart in early 2015. Similarly, the group's first full-length album The Red (2015) and the extended plays The Velvet , Russian Roulette , both released in 2016, and Rookie (2017) all reached number 1 on the Gaon Album Chart. Additionally, The Red , Rookie and The Red Summer (2017) also topped the Billboard World Albums , and with the release of their second studio album Perfect Velvet (2017), they became the K-pop girl group with the most number-one albums on the chart and tied for most number-one albums among all K-pop acts. [2][3][4] They have received several awards for music, choreography, and popularity, including the
Golden Disc New Artist Award and the Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Female Group in 2017.
History
Edit
Pre-debut
Edit
Seulgi was the first member to be cast as an SM Entertainment trainee through an audition in 2007, while Irene was cast in 2009, and Yeri in 2010. In 2012, Wendy and Joy were cast through the SM Global Auditions in Canada and Seoul respectively. [5] Preparations for Red Velvet began in late 2013, through SM Entertainment's trainee group SM Rookies . [6] Irene and Seulgi were introduced initially to the public through the said project team in 2013, followed by Wendy in 2014. The three members were rumored to debut as a group in July, which was then confirmed by SM Entertainment. [7][8][9] With the addition of member Joy, the four-member group would debut as Red Velvet, SM Entertainment's first girl group in five years since f(x) . [10]
2014–2015: Debut, new member Yeri, Ice Cream Cake and
The Red
Edit
Red Velvet at the Incheon Hallyu K-pop Concert in October 2015
On August 1, 2014, Red Velvet made their official debut stage on the music program Music Bank . [11] Their debut single, "Happiness", was digitally released on August 4. [12] The song was penned by Yoo Young-jin and composed by Will Simms, Chad Hugo ( The Neptunes ), Chris Holsten , and Anne Judith Wik ( Dsign Music). It was described as an urban
Europop song with a strong synth sound and an African tribal beat. [13] The original music video for "Happiness" gained more than 2 million views on YouTube in its first 24 hours of release before being removed due to controversy over problematic background images and replaced with an edited version. "Happiness" was the second-most viewed K-pop music video worldwide for the month of August. [14]
Red Velvet released their second digital single "Be Natural" and its music video on October 13, 2014. [15] The song, which includes a rap verse by NCT member Taeyong, is a remake of the 2000 song of the same name by S.E.S. , SM Entertainment's first girl group. [16] The music video for the song was directed by Kwon Soon-wook and Shim Jae-won, choreographed by Kyle Hanagami, and features original choreography seen in a pre-debut teaser of Irene and Seulgi, which they performed as part of SM Rookies. [17][18] The group started their promotions on October 9, making their first appearance on the music program, M Countdown . [19] The song peaked at number 33 on the Gaon Digital Chart and at number 6 on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart. [20][21]
On March 11, 2015, SM Rookies member Yeri was officially announced as part of the group. [22] On March 15, the group's first mini-album Ice Cream Cake was released. [23] The group promoted with double lead singles " Automatic " and " Ice Cream Cake " for which the music videos were released on March 14 and 15. [24] On March 19, the group held their album showcase on Ice Cream TV , a program streamed through Naver Music and hosted by Shinee 's
Minho . [25] On March 27, they won their first music show trophy on KBS 's Music Bank. The album went on to become the best selling album by a girl group in South Korea for the first half of 2015 on the Hanteo Chart. [26] In August 2015, Red Velvet held their first U.S. performance during the annual
KCON convention and music festival in Los Angeles, California. [27]
Red Velvet at KCON 2015 in Los Angeles
Red Velvet's first full-length album, The Red , was released on September 9, 2015, with a total of ten tracks including the lead single " Dumb Dumb ". [28] The album was an immediate success which was received positively by critics: Billboard's Jeff Benjamin called The Red "an impressive, solid debut album", stating that it "indicates big things for the act that needs to follow in the footsteps of their beloved female label mates Girls' Generation and f(x) ." [29] The Red debuted at number 1 on Billboard ' s World Albums Chart and South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, [30] and also appeared in Billboard' s list of the "10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015", which described the album as "one of the year's most enjoyable and experimental pop LPs." [31] "Dumb Du
