TWICE is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015. The group consists of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. Twice was formed on the reality show Sixteen (2015) and debuted on October 20, 2015, with the extended play (EP) The Story Begins.
Twice rose to national fame in 2016 with their single “Cheer Up”, which peaked at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, became the best-performing single of the year, and won the “Song of the Year” award at the Melon Music Awards and Mnet Asian Music Awards.[4][5][6] Their next single, “TT”, from their third EP Twicecoaster: Lane 1, topped the Gaon charts for four consecutive weeks. The EP was the best-selling female K-pop album of 2016. Within 19 months of their debut, Twice had already sold over 1.2 million units of their four EPs and special album; by 2019, they had become the best-selling Korean girl group of all time. The group had sold over 9 million albums in South Korea and Japan as of July 2020. In 2020, Twice signed with Republic Records for American promotions as part of a partnership with JYP Entertainment.
The group debuted in Japan on June 28, 2017 under Warner Music Japan, with the release of a compilation album titled #Twice. The album peaked at number 2 on the Oricon Albums Chart with the highest first-week album sales by 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. Twice became the first Korean girl group to earn a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for an album and a CD single in the same year. Twice ranked third in the Top Artist category of Billboard Japan’s 2017 year-end chart. They have been dubbed the “Nation’s Girl Group”, and their signature choreography—including “Cheer Up”, “TT”, and “Signal”—became a dance craze and viral meme imitated by many celebrities.
Let’s get to know a little more about each TWICE member below:
Nayeon: The oldest member of the group, Im Nayeon was born on September 22, 1995, in South Korea, and is the lead vocalist, lead dancer, and center. She was also part of another JYPE group, 6mix, which ended up breaking up and never debuted. Nayeon was the first member to be confirmed for TWICE.
Jeongyeon: The group’s lead vocalist was born with the name Yoo Kyung Wan, but changed it to Yoo Jeongyeon when she was in third grade, as she was often bullied by people who said her name was a boy’s name. She was born on November 1, 1996, in Suwon, South Korea, and almost got into SM Entertainment. It turns out that she auditioned for both companies, and was accepted by both. In the end, she chose JYPE, and today we have Jeongyeon in TWICE.
Momo: Hirai Momo is one of the four foreign members of TWICE. She was born on November 9, 1996, in Kyoto, Japan. In the group, she serves as the main dancer and vocalist, and almost didn’t make it into the group. Momo was eliminated during episode 6 of Sixteen, but J.Y. Park, the owner of JYPE, decided to add her due to her great dancing skills.
Sana: Minatozaki Sana is another Japanese member. She was born on December 29, 1996, in Osaka and is the group’s vocalist. Unlike the other members, Sana is an only child and found in TWICE her chance to finally have sisters, and is constantly seen showing affection towards all of them.
Jihyo: The leader and main vocalist of TWICE, Park Jihyo, was actually born with the name Park Jisoo. She changed her name shortly before joining Sixteen, and was born on February 1, 1997. Jihyo is the member who spent the longest time as a trainee, training for 10 years before debuting. She was chosen as the leader through a secret vote among all the members of the group.
Mina: Myoui Mina is the penultimate member who is also not Korean. Her parents are Japanese, but she was born in San Antonio, Texas, on March 24, 1997, and moved to Japan when she was still a baby. In the group, she is the main dancer and vocalist, as well as being the one who spent the shortest time as a trainee. Mina is also known as Black Swan, due to her ballet skills, as she studied dance for 11 years.
Dahyun: Lead rapper and vocalist Kim Dahyun was born on May 28, 1998, in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. She auditioned for three of the country’s biggest entertainment companies, JYP, SM, and YG, and was accepted by all of them, ultimately choosing JYP. Her most popular nickname is Tofu, which she gave her due to her super white skin tone.
Chaeyoung: Son Cheyeoung was born in Seoul, South Korea, on April 23, 1999. She is the main rapper and vocalist of TWICE, and is also in charge of washing the dishes in the dorm with Dahyun. One of Chaeyoung’s favorite hobbies is art, where she is always drawing and painting everything she sees, and she always posts her work on the group’s Instagram.
Tzuyu: Chou Tzuyu is the last foreign member of TWICE, as well as being the maknae, visual, vocalist and lead dancer. She was born on June 14, 1999 in Tainan, Taiwan, and is the tallest member of the group. She was discovered by JYP while at the MUSE Performing Arts Workshop in her hometown in 2012. Soon, she ended up moving to Korea, without knowing the language very well, became a trainee and managed to debut in TWICE.
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TOP BIAS – TWICE
JULY
#1 TZUYU (+3)
#2 NAYEON (+1)
#3 MINA (+3)
#4 MOMO (+5)
#5 JEONGYEON (-4)
#6 DAHYUN (+1)
#7 SANA (+1)
#8 CHAEYOUNG (-3)
#9 JIHYO (-7)
TOP BIAS – TWICE
JUNE
#1 JEONGYEON
#2 JIHYO
#3 NAYEON
#4 TZUYU
#5 CHAEYOUNG
#6 MINA
#7 DAHYUN
#8 SANA
#9 MOMO