As famous girl groups such as Momoland and Brave Girls recently disbanded, third-generation idol groups stood at a crossroads called the “7-year curse”.
The “7-year curse” is when, for whatever reason, a group cannot successfully get through contract negotiations. It seems to be valid this year as well. However, some idol groups exist longer than this 7-year period without a single member quitting. Here is a list of representative girl groups.
Brown Eyed Girls
Brown Eyed Girls, which debuted in 2006, digested various genres such as soul, hip-hop and pop ballad with their outstanding skills. They stood at the top by releasing hit songs such as “Abracadabra” and “How come” one after another.
Afterwards, they released the 5th album in their 8th year, completely breaking the 7-year jinx. In 2015, disbandment rumors briefly circulated, but member JeA directly explained through SNS that it was groundless. When appearing on JTBC’s “Knowing Bros” in 2019, Brown Eyed Girls revealed that the secret to their longevity was “because they maintained proper business without messing with each other”. Brown Eyed Girls celebrated their 16th debut anniversary this year.
Mamamoo
Mamamoo debuted with their debut song “Mr. Ambiguous” in June 2014. They received great love from the public for each song they released, such as “Um Oh Ah Yeh”, “You’re the Best”, “Décalcomanie”, “Yes I Am” and “Hip”. In particular, all members showed excellent live skills and earned the nickname “trustworthy Mamamoo”.
At the time of their 7th year in 2021, Solar, Hwasa and Moonbyul renewed their contracts with the agency RBW, while Wheein chose to join THE L1VE, a label led by Ravi. However, Wheein “protected” Mamamoo by signing a second contract extension with RBW to remain as a member of Mamamoo until at least December 2023.
Twice
Twice debuted in October 2015. They set many new records, including winning Daesang at various music awards ceremonies, selling over 10 million albums cumulatively in South Korea and Japan, and taking the shortest amount of time since their debut to perform at Tokyo Dome as a foreign artist.
Red Velvet
Red Velvet, which debuted splendidly in 2014, is a representative third-generation girl group. Red Velvet, which boasts a refreshing yet dreamy atmosphere, gained huge popularity by showing off a different appearance in each album. There were no special articles in their 7th year (2021), but the members dispelled disbandment rumors by participating in various activities such as music broadcasts.
Dreamcatcher
Dreamcatcher is formerly known as MINX. MINX was formed in 2014 with JiU, SuA, Siyeon, Yoohyeon and Dami as members, but ceased activities without producing any results. Handong and Gahyeon joined the existing 5 members and they re-debuted in 2017 under the name Dreamcatcher. Abandoning the innocence during MINX days, they gained great popularity overseas with strong performances.
In November last year, 7 members renewed contracts with the agency to continue their activities.
Source: wikitree
