BoA

Kwon Boa (Korean: 권보아, born November 5, 1986), commonly stylized and known by her stage name BoA, which is a backronym for Beat of Angel, is a Korean singer, active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States and sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Korean Pop Music".

Born and raised in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, BoA was discovered by SM Entertainment talent agents when she accompanied her older brother to a talent search. In 2000, after two years of training, she released ID; Peace B, her debut Korean album. Two years later, she released her debut Japanese album,Listen to My Heart, becoming the first Korean pop star to break through in Japan following the fall of barriers that had restricted the import and export of entertainment between the countries since the end of World War II.

On October 14, 2008, BoA debuted in the United States with the single "Eat You Up" and released her debut English-language album, BoA on March 17, 2009.

BoA's multilingual skills (she speaks Japanese and English along with native Korean and has recorded songs in Mandarin Chinese) have contributed to her commercial success throughout East Asia. She is the only foreign artist to have two albums selling more than one million copies in Japan and is one of only two artists to have six consecutive number-one studio albums on the Oricon charts since her debut, the other being Ayumi Hamasaki.

Career

2000–2002: Debut and Japanese expansion

At age eleven, BoA accompanied her older brother to an SM Entertainment talent search. Though her brother was the one who auditioned as a break-dancer, SM talent scouts instead took notice of BoA and offered her a contract on the same night as the auditions. Her parents initially opposed the notion of BoA's leaving school to enter the entertainment business but eventually consented at her older brothers' persuasion. She has said that her early influence as a singer was Seo Taiji.

BoA underwent two years of training (involving vocal, dance, English, and Japanese lessons), and at the age of thirteen released her debut album ID; Peace B in South Korea on August 25, 2000. The album was moderately successful; it entered the Top 10 of the South Korean charts and sold around 156,000 units. Meanwhile, her Korean record label, SM Entertainment, made arrangements with Japanese label Avex Trax to launch her music career in Japan. She was forced to quit school to prepare and in early 2001, BoA released her first mini-album, Don't Start Now; it sold around 90,000 units. After its release, she took a hiatus from the Korean music industry to focus on the Japanese market at which time she worked to solidify her skills in Japanese.

BoA began her Japanese music career singing at the Avex-owned club Velfarre. In 2001, she released her debut Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song, "ID; Peace B" (originally from the eponymous album). The single reached #20 on the Oricon chart and was followed by "Amazing Kiss", "Kimochi wa Tsutawaru", and "Listen to My Heart"; the last became the singer's first single to enter the Oricon's Top Five. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, BoA recorded the charity single "The Meaning of Peace" with Kumi Koda as part of Avex's Song Nation project to raise funds for charity.

Her debut Japanese album, Listen to My Heart, was released on March 13, 2002. The album was a breakthrough in BoA's career: it became an RIAJ-certified million-seller and debuted atop the Oricon, the first album by a Korean artist to do so. A single, "Every Heart: Minna no Kimochi", was released on the same day as the album. After the release of Listen to My Heart, BoA released her second Korean studio album, No.1, a month later. The album sold around 544,000 units and became the fourth-best-selling record of the year in South Korea. Jumping into the World (a Japanese re-release of the mini-album Don't Start Now) and the Japanese single "Don't Start Now" were released a month later on the same day.

2003–2005: Commercial success

BoA's second Japanese studio album, Valenti (2003), became her best-selling album, with over 1,249,000 copies sold. In support of the album, BoA launched BoA 1st Live Tour Valenti, her first Japanese concert tour.Later that year, she released two Korean albums, Atlantis Princess and the mini-album Shine We Are!. The former was the fifth-best-selling South Korean record of the year with around 345,000 units sold; the latter sold around 58,000 units.BoA then released her seventh single "Valenti". It peaked at the number-two position on the Oricon chart.BoA released two more singles "Kiseki / No.1" and "Jewel Song / Beside You: Boku o Yobu Koe", both which also peaked at the number-three position. At the end of the year, BoA released her second Korean mini-album Miracle.

Her third Japanese studio album, Love & Honesty (2004) was a musical "change in direction": it contained a rock-dance song ("Rock with You") and "harder" R&B. Though the album failed to match Valenti in sales, it topped the Oricon chart for two weeks and became RIAJ-certified triple-platinum. In support of the album, BoA held a tour, Live Concert Tour 2004: Love & Honesty. In contrast with 1st Live Tour, which "emphasized exotic Asian design", the Love & Honesty tour had an "outer-space, sci-fi" theme; among the props were a three-story-high space ship and the robot Asimo. The tour, which started in Saitama and ended in Yokohama, spanned nine performances and attracted approximately 105,000 attendants.^[18] Her first compilation album,Best of Soul (2005), however, sold over a million copies, making BoA the first non-Japanese Asian singer to have two million-selling albums in Japan.

BoA reinvented her image on her fourth Korean album, My Name (2004); she left the "cute" and "youthful" style that had characterized previous years and presented herself as "sexy" and "sultry".The album was the beginning of a foray into the Chinese market and contained two songs sung in Mandarin Chinese.The sales of BoA's Korean albums began to decline: the album sold 191,000 units and became the eleventh-best-selling South Korean album of the year. Her fifth Korean album, Girls on Top, continued her image change. The album portrayed the singer as more "mature and self-confident" and was a "declaration of war on male chauvinism"; the "bohemian" look of the cover photograph represented "freedom and depth", while music videos and album photographs that portrayed BoA in traditional Korean dress brought the "idea of Korean womanhood" into her music. The album also continued BoA's foray into the Chinese market and, like the previous album, contained Mandarin Chinese songs.The album sold less than the previous album; it was the fourteenth-best-selling record of the year in South Korea with 113,000 units sold.

Kwon Boa is one of the top Korean pop stars, famous in Korea, Japan and across Asia. She’s also making her mark in the west with her debut English album in 2009.

Kwon Boa profile

Name: Kwon Boa
Korean name: 권보아
DOB: November 5, 1986
Birthplace: Guri, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Height: 162cm
Blood type: AB
Religion: Catholic
Profession: Singer

(Name often stylised as BoA; also credited as Boa Kwon, Gwon Boa, Kwon Bo-ah, etc.)

Kwon Boa biography

BoA was discovered when she was 11 years old while accompanying her brother to an audition at SM Entertainment. Her brother didn’t make it, but BoA caught the eye of the talent scout instead and was signed by the company soon after.

BoA was trained for two-years before releasing ID; Peace B, her debut Korean album in 2000. The result was moderate, but it’s enough to convince Japan’s Avex Agency to make a joint venture with SM to launch her career in Japan.

BoA released a few singles before making releasing Listen to My Heart, her first full Japanese album in March 2002. The album was a huge hit, and BoA became the first Korean to top Japan’s Oricon sales chart.

Following Japan’s success, BoA launched her 2nd Korean album No.1 in April, which became one of the best selling albums of the year. She was just 16 then.

BoA’s popularity continue to grow across Asia over the years; she is one of only two artists to have six consecutive albums topping Oricon chart. Her popularity in Korea dipped a little though, probably due to her lack of activities there.

It’s also a known fact that BoA is interested in acting. She voiced for Korean version of Animated film The Hedge in May 2006; there were rumours that she would be starring in a full movie, but SM has other plans in mind…

In September 2008, SM announced the plan for BoA’s American debut. She released a digital single Eat You Up in October 2008 and her self-titled debut English album in March 2009. A repackaged deluxe album was released in August.

BoA released her seventh Japanese album, Identity, in February 2010. She also released Hurricane Venus in August, her first Korean album in five years, which did very well. She also made a cameo appearance in drama series Athena.

To date BoA has released (excluding singles and compilations) nine Korean studio albums, seven Japanese albums and one English album, with decent sales record overall. An amazing feat considering the fact that the pop star is just 23 of age.