- BLACKPINK is one of the most successful K-pop groups of all time.
- In 2019, the group – Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa – became the first K-Pop girl group to play Coachella.
- In 2023, they became the first K-pop act to headline Coachella.
BLACK ROSE, as of this writing, is the most successful K-pop girl group of all time, and they have a myriad of accolades to prove it. For example, in 2018 alone—two years after the group debuted (and became the first K-pop girl group to chart on the Canadian Hot 100 chart)—they hit three milestones on the Billboard charts, per Notice board. First, they earned the “Highest Chart Ever by a K-Pop Girl Group” on the Billboard Hot 100 with their single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du.” Second, their second EP, make up, debuted at number 40, becoming “the highest-charting album by an all-female K-pop group at the time.” Finally, they became the first female K-pop group to debut at the top of the Emerging Artists chart – and that’s just the beginning.
BLACKPINK also struck out BTS to earn three Guinness World Records after they released the video for “How You Like That” in June 2020. The video became the most viewed video on YouTube in 24 hours, the most viewed music video on the platform in 24 hours, and the most viewed music video by a K-pop group in 24 hours. So far they are still breaking records. On August 22, 2022, they released “Pink Venom”, the first single from their second album, Born pink.
With all of their success, BLACKPINK has unsurprisingly worked with some of the biggest artists in the world: Selena Gomez (“Ice cream”), Cardi B (“Bet you want”), and Lady Gaga (“Sour candy”), to name a few. More impressive is that BLACKPINK is mtakes these moves with just four members: Jisoo, Jenny, Roseand Lisa. Read on to learn more about the powerful women ahead of their 2023 headlines Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Jisoo
Born on January 3, 1995 in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea, Jisoo is the oldest member of the record-breaking girl group. Therefore, fans (known as BLINKS) have seen her as the leader of the pack. However, she had been adamant that there is no group leader. “We spent many years together during training and are like friends, so we decided it would be better for us to go without a leader,” she said on Choi Hwa Jung’s Power FM, according to Allpop. Jisoo trained for five years to get to where she is today, which included three to four dance lessons every day in addition to singing lessons, per Marie Claire.
Although Jisoo trained incredibly hard alongside her BLACKPINK members, she expressed in the band’s Netflix documentary, Light up the sky, that she would never have guessed in a million years that her dreams would come true. “I live a completely different life than I thought I would live. I used to want to be a writer or a painter, even though I couldn’t paint very well. I joined the drama club when I was in 11th grade. They said that I would audition because I needed the experience,” she recalled. “My first audition was at YG (Entertainment). I didn’t know much about YG before I got there the first day. It felt like something far away from me. I thought never that I would do it for real.”
Although Jisoo has not released solo music as of this writing, she has certainly branched out into other aspects of the industry. She has a few acting credits to her name, including 2019’s Arthdal Chronicles. Her debut starring role was in the Disney+ drama, Snowdrop, which was released in 2021. She has also had several brand deals with some of the biggest names in fashion and beauty, including Dior, Cartier and Adidas.
Jenny
Born in South Korea on January 16, 1996, Jennie is the second oldest member of BLACKPINK. She is widely regarded as the main rapper of the group. Jennie grew up in Seoul and New Zealand and was only 14 when she signed to YG Entertainment. However, she was not always sold on being a singer. “When I turned 15, I decided whether I should move to America. I went there, I checked the school. Everything was kind of decided, like 80 percent, and I came back to New Zealand to pack up my stuff. That’s when I realized that I don’t want to go to America and study there myself. I actually want to be a singer,” she explained Light up the skyper Marie Claire. “I don’t know where it came from.”
The seemingly last-minute decision has certainly paid off, and in 2018 she became the first member of BLACKPINK to release solo music. Jennie’s debut single, which is called “SOLO”, was released in November 2018 and has almost one billion views on YouTube. Just like Jinsoo, Jennie has also dipped her feet into acting and is starring Weekends upcoming HBO series The idol. “I found the script very exciting, so I wanted to be a part of the series,” she told Korean news agency Yonhap in a statement. “I feel very excited. I will work hard, so please look at me with affection.” Like Jinsoo, Jennie can often be seen in high fashion brands, she seems to prefer Chanel.
Jennie has been open about her emotional journey to stardom, reflecting on her gratitude when BLACKPINK became the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella 2019. “When we first heard that we would (become the first K-pop girl group ) to) perform at Coachella it felt surreal. We still can’t forget the very moment when we went on stage and saw the audience for the first time,” she recalled Entertainment Weekly in October 2020. “That’s when we really felt that people were really listening to BLACKPINK’s music, and thanks to that experience, we got a lot of energy and felt our fans’ love for us.” She concluded: “It was… very precious to us, and we will always remember it fondly.”
Rose
Rosé is the second youngest girl in the group and was born on February 11, 1997 in New Zealand. She was there for eight years and then moved to Australia. She would face another big move eight years later, when she received an offer to train alongside Jisoo and Jennie. “I was 16. I auditioned and then they called me and they said, ‘Can you fly to Korea in two months?’ And then my whole life changed,” she explained of her audition process in Light up the skyper Marie Claire. “In Australia I dropped out of school. I never even imagined living apart from my family. I hadn’t even slept more than two weeks away from home.”
When she joined YG, she was immediately drawn to who would become her other bandmates. – There were four of us. I don’t even know why, but there were four of us. We covered songs for the morning. All of us sang. Someone harmonized,” she recalled.
Rosé was the last person to be added to BLACKPINK, but the second member of the girl group to release her own music. She came out with “Gone” in April 2021, which has more than 200 million views on YouTube. It’s no surprise that fans have taken to her solo music; according to Soompi, she is nicknamed “Golden Voice”. But she’s not just an incredible singer. Rosé can play piano, guitar and dance like a pro on stage. Fans also love her for being super relatable, as she’s not afraid to show off her love of food – a refreshing look in Hollywood for many. One fan proved this to be true by creating a compilation of clips of her meal on the group’s 2018 reality show, BLACK PINK HOUSE.
Lisa
Last but certainly not least is Lisa, who was born on March 27, 1997, making her the youngest member of BLACKPINK. Born and raised in Thailand, she bonded with Jennie when she joined YG because she could speak English with her. “I didn’t speak any Korean. I only knew how to say ‘Hello,’ so it was really a fresh start,” said Lisa, the only non-Korean member of the world-famous group in Light up the skyaccording to Marie Claire. “Fortunately, there was Jennie. She was the only one who could speak English with the interns. I spoke English with her and if something happened, I would speak with her.”
Lisa is known for her impressive rap and dance skills. According to Light up the sky, Lisa would prepare the choreography for all of the group’s dances during their years of training together. “For that we would have to plan everything ourselves, but we each had a role,” she explained. “If someone was in charge of vocals, we’d give them that role, but I always took the role of the dancer. So I always designed the choreography. Every month! Literally every month for five years.”
Although Lisa is one of the biggest stars in the world, she noted it Rolling stone that she feels she has a lot more to do in terms of developing her character. “When I go to Thailand, there’s this new generation of babies who all look up to me: ‘I want to be like Lisa, unni!’ But when I look at myself, I’m lacking in so many areas,” she humbly stated in May 2022. “There are so many things I don’t know because I’m still young. They look up to me as an idol, but I think still not that I’m perfect enough to be their idol. Am I there yet? Am I ready? I’m actually really curious. How am I an idol for these kids? I still feel like I have a long way to go .”
She also said that she does not plan to leave BLACKPINK anytime soon and hopes that the band lives on for many years to come. “I don’t think we’ve even talked about this among ourselves. We’ve jokingly said, ‘Jisoo unni is going to live in Hawaii. Lisa is coming back to Thailand, but I don’t want to think about the end. It’s too sad,'” she said. “One day we’ll get married and stuff. But I’ll see The Spice Girls, how they met for a reunion concert. Can we do that too someday? Will I be able to dance then, as I do now? I mean, won’t BLACKPINK last at least another 10 years? We’ll be almost 40 by then.”
Unlike some of her bandmates who have released solo singles, Lisa released a solo album in 2021, titled Lalisa. In November of the same year, Lisa shared Notice board what was the inspiration for the project. “I don’t write lyrics, but (producer Teddy Park) always asks me, ‘Do you have something you want to deliver to the fans? What mood do you want to make?’ I told him that in ‘Lalisa, I wanted to put some Thai vibes in it, and he actually put in some Thai traditional music in the dance break,’” she recalled. “This is my first solo, and I want to show that I’m Thai to all the fans around the world.”
And for those who want to connect with Lisa in a bigger way, she loves to showcase her life through travel and lifestyle vlogs on her personal YouTube channel, which has more than 10 million subscribers!
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