About Boa

BoA is a multilingual singer, singing in Korean, Japanese, English, and Chinese. She made her debut in 2000 with ID;Peace B at the age of thirteen. After the success, her record company SM Entertainment arranged for BoA to launch her music career in Japan under Avex Trax. Her Japanese debut LISTEN TO MY HEART debuted at #1 on the Oricon charts. BoA has continued to release many #1 albums in both Korea and Japan. Most recently, she has begun studying Mandarin and has already released one Chinese single.

Click here for information on individual BoA songs.

Profile

* Stage Name: BoA
* Real Name: Boa Kwon (권보아)
* Birth Date: 1986.11.05
* Blood Type: AB
* Height: 160cm
* Hobbies: Singing, dancing, seeing movies.
* Skills: Pop dance, Japanese, English.
* Favorite Music: R&B (influenced by her elder brother)
* Favorite Artist: Nelly, Britney Spears, Brian McKnight, P!NK, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Suzuki Ami, Hamasaki Ayumi, Amuro Namie, Utada Hikaru, Crystal Kay, m-flo, hitomi, aiko.
* Favorite Movie: Notting Hill.
* Favorite Actor: Yoo Ji-tae, Leonardo DiCaprio
* Religion: Catholic

2000-2001: ID;Peace B and Jumping into the World

Boa Kwon is a Korean singer-dancer discovered at the age of eleven. Her second oldest brother had hoped to make in the music business and went to SM Entertainment with Boa. However, BoA was discovered instead. After two years of training, at the age of thirteen, BoA released her debut album ID;Peace B on August 26, 2000 to positive reviews. The album went on to chart at #10 and sold 375,000 copies. After the success, BoA’s Korean record label SM Entertainment was talking with Japanese record label Avex Trax in order for BoA to start a music career in Japan.

On March 3, 2001, BoA released her first mini-album Don't start now / Jumping into the World. The album reached #6 and after completing the album, BoA took a hiatus from the Korean music industry and decided to focus on the Japanese industry. During this time, she struggled to solidify her language skills in Japanese.

After signing with Avex Trax, BoA quickly went to work and began singing at Velfarre, an Avex-owned nightclub. On May 30, 2001, BoA released her first Japanese single, the Japanese version of her song “ID;Peace B”. The single reached #20 on the Oricon chart. Singles that followed included “Amazing Kiss” (#23) and "Kimochi wa Tsutawaru (気持ちはつたわる; My Feelings are Being Handed Down)" (#15).
2002: LISTEN TO MY HEART, NO.1, and MIRACLE

BoA began 2002 with the release of her fourth Japanese single “LISTEN TO MY HEART” (#5). Two months later, BoA released her Japanese debut album LISTEN TO MY HEART (#1) as well as the fifth single from the album “Every Heart -Minna no Kimochi- (-ミンナノキモチ-; Everybody's Feelings)” (#10). The single was used as the ending theme for the hit anime series InuYasha. The album sold 1,300,000 copies worldwide and was one of the few albums by a Korean artist to chart in the top five on the Oricon charts.

Only a month after the success of LISTEN TO MY HEART, BoA released her second full-length studio album, NO.1. To date, the album is her most successful Korean album, selling over 650,000 copies. It peaked at #1 on the South Korean charts and #15 on the Oricon charts. On September 24, 2002, BoA released her second Korean mini-album Miracle. The album, a compilation of her Japanese hits, was a commercial success, selling over 327,000 copies. Later in the year, BoA became the youngest artist in South Korea to earn the “Artist of the Year” award.

BoA continued to release singles in Japan in order to lead up to her sophomore album. The Japanese version of her Korean song “Don't start now” was released in May 2002 and peaked at #17 on the Oricon charts. She followed up in August with “VALENTI” which had then become her best charting single at #2. The singles “Kiseki / NO.1 (奇蹟; Miracle)” (#3) and “JEWEL SONG / BESIDE YOU -Boku wo Yobu Koe- (-僕を呼ぶ声-; Voice that Calls Out Me)” (#3) followed.
2003: VALENTI, Atlantis Princess, and Shine We Are!

On January 29, 2003, BoA released her second Japanese album which peaked at #1 and stayed at the top position for two weeks. During its first week of release, the album sold over 650,000 copies. Overall, VALENTI has become BoA’s best-selling album of all time, selling 1,539,000 copies in Japan, making her the highest and fastest selling Asian foreigner in Japanese history. Worldwide, however, the album has sold over 1.6 million copies. Within 15 minutes, the albums live tour in Osaka and Nagoya was sold out, and Tokyo sold out in one day. The album had the fourth highest debut sales and was one of the top five selling albums of the year in Japan.

Throughout the year, BoA released three singles in Japan. “Shine We Are! / Earthsong” was released in May and reached #2. In October, “DOUBLE” reached #2 on the Oricon charts. At the end of the year, in December, BoA released “Rock With You”, which peaked at #5.

On May 3, BoA released her third full-length Korean studio album Atlantis Princess. The album sold over 344,000 copies in South Korea and topped the charts. Atlantis Princess was well-received throughout the country and received multiple awards. In December, BoA released her third mini-album, Shine We Are, which is her second Korean compilation of her Japanese hits. The album sold just 80,000 copies.
2004-2005: LOVE & HONESTY, My Name, and Girls On Top

After success in both South Korea and Japan, BoA continued her career in Japan. On January 15, 2004, BoA released her third full-length Japanese album LOVE & HONESTY. It charted on Oricon at the #1 spot for two weeks and sold over 650,000 copies in Japan and 800,000 worldwide. The tour to promote the album sold out and selective arenas, due to high demand, filled to one thousand above capacity.

After the albums release, the single “Be the one” was released for promotion. The single charted at #15 on the Oricon charts. After the album and tour, BoA released the singles “QUINCY / Kono Yo no Shirushi (コノヨノシルシ; The Evidence of this Planet)” (#4) and “Meri Kuri (メリクリ; Merry Christmas)” (#5). Japan anticipated for the release of her fourth studio album, but instead released BEST OF SOUL, a compilation of her singles including a bonus track.

On June 11, 2004, BoA released her fourth Korean album, My Name, which sold over 365,000 copies. The album received public attention and won numerous awards. Her promotional video for the title track would later go on to become the first music video shown on MTV K.

BoA then returned to Japan in order to release new singles. “DO THE MOTION” became BoA’s first (and only) Japanese single to top the Oricon charts. The single also made her the fifth non-Japanese singer to have a #1 single, the first singer in 21 years. “make a secret” (#5) and “Dakishimeru (抱きしめる; Hold Me)” (#9) were also released in order to promote her anticipated fourth Japanese album. “Merry Christmas from BoA” was BoA’s first digital single that was released at the end of 2005.

On July 27, 2005, BoA released her fifth Korean studio album entitled Girls On Top. Selling 295,000 copies and debuting at #1 in South Korea and Taiwan, she won the “Best Female Artist” award at the m.net Music Festival at the end of 2005.
2006-2007: OUTGROW, MADE IN TWENTY (20), and AnyBand

BoA released her 18th Japanese single “Everlasting” (#4) in January 2006 in order to promote OUTGROW. The album was released on February 15, 2006 and debuted at #1. However, the album only sold 220,000 copies its first week, making it one of BoA’s lowest-selling debuts. The album has since sold 643,000 copies worldwide. The CD+DVD version of the album included all of the promotional videos and a secret password that was a link to her website.

BoA quickly went back to work and in April released “Nanairo no Ashita ~brand new beat~ / Your Color (七色の明日~brand new beat~; Tomorrow Colored with the Seven Prismatic Colors)” which reached #3. To continue the promotion for her fifth studio album, BoA released “KEY OF HEART / DOTCH” (#7) and “Winter Love” (#2).

In September 2006, BoA released her first digital single in Korea, the Korean version of “Key Of Heart.” BoA also stated that after the completion of her Japanese tour, she would return to Korea in order to focus working on her sixth Korean album.

On January 12, 2007, BoA’s fifth Japanese studio album leaked onto the internet and on January 17, 2007, she released MADE IN TWENTY(20). Although the album debuted at the top of the Oricon charts, it only sold 182,009 copies, making it her lowest first-week sales of her career.

BoA went to work for promotion of her sixth Japanese album. The singles “Sweet Impact” (#5), “LOVE LETTER” (#3), and “LOSE YOUR MIND” (#6) were spanned in release in 2007. BoA went back to Korea in late 2007 in order to be a part of the Anyband concept created by Samsung. Their first single was released and included two songs.
2008: THE FACE

BoA began 2008 with the release of her 26th single, “be with you.” which peaked at #13 on the Oricon charts. One week after the release, her sixth full-length Japanese album, THE FACE, was released. The album eventually found its way to the top position and made BoA on of only three artists in J-Pop history to top the Oricon Weekly Charts for six consecutive times (the others being Ayumi Hamasaki, who currently holds the record at eight, and Utada Hikaru, who is now tied with BoA at six).

In order to promote her new tour, Avex Trax plans to release the new single “Vivid”, which will also include two PVs, on June 4, 2008.