T-ara (Korean: 티아라; Korean pronunciation: [tʰiara]) is a Korean girl group from Seoul, South Korea formed by Mnet Media in 2009. Before their debut, there was a high level of interest in the group as they were called "Super Rookies" and had been training for three years prior to debut.Originally a five member group, they released their first song Good Person for the Cinderella Man OST in April 2009. In June 2009 members Jiwon and Jiae left the group, ruining the original plans for debut. The next month, T-ara regrouped to become a 6 member group and released their debut single "Geojitmal" (Korean: "거짓말" lit. "Lies").
Pre-debut
The original five T-ara members were trained for three years, and released their first song "A Good Person" for the Korean drama Cinderella Man soundtrack. In early 2009, Jiyeon was in a collaboration with SeeYa and Davichi for a song called "Woman's Generation", which topped charts.
In June 2009, Core Contents Media announced that Ji-ae and Ji-won left due to differences in music style. Boram, Soyeon, and Qri were added. The group's agency began to release promotional pictures in July 2009 in accordance with the new members. Afterward, T-ara released their debut single "Geojitmal" (Korean: "거짓말" lit. "Don't Lie").
2009: Debut
T-ara made its debut on MBC's Radio Star talk show on July 28, 2009. The music video was released that day. Their first performance was on Mnet's M! Countdown show, where they performed "Geojitmal" and "Wanna Play". Their debut was looked upon negatively by netizens, who noted that it was lipsynched and commented that it seemed like an elementary school performance. The group announced afterward that future performances would be live. A few members of T-ara (Eunjung, Soyeon, Hyomin and Park Ji-Yeon) were in a project group with Supernova, a six member male group for the digital single, TTL (Time to Love). On December 1, 2009, T-ara released their first full-length album, named Absolute First Album. This album had two singles, "Cheoeum Cheoreom" and "Bo Peep Bo Peep", both with music videos.
2010: Gaining popularity with their album
On January 1, 2010, T-ara won their first ever award on the New Year's Day episode of Music Bank. Two days later, they won the Mutizen award on Inkigayo. T-ara also performed at a traditional New Year's festival version of the song. The following week, T-ara won their second consecutive Music Bank and Mutizen awards. The next week, T-Ara won their third consecutive mutizen award, thus winning the triple crown. Later in the month, Core Contents Media announced that Eunjung and Hyomin would take part, alongside label mates, in project group, 'Women's Generation'. Consequently, the group announced promotions for their follow up single, "Cheoeum Cheoreom" (Korean: "처음처럼" lit. "Like the First Time").
In February, the group announce the release of a repackaged version of their debut album, entitled Breaking Heart. The music video for its lead single, "Neo Ttaemune Michyeo" (Korean: "너 때문에 미쳐" lit. "Crazy Because of You"), was released in February 24, 2010. The group commenced comeback performances with Mnet's M!Countdown.
Members
Current
Eunjung
- Birth name: Ham Eun-jung (함은정)
- Date of birth: December 12, 1988
- Appeared in SG Wannabe's "Gashiri" music video.
- Appeared in F.T. Island's "Love Sick", "Thunder", and "Only One Person" music videos.
- Featured in film Death Bell and TVXQ drama series "Dating on Earth".
- Participated in "Wonder Woman" single with Seeya and Davichi.
Hyomin
- Birth name: Park Sun-young (박선영)
- Date of birth: May 30, 1989
- Appeared in F.T. Island's "Heaven" music video.
- Appeared in SS501's "Unlock" music video.
- Appeared in SG Wannabe's "Amazing Breakup" music video along with fellow ex-member Jiwon
- Participated in "Wonder Woman" single with Seeya and Davichi.
- One of the regular casts in KBS "Invincible Youth" (2009/2010)
Jiyeon
- Birth name: Park Ji-yeon (박지연)
- Date of birth: June 7, 1993
- Appeared in SG Wannabe's "My love Crybaby" music video.
- Appeared in SG Wannabe's "Saranghae" music video.
- Participated in "Women's Generation" single with Seeya and Davichi.
- Starred in 2009 drama Soul(Hon).
- Starred in 2010 drama Master of Study.
- Starred in 2010 movie Death Bell 2.
Boram
- Birth Name: Jeon Bo-ram (전보람)
- Date of birth: March 22, 1986
- Released solo EP in 2008 titled From Memory.
- Appeared in Kebee's "Feeling You" music video.
- Appeared in 2009 drama Soul.
- Appeared in Tik Tok music drama with 2PM and Yoon Eun Hye.
Soyeon
- Birth name: Park In-jung (박인정)
- Date of birth: October 5, 1987
- Won Gold in 2005 CMB ChinChin Music Festival competition.
- Former SM Entertainment trainee.
- Original member of Girls' Generation, left due to personal reasons.
Qri
- Birth name: Lee Ji-hyun (이지현)
- Date of birth: December 12, 1986
- Appeared in 2009 drama Queen Seon Duk.
- Appeared solo on the cover of Ceci Magazine in October 2009.
- Modeled for a number of companies before debut.
- Starred in 2010 movie Death Bell 2.
Former
Ji-ae
- Birth name: Lee Ji-ae (이지애)
- Date of birth: August 6, 1987
Jiwon
- Birth name: Yang Jiwon (양지원)
- Date of birth: April 5, 1988
