Inspired by artists like En Vogue, Destiny's Child, and Gwen Stefani, South Korea's Red Velvet are a five-member,
all-female vocal group who make dance-oriented contemporary R&B and rap-infused pop. Formed by music management giant
S.M. Entertainment
in Seoul in 2014, Red Velvet feature the talents of former S.M. Rookies Seulgi (Kang Seul-gi), Irene (Bae Joo-hyun), and Wendy (Son Seung-wan), as well as Joy (Park Soo-young) and Yeri (Kim Ye-rim). The group's two initial singles, 2014's "Happiness" and "Natural," fared well with audiences and became some of South Korea's most watched online videos during the month of their release. In March 2015, Red Velvet released their debut EP,
Ice Cream Cake, which included the single "Automatic" and debuted at number two on Billboard's World Albums chart.
Their first full-length, The Red, arrived in September 2015. The album topped both the Billboard World Albums and the Korean Albums charts atop the success of the single "Dumb Dumb." An R&B-influenced follow-up, The Velvet, arrived in 2016, with EP number three, Russian Roulette, released just months later. Another chart-topper, Rookie: The 4th Mini Album, was issued in January 2017. Several months later, Red Velvet delivered their sophomore album, the aptly titled Perfect Velvet: The 2nd Album. Buoyed by the single "Peek-a-Boo," the album topped the Billboard World Albums chart. The Summer Magic EP arrived in 2018, and included the single "Power Up,"
as well as an English version of "Bad Boy." In 2019 the group issued the mini-album The ReVe Festival Day 1.
Leader, Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist, Visual, Center
Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist
Main Vocalist
Lead Rapper, Sub Vocalist
Sub Vocalist, Sub Rapper, Maknae
“Dumb Dumb” was #70 on Billboard‘s list of “100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time”
Red Velvet is the first K-pop girl group to top the “World Albums” chart four times (The Red, Rookie, The Red Summer, and Perfect Velvet).
“Bad Boy” is #43 on Billboard‘s list of “100 Best Songs of 2018: Critics’ Picks.” They are one of four K-pop acts who were listed.
As of December 2018, Red Velvet has five music videos with over 100 million views: “Russian Roulette,” “Dumb Dumb,” “Bad Boy,” “Peek-A-Boo,” and “Red Flavor.” (Listed in order of when each passed 100 million)
In April 2018, Red Velvet was the first K-pop group to perform in North Korea as part of a special concert (minus Joy). The concert was aired on MBC in South Korea.