[⋆~Omona exclusive~⋆] Gone But Not Forgotten: Nine Muses / 9Muses
In this series?! I want to go through groups that are gone, but not forgotten. I will go from debut till disbandment remembering the time we had together and look back on their highs and lows.
Nine Muses
Nine Muses was a South Korean girl group formed by Star Empire Entertainment in 2010 with an admissions and graduation concept. The group's final lineup in 2019 consisted of four members: Gyeongree, Hyemi, Sojin, and Keumjo.
2010-2011: Debut and first comeback
On March 26 the original line-up of Nine Muses was announced by Star Empire Entertainment. Their first single album Let's Have a Party on August 12, 2010. The lead single, "No Playboy", was produced by composers Rainstone and Park Jin-young.
NO PLAYBOY was called a "horrible debut", they received a lot of backlash from viewers stating they were copying SNSD (9 members) and too focused on their looks (and shameless about it) and that they had the most terrible debut song ever.
In October, Jaekyung left the group to concentrate on her modeling career and was replaced by Hyuna.
In January 2011, it was announced that members Bini, Rana, and Euaerin would be temporarily dismissed from the group in order to pursue other careers, and that they would not receive replacements. Three months later Euaerin returned to the group with the exception of Rana and Bini, they said that Bini and Rana had left the group following the end of their contracts to pursue new careers. The group returned as a 7 member group with the release of their digital single "Figaro" and its music video on August 18, 2011.
2012-2013: News, Ticket, Dolls, Wild, Gun, Glue and Documentary
2012 and 2013 were busy years for the group.
Nine Muses introduced a new member, Gyeongree, during the group's performance in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The group released a music video for their digital single "News" on January 10, 2012 and the single was officially released on January 11, 2012. The single was produced by Sweetune, who was also behind their "Figaro" single. On March 8, 2012, Nine Muses released their first extended play Sweet Rendezvous with the lead single "Ticket".
In november 2012 the [infamous] documentary "9 Muses of Star Empire" was released, causing quite some commotion among fans and non-fans due to it's painful content (like their CEO slapping member Sera in the face and constantly scolding her).
On December 12, 2012, Star Empire Entertainment introduced a new member, Sungah.
Nine Muses released their digital single, "Dolls", in January 2013. The single debuted at number 35 on the Gaon Digital Chart. On May 9, 2013, the group’s second extended play, Wild, with a title track of the same name, was released. The single debuted on the Gaon Digital Chart at number 32, whereas the physical extended play debuted at number 4 on May 16, 2013. On October 13, 2013, Nine Muses released their first studio album Prima Donna with lead single "Gun". The group released digital single "Glue" and its music video on December 4, 2013.
2014-2015: Line-up changes, Drama, 9Muses S/S Edition, and Lost
On January 29, 2014, Star Empire Entertainment announced that Lee Sem and Eunji will be leaving Nine Muses to pursue new areas, but will still manage their careers. On June 23, 2014, The company announced that Sera's contract had come to an end, also leaving the group. The group and the company received a lot of backlash and criticism from the public stating Sera had always been the hardest working and looked after the other members well only to get bullied by her boss.
On September 3, Gyeongree, along with ZE:A's Kevin and trainee Sojin, formed the project unit Nasty Nasty.
On January 8, 2015, Star Empire Entertainment announced the group's third mini-album Drama would be released on January 23. The agency later added two new members; Sojin, who previously debuted as a member of Nasty Nasty, and Lee Keum-jo. Nine Muses held their Drama showcase on January 21, 2015 with a new eight member line-up and performed their title-track "Drama" for the first time. The showcase was broadcast live on YouTube. In July 2015, the group released their fourth mini-album 9Muses S/S Edition with the title track "Hurt Locker". Nine Muses' fifth mini album Lost was released on November 24, 2015 with title track "Sleepless Night".
2016-2019: More Line-up Changes, Muses Diary series, Disbandment and Remember
On June 7, 2016, Star Empire Entertainment announced that Minha and Euaerin had left from the group following their end of their contract. Nine Muses later formed a four-member subgroup, Nine Muses A (an abbreviation for Nine Muses Amuse), which is composed of Gyeongree, Hyemi, Sojin, and Keumjo for a summer comeback. On October 4, 2016, the agency announced that Hyuna’s departure of their group after six years of activity due to the expiration of her contract. Nine Muses remained as a four-member group due to Sungah taking hiatus to pursue her work as a disk jockey.
The group released their sixth extended play Muses Diary Part. 2: Identity on June 19, 2017. It was the second release of the Muses Diary series from their debut album under Nine Muses A. It charted on Gaon Album Charts at number 5 and at number 15 on Billboard. The extended play contained six tracks, with the lead single being "Remember".
On August 3, 2017, a repackaged version of Muses Diary Part. 2: Identity, titled Muses Diary Part. 3: Love City, was released. The reissue contained of four tracks from Muses Diary Part. 2: Identity and two new songs including the title track "Love City".
July 5th 2018 member Kyungri had her solo debut with the digital single "Blue Moon".
On February 10, 2019, Star Empire released official statement on Nine Muses fan cafe that the group would be disbanded. The group concluded activities with the release of their final digital single titled "Remember" on February 14 and held fan meeting with the same title on February 24.
Nine Muses had a long, difficult road. In total they had 8 different line-ups. Their debut was a total flop and the documentary did more harm than good showcasing the horrible life of idols behind the scenes. Watching the members suffer was painful for both fans and non-fans. Members were constantly leaving and added, they only had 1 member (Hyemi) seeing it through from start to finish trying to keep the group together and their company failed to give them the spotlight they deserved. It's been bittersweet but they are definitely worth remembering.
Sources: the kraze magazine, moomhyuna, MBCkpop, 9MUSES 나인뮤지스, Mnet K-POP, KBS World, I Love Docs, Wikipedia
I wanted to give you something, hopefully fun!, to do during these times. It took up a lot of time and energy but it was fun so i want to ask you guys: would you like me to continue this and turn it into a series? I have a lot of groups i'm willing to cover, so some feedback and your suggestions are welcome!
Do you guys miss Nine Muses? What is your favorite song? What do you think about the run they had?
I hope you have (had) fun reading and watching. No matter how poorly Star Empire treated them, they do really have a fantastic discography and i still listen to them a lot. I hope they are proud of everything they have accomplished.
Nine Muses
Nine Muses was a South Korean girl group formed by Star Empire Entertainment in 2010 with an admissions and graduation concept. The group's final lineup in 2019 consisted of four members: Gyeongree, Hyemi, Sojin, and Keumjo.
2010-2011: Debut and first comeback
On March 26 the original line-up of Nine Muses was announced by Star Empire Entertainment. Their first single album Let's Have a Party on August 12, 2010. The lead single, "No Playboy", was produced by composers Rainstone and Park Jin-young.
Click to viewNO PLAYBOY was called a "horrible debut", they received a lot of backlash from viewers stating they were copying SNSD (9 members) and too focused on their looks (and shameless about it) and that they had the most terrible debut song ever.
In October, Jaekyung left the group to concentrate on her modeling career and was replaced by Hyuna.
In January 2011, it was announced that members Bini, Rana, and Euaerin would be temporarily dismissed from the group in order to pursue other careers, and that they would not receive replacements. Three months later Euaerin returned to the group with the exception of Rana and Bini, they said that Bini and Rana had left the group following the end of their contracts to pursue new careers. The group returned as a 7 member group with the release of their digital single "Figaro" and its music video on August 18, 2011.
2012-2013: News, Ticket, Dolls, Wild, Gun, Glue and Documentary
2012 and 2013 were busy years for the group.
Nine Muses introduced a new member, Gyeongree, during the group's performance in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The group released a music video for their digital single "News" on January 10, 2012 and the single was officially released on January 11, 2012. The single was produced by Sweetune, who was also behind their "Figaro" single. On March 8, 2012, Nine Muses released their first extended play Sweet Rendezvous with the lead single "Ticket".
In november 2012 the [infamous] documentary "9 Muses of Star Empire" was released, causing quite some commotion among fans and non-fans due to it's painful content (like their CEO slapping member Sera in the face and constantly scolding her).
On December 12, 2012, Star Empire Entertainment introduced a new member, Sungah.
Nine Muses released their digital single, "Dolls", in January 2013. The single debuted at number 35 on the Gaon Digital Chart. On May 9, 2013, the group’s second extended play, Wild, with a title track of the same name, was released. The single debuted on the Gaon Digital Chart at number 32, whereas the physical extended play debuted at number 4 on May 16, 2013. On October 13, 2013, Nine Muses released their first studio album Prima Donna with lead single "Gun". The group released digital single "Glue" and its music video on December 4, 2013.
2014-2015: Line-up changes, Drama, 9Muses S/S Edition, and Lost
On January 29, 2014, Star Empire Entertainment announced that Lee Sem and Eunji will be leaving Nine Muses to pursue new areas, but will still manage their careers. On June 23, 2014, The company announced that Sera's contract had come to an end, also leaving the group. The group and the company received a lot of backlash and criticism from the public stating Sera had always been the hardest working and looked after the other members well only to get bullied by her boss.
On September 3, Gyeongree, along with ZE:A's Kevin and trainee Sojin, formed the project unit Nasty Nasty.
On January 8, 2015, Star Empire Entertainment announced the group's third mini-album Drama would be released on January 23. The agency later added two new members; Sojin, who previously debuted as a member of Nasty Nasty, and Lee Keum-jo. Nine Muses held their Drama showcase on January 21, 2015 with a new eight member line-up and performed their title-track "Drama" for the first time. The showcase was broadcast live on YouTube. In July 2015, the group released their fourth mini-album 9Muses S/S Edition with the title track "Hurt Locker". Nine Muses' fifth mini album Lost was released on November 24, 2015 with title track "Sleepless Night".
2016-2019: More Line-up Changes, Muses Diary series, Disbandment and Remember
On June 7, 2016, Star Empire Entertainment announced that Minha and Euaerin had left from the group following their end of their contract. Nine Muses later formed a four-member subgroup, Nine Muses A (an abbreviation for Nine Muses Amuse), which is composed of Gyeongree, Hyemi, Sojin, and Keumjo for a summer comeback. On October 4, 2016, the agency announced that Hyuna’s departure of their group after six years of activity due to the expiration of her contract. Nine Muses remained as a four-member group due to Sungah taking hiatus to pursue her work as a disk jockey.
The group released their sixth extended play Muses Diary Part. 2: Identity on June 19, 2017. It was the second release of the Muses Diary series from their debut album under Nine Muses A. It charted on Gaon Album Charts at number 5 and at number 15 on Billboard. The extended play contained six tracks, with the lead single being "Remember".
On August 3, 2017, a repackaged version of Muses Diary Part. 2: Identity, titled Muses Diary Part. 3: Love City, was released. The reissue contained of four tracks from Muses Diary Part. 2: Identity and two new songs including the title track "Love City".
July 5th 2018 member Kyungri had her solo debut with the digital single "Blue Moon".
On February 10, 2019, Star Empire released official statement on Nine Muses fan cafe that the group would be disbanded. The group concluded activities with the release of their final digital single titled "Remember" on February 14 and held fan meeting with the same title on February 24.
Nine Muses had a long, difficult road. In total they had 8 different line-ups. Their debut was a total flop and the documentary did more harm than good showcasing the horrible life of idols behind the scenes. Watching the members suffer was painful for both fans and non-fans. Members were constantly leaving and added, they only had 1 member (Hyemi) seeing it through from start to finish trying to keep the group together and their company failed to give them the spotlight they deserved. It's been bittersweet but they are definitely worth remembering.
Sources: the kraze magazine, moomhyuna, MBCkpop, 9MUSES 나인뮤지스, Mnet K-POP, KBS World, I Love Docs, Wikipedia
I wanted to give you something, hopefully fun!, to do during these times. It took up a lot of time and energy but it was fun so i want to ask you guys: would you like me to continue this and turn it into a series? I have a lot of groups i'm willing to cover, so some feedback and your suggestions are welcome!
Do you guys miss Nine Muses? What is your favorite song? What do you think about the run they had?
I hope you have (had) fun reading and watching. No matter how poorly Star Empire treated them, they do really have a fantastic discography and i still listen to them a lot. I hope they are proud of everything they have accomplished.