[⋆~Omona exclusive~⋆] Gone But Not Forgotten: RAINBOW
In this series I want to go through groups that are gone, but not forgotten. I will go from debut till disbandment or [indefinite] hiatus, remembering the time we had together and look back on their highs and lows.
Rainbow
Rainbow is a South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by DSP Media. The group is composed of seven members: Woori, Seungah, Jaekyung, Noeul, Yoonhye, Jisook and Hyunyoung. They released their debut mini album Gossip Girl on November 12, 2009. On October 27, 2016, DSP Media announced that Rainbow would disband after seven years because their contracts expired. In November 2019, the group was re-formed for their tenth anniversary.
2009-2011: Formation, Gossip Girl, A, Mach, So Girls, Japanese Debut
During late October and early November 2009, DSP Media released daily teasers in the form of pictures of Rainbow, and then a music video for "Gossip Girl" on November 6, 2009. On November 12, the five-song EP Gossip Girl was released. The EP peaked the Gaon Album Chart at number 2.
On August 12, 2010, Rainbow released the single "A". The song was produced by Han Jae Ho and Kim Seung Soo (also known as Sweetune), who also produced the songs "Rock U", "Pretty Girl", "Honey", "Wanna", "Mister" and "Lupin" for their label-mate KARA.
One month after beginning promotions for the song "A", the "belly dance" or "ab dance" featured in the music video and choreography of the song was banned from broadcast and rated 19+, due to being "too sexually suggestive". The girls slowly lift up their shirts to expose their stomach in the choreography.
A second single, "Mach", was released on October 20. The song was produced by Sweetune (Han Jae Ho and Kim Seung Soo) and written by Song Soo Yun, who also produced their previous single "A". The song does not have a music video. The song debuted at number 38 in the first week and climbed to the number 19 on the following week, which is currently the highest peak of the song, with 925,573 digital copies sold.
In April 2011, Rainbow released their second EP, So Girls.
One song from the EP, "To Me", was released as a single.
A repackaged version of the EP was released in June 22, 2011 with the song "Sweet Dream" as the title track.
On September 7, 2011, Rainbow topped Recochoku's weekly download rankings for the Japanese release of their "A" music video. On September 14, 2011, Rainbow released their debut single in the Japanese market, "A", and reached No. 3 on Oricon's daily single chart, selling 10,141 copies. The single release included a Japanese remake of their debut single "Gossip Girl", as well as an exclusive DVD. Rainbow made their Japanese TV debut on the show Sukkiri, performing "A".
On December 7, 2011, the group released their second Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song "Mach" and reached No. 9 on Oricon's weekly chart.
2012-2013: Rainbow Pixie, Over the Rainbow and Rainbow Syndrome
On January 3, 2012, DSP Media announced that a section of the group will be formed as a trio. On the same day, DSP drops a teaser image with revealing "Rainbow Pixie" as the trio's name. On January 4, 2012, another image revealed the members of the group as SeungAh, Jisook and Hyunyoung. The group released their debut song, "Hoi Hoi", on January 12, 2012, and held their first performance on Show! Music Core.
Rainbow released a Japanese single on March 14, 2012, entitled "Gonna Gonna Go!". Their Japanese debut album, Over the Rainbow, was released on March 28.
The group released the first part of their korean studio album, Rainbow Syndrome, on February 13, 2013, containing six songs. Last year (april 2012), Hyunyoung was diagnosed with a vocal cord polyp and underwent surgery for its removal. The group ended up not promoting together for a year and ten months in Korea, until this album.
"Tell Me Tell Me" was used to promote the release.
DSP confirmed on May 22, 2013 that the group would be returning after almost 4 months with the release of "Part 2" of the album on June 5, 2013. The concept and style of the title track, "Sunshine" was described as "fun and colorful, and perfect for the summer season".
2014-2016: Rainbow Blaxx, Innocent, Prism and disbandment
A second subunit named Rainbow Blaxx, was formed in January 2014 consisting of Jaekyung, Woori, Seungah and Hyunyoung. Their special album, RB Blaxx, was released on January 20, 2014. The music video for the title track, "Cha Cha", was directed by Digipedi and was the fourth-most viewed K-pop music video globally in January 2014. The music video, as well as the song's choreography, drew controversy for being "too sexual". Parts of the choreography got banned and the group had to alter it in order to perform and promote their song.
Rainbow's third EP, Innocent, with the title track "Black Swan" were released on February 23, 2015. Rainbow began their promotion from Mnet's M! Countdown on February 26, then continue with various music show.
However, according to DSP Media on March 11 through Rainbow‘s fan café, Rainbow wrapped up their “Black Swan” promotions after just two weeks. The agency said: “With last week’s music show, [Rainbow’s] ‘Black Swan’ promotions have come to an end. Many thanks to all the fans who supported Rainbow’s third mini album, and we’ll work hard to return new and improved. Thank you.”'
The songs were unable to give them a spot in the top 100 and failed to garner significant interest, resulting in the early termination of promotions.
Their fourth EP Prism and the music video for its title track "Whoo" was released on February 15, 2016. They also held their commemorative showcase at the Yes24 Muv Hall in Seoul's Mapo-gu, which was broadcast through the Naver V App on the same day as the album release. Rainbow held their first comeback stage with "Whoo" through SBS MTV's The Show on February 16.
On October 27, 2016, it was confirmed that Rainbow would be disbanded on November 12 as the member contracts were set to end. .
2019: Tenth anniversary comeback
Jisook stated in an interview in 2018 that the members had maintained contact and believed that they would be able to eventually make a comeback.
On October 31, 2019, it was confirmed that the members of Rainbow would release a special tenth anniversary EP with all members participating in the comeback. The members each posted a group photo on Instagram, stating they were serious about returning to the industry.
The album title was confirmed to be "Over the Rainbow", on November 5, with the first single "I Dream of You". The album released on November 14, alongside the MV for Aurora.
Sources: MBCkpop, DSPmedia, rainbow official.
Wikipedia: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Previous: Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel.
Next: hint
They had everything except good management. It's such a shame they never got the spotlight they deserved. What did you think of this week? Do you miss Rainbow?
What is your favorite song, concept, member, album and styling? I say this every week but i still listen to Rainbow's title tracks a lot and they are/were such a charismatic, versatile and talented group. I miss their nonsense lyrics. I'm just glad they are still such good friends, i love that and it really warms my heart.
I hope you are getting excited for next week~ ♥
Rainbow
Rainbow is a South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by DSP Media. The group is composed of seven members: Woori, Seungah, Jaekyung, Noeul, Yoonhye, Jisook and Hyunyoung. They released their debut mini album Gossip Girl on November 12, 2009. On October 27, 2016, DSP Media announced that Rainbow would disband after seven years because their contracts expired. In November 2019, the group was re-formed for their tenth anniversary.
2009-2011: Formation, Gossip Girl, A, Mach, So Girls, Japanese Debut
During late October and early November 2009, DSP Media released daily teasers in the form of pictures of Rainbow, and then a music video for "Gossip Girl" on November 6, 2009. On November 12, the five-song EP Gossip Girl was released. The EP peaked the Gaon Album Chart at number 2.
Click to viewOn August 12, 2010, Rainbow released the single "A". The song was produced by Han Jae Ho and Kim Seung Soo (also known as Sweetune), who also produced the songs "Rock U", "Pretty Girl", "Honey", "Wanna", "Mister" and "Lupin" for their label-mate KARA.
One month after beginning promotions for the song "A", the "belly dance" or "ab dance" featured in the music video and choreography of the song was banned from broadcast and rated 19+, due to being "too sexually suggestive". The girls slowly lift up their shirts to expose their stomach in the choreography.
A second single, "Mach", was released on October 20. The song was produced by Sweetune (Han Jae Ho and Kim Seung Soo) and written by Song Soo Yun, who also produced their previous single "A". The song does not have a music video. The song debuted at number 38 in the first week and climbed to the number 19 on the following week, which is currently the highest peak of the song, with 925,573 digital copies sold.
In April 2011, Rainbow released their second EP, So Girls.
One song from the EP, "To Me", was released as a single.
A repackaged version of the EP was released in June 22, 2011 with the song "Sweet Dream" as the title track.
On September 7, 2011, Rainbow topped Recochoku's weekly download rankings for the Japanese release of their "A" music video. On September 14, 2011, Rainbow released their debut single in the Japanese market, "A", and reached No. 3 on Oricon's daily single chart, selling 10,141 copies. The single release included a Japanese remake of their debut single "Gossip Girl", as well as an exclusive DVD. Rainbow made their Japanese TV debut on the show Sukkiri, performing "A".
On December 7, 2011, the group released their second Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song "Mach" and reached No. 9 on Oricon's weekly chart.
2012-2013: Rainbow Pixie, Over the Rainbow and Rainbow Syndrome
On January 3, 2012, DSP Media announced that a section of the group will be formed as a trio. On the same day, DSP drops a teaser image with revealing "Rainbow Pixie" as the trio's name. On January 4, 2012, another image revealed the members of the group as SeungAh, Jisook and Hyunyoung. The group released their debut song, "Hoi Hoi", on January 12, 2012, and held their first performance on Show! Music Core.
Rainbow released a Japanese single on March 14, 2012, entitled "Gonna Gonna Go!". Their Japanese debut album, Over the Rainbow, was released on March 28.
The group released the first part of their korean studio album, Rainbow Syndrome, on February 13, 2013, containing six songs. Last year (april 2012), Hyunyoung was diagnosed with a vocal cord polyp and underwent surgery for its removal. The group ended up not promoting together for a year and ten months in Korea, until this album.
"Tell Me Tell Me" was used to promote the release.
DSP confirmed on May 22, 2013 that the group would be returning after almost 4 months with the release of "Part 2" of the album on June 5, 2013. The concept and style of the title track, "Sunshine" was described as "fun and colorful, and perfect for the summer season".
2014-2016: Rainbow Blaxx, Innocent, Prism and disbandment
A second subunit named Rainbow Blaxx, was formed in January 2014 consisting of Jaekyung, Woori, Seungah and Hyunyoung. Their special album, RB Blaxx, was released on January 20, 2014. The music video for the title track, "Cha Cha", was directed by Digipedi and was the fourth-most viewed K-pop music video globally in January 2014. The music video, as well as the song's choreography, drew controversy for being "too sexual". Parts of the choreography got banned and the group had to alter it in order to perform and promote their song.
Rainbow's third EP, Innocent, with the title track "Black Swan" were released on February 23, 2015. Rainbow began their promotion from Mnet's M! Countdown on February 26, then continue with various music show.
However, according to DSP Media on March 11 through Rainbow‘s fan café, Rainbow wrapped up their “Black Swan” promotions after just two weeks. The agency said: “With last week’s music show, [Rainbow’s] ‘Black Swan’ promotions have come to an end. Many thanks to all the fans who supported Rainbow’s third mini album, and we’ll work hard to return new and improved. Thank you.”'
The songs were unable to give them a spot in the top 100 and failed to garner significant interest, resulting in the early termination of promotions.
Their fourth EP Prism and the music video for its title track "Whoo" was released on February 15, 2016. They also held their commemorative showcase at the Yes24 Muv Hall in Seoul's Mapo-gu, which was broadcast through the Naver V App on the same day as the album release. Rainbow held their first comeback stage with "Whoo" through SBS MTV's The Show on February 16.
On October 27, 2016, it was confirmed that Rainbow would be disbanded on November 12 as the member contracts were set to end. .
2019: Tenth anniversary comeback
Jisook stated in an interview in 2018 that the members had maintained contact and believed that they would be able to eventually make a comeback.
On October 31, 2019, it was confirmed that the members of Rainbow would release a special tenth anniversary EP with all members participating in the comeback. The members each posted a group photo on Instagram, stating they were serious about returning to the industry.
The album title was confirmed to be "Over the Rainbow", on November 5, with the first single "I Dream of You". The album released on November 14, alongside the MV for Aurora.
Sources: MBCkpop, DSPmedia, rainbow official.
Wikipedia: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Previous: Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel.
Next: hint
They had everything except good management. It's such a shame they never got the spotlight they deserved. What did you think of this week? Do you miss Rainbow?
What is your favorite song, concept, member, album and styling? I say this every week but i still listen to Rainbow's title tracks a lot and they are/were such a charismatic, versatile and talented group. I miss their nonsense lyrics. I'm just glad they are still such good friends, i love that and it really warms my heart.
I hope you are getting excited for next week~ ♥