K-pop girl group Brave Girls were on the cusp of breaking up early this year after 10 years together. Then one of their songs from 2017 started rising up South Korean music charts. Rollin’ became a sleeper hit, revitalising the band’s career after they had struggled to gain attention and creating one of the most impressive turnarounds in K-pop history. The career of the now-four member act has been a wild ride, and six other women have previously been part of Brave Girls over the years. Here’s what you need to know about the 2021 K-pop comeback queens. A decade of Brave Girls Brave Girls released their first song, Do You Know, in 2011, and have seen varied success over the past few years. Along with Rollin’ , songs of theirs like 2016 releases Deepened and High Heels have seen lots of love from music critics and fans. Their most recent release was 2020’s We Ride . Four of the biggest K-pop debuts to keep an eye on in 2021 The current line-up features Minyoung, Yujeong, Eunji and Yuna, but has at various times previously also featured performers Eunyoung, Seo-a, Yejin, Yoojin, Hyeran and Hayun. None of the four current members were with Brave Girls when they started out a decade ago; the final original members to leave, Yoojin and Hyeran, parted ways with the group in 2017. Hayun left Brave Girls in 2018, but can be heard on the original version of Rollin’. Brave Girls by Brave Sound Producer Brave Brothers (Kang Dong-chul) is known for having written hits for many of the biggest artists in the South Korean music industry, including Big Bang, Brown Eyed Girls, T-ara, Sistar, After School, 4Minute , and AOA. In 2008, he launched his own label, Brave Entertainment and, along with Brave Girls, its other most notable act are boy band DKB, who recently released a new album. A wild ride for Rollin’ Originally, Rollin’ was released on March 7, 2017. Brave Girls have released numerous versions of the track, including an alternate one in 2018 dedicated to fans that was marketed as an energetic song for summer. Still, it wasn’t until a video compilation appeared on YouTube in February that the song went viral in South Korea, topping the music charts and plucking the group rising from relative obscurity. Rollin’ has faced censorship by Korean broadcasters since its initial launch. The music video accompanying the song earned a restricted rating in the country because of choreography that was deemed too provocative. A sanitised version was released soon after the song’s original release. The recent performances by the quartet also features alternate dance moves. Surprise comeback The video uploaded on February 24 by an account known as Viditor incorporated footage of Brave Girls performing Rollin’ , usually in front of members of South Korea’s armed forces. Like many K-pop girl groups, Brave Girls have performed often for the country’s drafted soldiers , and Rollin’ has apparently been a long-term hit in the army. What made the Viditor video unique was that it showed how much love Rollin’ and Brave Girls had and featured various comments on the performances. As of March 25, the video had had over 13 million views. Brave Girls’ resurgence has a lot of parallels with that of another popular K-pop girl group, Exid. They debuted in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2014 that a performance video of their song Up & Down went viral and became a sleeper hit, reigniting their career after several line-up changes and tals of disbanding. Like Brave Girls, Exid were also produced by some of South Korea’s biggest hitmakers, with music producer Shinsadong Tiger spearheading that act. What’s next? Taking advantage of their renewed popularity, Brave Girls have returned to South Korea’s performance circuit, appearing on weekly music shows and taking over the airwaves. It is expected they will release new music within the next few months.