‘Queen of K-pop’ Boa celebrates 20 years of leading the Korean Wave as she turns 34 – now Exo and NCT agency SM Entertainment’s creative director, how did she get where she is today?
She performed with Exo’s Sehun, Shinee’s Taemin, Super Junior’s Eunhyuk and TVXQ’s Yunho in Only One and Girls’ Generation and Red Velvet remade Atlantis Princess and No 1 – what are Boa’s 5 most iconic songs?
The year 2020 might be a tough one, but it’s a special one for Boa: this year marks the 20th anniversary of her debut. Today, November 5, the star also celebrates her 34th birthday.
She led the K-pop wave when she stepped onto the scene at age 13 and is now considered something of a legend, rightfully dubbed the “Queen of K-pop”.
Here, we take a look back at five of her most iconic songs, many of which were often remade by other K-pop artists.
No. 1
“You’re still my number one” – the catchphrase of this song is a popular fan cheer chant.
This song won Boa the Daesang (grand prize) at annual music festival SBS Gayo Daejeon (Battle of the Bands) in 2002, just two years after her debut, and set the record as the youngest person to receive it. Her debut came after Boa caught the attention of SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man himself and she was contacted by around 15 different agencies.
Valenti
The year 2002 also saw Boa release her first Japanese album “Listen to My Heart”. The album topped Japan’s Oricon chart – a first for a Korean singer. Her single Valenti, which came out later that year, then topped Oricon charts for two consecutive weeks, and her second Japanese album of the same name became her bestseller with more than one million copies sold. Boa even won the Most Influential Asian Artist award at the MTV Asia Awards in 2004.