Park Bom (born March 24, 1984), is a South Korean recording artist,[1] mostly known by the mononym Bom. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she eventually moved to the United States where she learned English. She is the main vocalist of girl group 2NE1. She is signed to YG Entertainment.[2]
Starting in 2006, Park recorded with labelmates Big Bang, Lexy, and Masta Wu. She debuted with 2NE1 in 2009 as the main vocalist. The group's debut extended play, 2NE1, would be the third best selling album of 2009 in Korea.[3] For the band's next album, Park sang her first solo single "You and I". It reached number one on the Gaon Chart, the national music chart of Korea. The song would be later released on 2NE1's next album, To Anyone, which would go on to sell over 120,000 copies
Life and career
[edit] Early life
Park Bom was born in Seoul, South Korea. In 6th grade, she left Korea to study abroad in the United States. She graduated high school from Gould Academy in Bethel, ME and enrolled into Lesley University with a major in psychology.[4] As a high school student, she fell in love with music through Mariah Carey. She wanted to pursue it as a career but she did not obtain permission from her parents. However, with encouragement from her aunt, she transferred to Berklee College of Music to pursue her music career.[1][edit] 2005–2008: Career beginnings
Park Bom auditioned to become a singer at YG Entertainment, but was rejected multiple times. After three years, she was finally accepted and immediately became a trainee, where she learned Japanese and Chinese.[1] She starred in two of Big Bang's three earliest singles in the songs "We Belong Together"[5] and "Forever With You".[6] Bom also collaborated with Lexy and Red Roc with "Baby Boy" and "Along My Way", respectively. She also starred in a Samsung Anycall Music Video Commercial alongside famous Korean pop singer Lee Hyori, recording her own version of the Anycall "Anystar" song featuring fellow label mates, G-Dragon and Gummy.[citation needed][edit] 2009–present: Debut with 2NE1 and solo projects
Main article: 2NE1
In early 2009, Yang Hyun Suk, CEO of YG Entertainment, announced a new four-member girl group that would star Park Bom.[7] The group's name was later announced as 2NE1, a quartet.[8] On March 28, 2009, the group was first shown through "Lollipop", their collaboration song with Big Bang.[9] It was unknown whether the group could survive on its own,[10] but they reached number one on the Gaon Chart with their debut single, "Fire". Their follow-up promotional single "I Don't Care" did the same, and helped launch the debut extended play 2NE1 to number one.[11]In August, after finishing "I Don't Care" promotions, the group took a temporary hiatus with each member releasing their own solo singles. Bom's single, entitled "You and I",[12] was the best performing of the three and took the number one spot on the Gaon Chart for the month of November.[13] In February, the group released a surprise single "Follow Me"[14] that took number one for the week of February 13.[11] They came back on September 9 and released three lead singles for their newly released album, To Anyone.[15] The album went on to sell over 120,000 copies.[citation needed] At the 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Park's song, "You and I", won the award for best digital single.[16]
In 2011, it was announced that Bom would have a new digital single released before 2NE1 promotions for a new mini-album. The song was titled "Don't Cry" and was released on April 21, 2011.[17] "Don't Cry" managed to top many of South Korea's music content providers' digital charts. Later becoming a perfect all-kill on the music charts of Korea.[18]
[edit] Musical style and influences
Park Bom is primarily a pop and R&B singer.[19][20] She has named American singer Mariah Carey as one of her biggest influences who inspired her to get into music. In addition, Park names Beyoncé as one of her role models, because she wants "to have her strong vocals and [...] her strong performances". She lists hip hop and R&B as her favorite music genres.[1][edit] Discography
For Park Bom's works with 2NE1, see 2NE1 discography.
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR [13] | |||||||||||||
| 2006 | "Anystar" | -- | non-album release | ||||||||||
| 2009 | "You and I" | 1 | To Anyone | ||||||||||
| 2011 | "Don't Cry" | 1 | 2NE1 2nd Mini Album | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||||||||||
[edit] Featured singles
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR [13] | |||||||||||||
| 2010 | "Oh Yeah" (GD & TOP feat. Park Bom) | 2 | GD & TOP | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||||||||||
[edit] Other appearances
- Big Bang featuring Park Bom – "We Belong Together"
- Big Bang featuring Park Bom – "Forever With You"
- Lexy featuring Park Bom – "Baby Boy"
- Tell Me Once More by Kim Ji-Eun starring Park Bom
- Red Roc featuring Masta Wu and Park Bom – "Along My Way"
- GD&TOP featuring Park Bom - "OH YEAH"
- Anystar by Lee Hyo ri starting Lee jun ki and Park bom
- G-Dragon and Park Myung Soo featuring Park Bom - "I Cheated"
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Films
- 2009: Girlfriends (Korean: 걸프렌즈) (cameo)
[edit] Television
- 2011: 2NE1 TV Season 3 (Mnet)
- 2010: 2NE1 TV Season 2 (Mnet)
- 2009: Style (Korean: 스타일, SBS) (cameo)
- 2009: 2NE1 TV (Mnet)
[edit] Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | You and I | Cyworld Song of the Month — November | Won | ||
| 2010 | Mnet Asian Music Awards "Best Digital Single" | Won |
