Sugar (South Korean group)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sugar
GenresK-pop, J-pop
Years active2002–2006
LabelsSM Entertainment (South Korea)
Toy's Factory (Japan)
Past membersAyumi Lee
Lee Ha Rin
Hye Seung
Hwang Jung-eum
Park Soo-jin

Sugar (슈가) was a South Korean girl group active from 2002 to 2006. The group saw moderate success in the Korean music market, and released multiple songs in Japan. Sugar's Japanese singles "Take It Shake It" and "Real Identity" were notably the theme songs for Kaleido Star, a popular anime. After group's contract with Starworld expired in December 2006, it was announced that Sugar had officially disbanded.[1] All members of the group have since branched into acting and musical efforts.

History[]

Sugar debuted at the end of 2001 with their first song "Sweet Love", which did not see much popularity. The group's second song "Tell Me Why" was received more attention. Sugar was most compared by fans to the female groups M.I.L.K. and Shinvi for their similar musical styles and images. Many girl groups during this time only released a debut album before leaving the music market. However, Sugar returned in 2003 with the release of their second album, entitled "Shine". Member Sae Byul changed her name to Hye Seung, her real first name, for the promotion of their comeback.

After releasing their second Korean album, Sugar entered the Japanese music market. The group debuted with two songs that were used as the soundtrack of the anime Kaleido Star. Sugar released a single entitled Secret in South Korea in 2004, and then returned to the Japanese market. They went on to release three Japanese singles, and their first album entitled "Double Rainbow". The singles and album all charted and were met with moderate success. After the release of Sugar's third Japanese single, member Jung Eum decided to leave the group,[2] and pursue a solo career in the entertainment industry. Soon after Jung Eum's departure, new member Lee Harin to the Sugar as her replacement.[3] With the new line-up, Sugar released their fourth Japanese single, a ballad entitled "Heartful". Six months later Sugar released "Himawari", their fifth Japanese single. It was able to reach #29 on the Oricon, and remained on the charts for 7 weeks.

Park Soo-jin

Sugar released another Korean album in 2005, it marked their return to Korean music scene after their Japanese activities. In the same years, they releasing their second album in Japan entitled COLORS 4 WISHES. Member Soo Jin then announced that she would be leaving Sugar to pursue an acting career after concluding the group's album promotions. Following her departure, Sugar released a DVD entitled "7 STARS", which contained all of their Japanese music videos. In July 2006, member debuted as a soloist but remained with the group. Sugar remained their hiatus and reported that would addition new member to replace Soo Jin. In November, Ayumi continued her solo career and there no announcements.

On December 20, 2006, the expiration date of their contract with Star World and KBS World Radio announced that Sugar had disbanded. They stated each of the current members wanted to embark on solo careers, and the company decided not to renew their contract with the members. Star World, the group's other music label, revealed the future plans of the members once the group disbanded. Ayumi Lee continued to pursue a solo career under Star World once again before transferred to SM Entertainment due the label's defunct. Hye Seung planned to become an actress, while Harin aimed to begin a music career in Japan. The former members achieved varying degrees of success following the disbandment of Sugar, with Jung Eum and Soo Jin remaining active as film and drama actresses.

Members[]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[4] 		JPN
[5]
Korean
Tell Me Why — — N/A
Shine
  • Released: June 16, 2003
  • Label: SM Entertainment
  • Format: CD, cassette
 — — N/A
Sweet Lips
  • Released: September 22, 2005
  • Label: SM Entertainment
  • Format: CD, cassette
 21 —
Japanese
Double Rainbow
  • Released: February 4, 2004
  • Label: Toy's Factory
  • Format: CD, cassette
 — — N/A
Colors 4 Wishes
  • Released: November 14, 2005
  • Label: Toy's Factory
  • Format: CD, cassette
 — 138 N/A
"—" denotes album did not chart or wasn't released in that region.

Single albums[]

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[4]
Secret
  • Released: October 6, 2004
  • Label: SM Entertainment
  • Format: CD
 25

Singles[]

Japanese

  • "Go The Distance" (2004)
  • "All My Loving/サクラ列車" (2004)
  • "風と花束/Present/Heart & Soul" (2004)
  • "Heartful" (2005)
  • "ひまわり/Loveaccele" (2005)

Awards[]

Year Awards
2002 SBS Music Awards: Choice Award
2004 SBS Music Awards: Best Dance Award
Mnet Asian Music Awards: Best Female Video[8]

Korean Music Videos[]

Year Song Length
2001 "Sweet Love"[9] 4:20
2002 "Tell Me Why"[10] 3:58
"Fade Away"[11] 3:55
2003 "Shine"[12] 3:52
2004 "Secret"[13] 3:52
2005 "Wise Farewell"[14] 3:42

Japanese Music Videos[]

Year Song Length
2004 "All My Loving"[15] 4:40
"Go The Distance"[16] 5:21
"Faraway"[17] 3:06
"Wind And Bouquet"[18] 4:49
2005 "Heartful"[19] 5:16
"Sunflower"[20] 3:54

References[]

  1. ^ "KPOP News: Sugar disbands officially". KBS World Radio. 2006-12-20. Archived from the original on 2007-01-13. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  2. ^ "Hwang Jung Eum reveals why she left Sugar". Allkpop. 2012-01-07. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. ^ "SUGAR's Lee Harin releases a new song". StarN via Yahoo!. 2012-05-26. Archived from the original on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "K-pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  5. ^ "Weekly Album Ranking". Oricon (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  6. ^ "September 2005 K-pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  7. ^ "October 2004 K-pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on 2009-02-05. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  8. ^ "2004 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" Archived 2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine. MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  9. ^ "슈가 - 스위트 러브 (MV) (2001)". YouTube. 2014-01-17. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  10. ^ "Sugar- Tell Me Why MV". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  11. ^ "슈가(Sugar) - Fade Away (Official)". YouTube. 2013-11-18. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  12. ^ "슈가(Sugar) - 샤인 (MV)". YouTube. 2013-08-10. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  13. ^ "Sugar (슈가) - Secret [HD]". YouTube. 2011-01-10. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  14. ^ "슈가 - 현명한 이별 (MV) (2005)". YouTube. 2014-01-17. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  15. ^ "Sugar - All My Loving [HD]". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  16. ^ "Sugar - Go The Distance [HD]". YouTube. 2011-01-11. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  17. ^ "Sugar - 遥 (Haruka) [HD]". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  18. ^ "Sugar - 風と花束 (Kaze to Hanataba) [HD]". YouTube. 2011-01-10. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  19. ^ "Sugar - Heartful [HD]". YouTube. 2011-01-11. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  20. ^ "Sugar - ひまわり (Himawari) [HD]". YouTube. 2011-01-10. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-05.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""