이가은

Lee Ga-eun

After School (Korean: 애프터스쿨) was a South Korean girl group formed by Pledis Entertainment, with an admissions and graduation concept. After School officially debuted in January 2009 with the song "Ah!" from the single album New Schoolgirl. Following the addition of Uee in April of that year, they released "Diva", which won the "Rookie of the Month" award at the Cyworld Digital Music Awards....

After School (Korean: 애프터스쿨) was a South Korean girl group formed by Pledis Entertainment, with an admissions and graduation concept. After School officially debuted in January 2009 with the song "Ah!" from the single album New Schoolgirl. Following the addition of Uee in April of that year, they released "Diva", which won the "Rookie of the Month" award at the Cyworld Digital Music Awards. Pledis Entertainment then announced the graduation of Soyoung before adding Raina and Nana for the release "Because of You" in November 2009, which topped the monthly digital chart for December. Follow-up singles "Bang!", "Shampoo", "Flashback" and "First Love" further consolidated their popularity and saw the additions of members Lizzy, E-Young and Kaeun, as well as the graduations of original members Bekah and Kahi. In 2010, the three newest members at that time formed the group's first subunit, Orange Caramel, and in 2011 a second subunit was formed when the group was split into two teams, A.S. Red and A.S. Blue, for the release of their fourth single album. In the beginning of 2011, the group signed with Avex Trax to begin their promotions in Japan. The group made their first official appearance in Japan by collaborating with singer Namie Amuro for a song from her collaboration album Checkmate!, titled "Make it Happen". The song won Best Collaboration at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. The group's debut single, a remake of their Korean hit "Bang!", was released in August that year and charted at number seven on the Oricon Singles Chart. Their debut Japanese album, Playgirlz, was released in 2012 and their second Japanese album, Dress to Kill, fronted by the Shinichi Osawa produced singles "Heaven" and "Shh", was released in 2014. After School received attention for their unique live performances, often incorporating different performance styles into their songs, including drums, tap dancing and pole dancing. The group received the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation in 2011 and was ranked number five in Billboard's 2017 list of the Top 10 K-pop Girl Groups of the Past Decade. From 2015 onward, Pledis halted both After School and Orange Caramel promotions and the members have embarked on individual music, acting and modeling careers. In 2019, Lizzy revealed that all members had gradually gone their separate ways. History Pre-debut After School was first formed following Kahi's departure from Korean-American girl group S-Blush, as she began planning to produce a new group together with the current CEO of Pledis Entertainment. The first member other than Kahi was Bekah, who was a trainee while Kahi was in S-Blush. With Kahi's recommendation, Bekah was brought from Hawaii to South Korea. They were then introduced to Jungah, followed by Soyoung and Jooyeon, forming a five-member group. After School as a group first made an unofficial appearance on December 29, 2008, at the SBS Song Festival. Kahi and Jungah performed "Play Girlz" alongside Son Dam Bi whilst the remaining members, Soyoung, Jooyeon, and Bekah served as backup dancers for Son Dam Bi's performance at the event. 2009: New Schoolgirl, "Diva" and "Because of You" In the start of 2009, a few days before After School's debut, Pledis Entertainment announced that the group's music concept was heavily influenced by the Pussycat Dolls. On January 15, the group released their debut single album New Schoolgirl. The album had three songs: the lead single "Ah!", "Play Girlz" and "Bad Guy" (나쁜놈). A teaser for their debut music video was released on the same day and gained over 100,000 views before its release the next day. On January 17, After School made their debut stage on television music program Music Core. Following promotional activities for "AH!", After School planned to continue to promote "Bad Guy" from their debut single New Schoolgirl. However, the track was deemed unsuitable and was banned from broadcast because a word of profanity was in the lyrics. In April 2009, a new member, Uee, joined the group. The group then released their second single, "Diva" on April 9, 2009. They first performed the song on April 9, 2009, on M! Countdown. After School went on to win the "Rookie of the Month" award for the month of April 2009 at the Cyworld Digital Music Awards with the single. On May 21, the group released a cover of Morning Musume's "Love Machine", entitled "Dream Girl". In July, it was announced that the group would collaborate with Son Dam-bi for digital single "Amoled". It was released on July 16, as part of a promotion deal with Samsung. After School also became the opening act for The Pussycat Dolls's Doll Domination Tour along with label-mate Son Dam-bi for the Asian dates of the tour. On October 29, Soyoung officially graduated from the group to pursue an acting career. Two new members were then added to the group, Raina and Nana. On November 25, After School released their new single "Because of You" which had exceeded over 30,000 pre-orders. The song marked a change for the group to a more mature and sophisticated concept, and became extremely popular, winning three Mutizen awards for the group on SBS' Inkigayo. 2010: "Bang!" and Orange Caramel At the start of 2010, the group won the Best Rookie Award at both the Billboard Japan Music Awards and Seoul Music Awards. On March 25, After School released their third single album Bang! with new member Lizzy where the group took on a marching band concept. Kahi revealed that she was inspired after watching the American film Drumline, and had always wanted to do a marching band concept ever since she took to the stage as an After School member. The group practiced playing the drums for five months with a trainer for the single. The title track entered the Gaon Weekly Chart at number 2 and reached number 29 on the 2010 Gaon year-end digital chart with 2,374,731 digital downloads sold. In June 2010, Raina, Nana, and Lizzy formed a sub-unit, revealed to be named Orange Caramel, and released their first mini-album. Orange Caramel's concept was revealed to be more lighthearted and sweet, unlike many girl groups that have taken on darker, sexier concepts. Orange Caramel debuted on June 16, with the title track "Magic Girl". Their debut mini-album, The First Mini Album, was released on June 21, 2010. The album was a commercial success, peaking at No. 2 on the Gaon Chart with the lead single "Magic Girl" peaking at No. 18. On December 6, 2010, Pledis Entertainment released Happy Pledis 1st Album that consisted of four tracks: the title song "Love Love Love", "Someone Is You", and instrumental versions of the two songs. A portion of the profits from the album was donated to the "Save the Children" organization. Bekah did not take part nor participate in the promotions for this album due to her two-month break in Hawaii visiting her parents. 2011: Virgin, line-up changes, Japanese debut and A.S. Red & Blue On January 27, Pledis Entertainment announced that they had signed a contract with Japanese record label AVEX TRAX for After School to begin activities in Japan by the end of March. After School started their Japanese activities by collaborating with Japanese R&B superstar Namie Amuro; featuring in the song "Make It Happen" for her collaboration album. This was the first release to include new member E-Young, who was previously revealed to the public during the group's performance of "Bang!" at SBS' Gayo Daejun on December 31, 2010. In March 2012, the song won Best Collaboration at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. After School's first studio album, Virgin, was released on April 29 with new member E-Young. The title track, "Shampoo", was composed by Japanese producer Daishi Dance, and the music video was released later that day. The music video for "Let's Step Up", the intro track on the album, featured After School performing a tap-dance routine, which was praised internationally by tap dancers such as Joseph Wiggan. After School began promotions for the "Shampoo" starting with KBS's Music Bank. Virgin was released in the Philippines on July 23, 2011, along with Bang! and Happy Pledis 1st Album, and it debuted at number one on the Philippines AstroChart, while Bang! debuted at number two and Happy Pledis 1st Album at number three. In June 2011, After School made a cameo as a female idol group, Pure, in the Korean horror film White: The Melody of the Curse. They performed segments of their hit song, "Bang!". On June 17, 2011, Pledis Entertainment announced that original member Bekah was to 'graduate' from After School after concluding promotions for Virgin. Bekah released her 'graduation' song "Take Me to the Place" on July 11. In July, Pledis Entertainment announced that After School would separate into two sub-units, A.S. Red & Blue, as part of the group's second comeback project for the year, with the units releasing "In the Night Sky" and "Wonder Boy" respectively. On July 9, After School held their second official Korean fan meeting at Sookmyung Women's University. 'Graduate' Bekah joined the fan meeting. Prior to their official debut in Japan, After School held a showcase in Japan at Akasaka BLITZ in Tokyo on July 17, 2011, selling out tickets within one minute. After School officially debuted in Japan on August 17 with the release of their first Japanese single, "Bang!", which peaked at number seven on the Oricon Weekly Chart. After School also participated in the prestigious 'a-nation' concert tour as part of their Japanese promotions. After School's second Japanese single, "Diva", was released on November 23. The single was accompanied with a new Japanese song called "Ready to Love". Happy Pledis 2011 was released on December 1 and featured all Pledis artists, including Son Dam-bi and pre-debut NU'EST (then called Pledis Boys). A portion of the "Happy Pledis" earnings were donated to UNICEF, and the album was also a gift to the fans. The group also partnered with Shibuya 109 for a Christmas advertising campaign. After School ended the year by headlining the MTV EXIT live concert along with American band The Click Five on December 17, 2011, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 2012: Playgirlz, "Lady Luck/Dilly Dally", line-up changes and "Flashback" After School's third Japanese single was a double A-side single consisting of two songs, "Rambling Girls" and a Japanese remake of their 2009 hit "Because of You". The single was released on January 25, 2012, and debuted at number six on the Oricon Daily Singles Chart. The single then debuted at number seven on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart with sales of 12,110. Since then, the single has sold over 17,000 copies in Japan. On February 29, 2012, After School released a promotional digital single, "Just in Time", to promote the new album which was released the following month. "Just in Time" is also used in a Samantha Thavasa commercial featuring After School, who are models for the fashion company. After School's first Japanese album, Playgirlz, was released on March 14, 2012. The album contains all their Japanese singles plus a Japanese version of their latest Korean single, "Shampoo", and six original Japanese songs. The regular edition of the album also included a Japanese version of Orange Caramel's "Shanghai Romance" as a bonus track. The album debuted at number six on the Oricon Daily Album Chart, with estimated sales of around 11,000 on the first day. The album debuted at number eight on the Oricon Weekly Album Chart with sales of 16,000. On April 23, 2012, Avex Trax announced that After School would release their fourth Japanese single, "Lady Luck/Dilly Dally", on June 13, 2012. The single is a double A-side single and the regular edition also contains an additional track, "Slow Love", which is the song used on the Eyefull Home commercial. The single debuted at number 3 on Oricon's Daily Singles Chart with sales of 7,648 and at number 6 on Oricon's Weekly Singles Chart with sales of 13,42