After successful endeavors in acting, idol-turned-actor Bang Min-ah of Girl’s Day will release a single on Sunday.

According to her management Yooborn Company, Bang will drop her new song “Listen Once” which is a collaborative project with the producing team at entertainment agency All-S Company. Her first music since the single “Butterfly” in November 2019, “Listen Once” expresses a woman’s emotions of longing after a breakup.

“Bang’s deep and charming vocals suited the tranquil, sentimental ballad very well,” said the song’s composer Han Kyung-soo.

All-S Company’s producing team is the same one that launched Girl's Day, the K-pop girl group which was active from 2010 to 2019 but has not officially disbanded. Bang debuted as a member of Girl’s Day in 2010 with the EP “Girl's Day Party #1" and lead track “Tilt My Head.” At the time, coming from a small and newly-founded entertainment firm, the girl group did not see much success. “Tilt My Head,” now a cult classic, actually raised eyebrows due to its eccentricity.

Girl’s Day had tumultuous ups and downs in the beginning. It had its first breakthrough moment with the sleeper hit “Twinkle Twinkle” in 2011, but another two-year slump followed, during which songs “Hug Me Once” (2011), “You, Don’t Look Elsewhere!” (2011), “Oh! My God” (2012) and “Don’t Forget Me” (2012) saw lukewarm reactions.

In 2013, Girl’s Day transitioned from its bubbly image into a much more feminine, sensual concept and released “Expect” (2013). The song earned the group its first nomination for a No.1 spot on music shows, and its next song “Female President” (2013) topped major music shows for the first time since the group debuted.

The following year, hits “Something” (2014) and “Darling” (2014) established Girl’s Day as one of the top K-pop acts of the time. Thanks to its feminine image, the girl group was especially popular among troops and once dubbed guntongryeong (president of the military), a title given to some of the most popular girl groups of the era. Girl’s Day went on to release hits including “I’ll be yours” (2017) and more.

Praised for her powerful vocals, Bang released her first solo EP “I Am a Woman Too” in 2015. The EP sold over 10,000 copies in the first week, which was a remarkable feat for a female solo act, especially considering that K-pop CD sales were not as high in the mid-2010s as they are today.

After the four members went their separate ways under different agencies in 2019, Bang has spent the past three years establishing her acting career. She already had ample experience as an actor, starting with small roles from 2011 and landing her first lead role in the 2013 film “Holly” as a high school student who aspires to become a ballerina, for which she won Best New Actress at the 13th Gwangju International Film Festival.

She landed her first lead role on the small screen through SBS’s romantic comedy series “Beautiful Gong Shim” in 2016, in which she played the titular protagonist Gong Shim, an ugly-duckling character with a heart of gold who overcomes her insecurities. She went on to play more leads in romance K-dramas like SBS’s “My Absolute Boyfriend” (2019) and MBC's “Check Out the Event” (2021).

On the silver screen, Bang continued to receive recognition as she built her filmography. In 2020, she played the lead role in the coming-of-age film “Snowball.” The role earned Bang the Rising Star Award at the New York Asian Film Festival, Best New Actress at the Busan Film Critics Award and Female Film Writer of the Year Award, as well as Best New Actor at the 2021 Women's Film Festival.

After Girl’s Day halted its activities, the four members have switched their careers primarily to acting and musical theater and moved away from the K-pop scene altogether. However, Bang has been participating in music projects from time to time and has always emphasized that she never forgets her K-pop roots.

“I don’t ever want to erase the fact that I was part of the girl group Girl’s Day, nor do I have any power to do it. If I erase that, there isn’t any part of me left,” she told the Korea JoongAng Daily last year.

“Listen Once” will be available for streaming on music streaming platforms like Melon, Genie, Flo and Bugs from 6 p.m. on Sunday.


Bang Min-ah

Date of birth: May 13, 1993
Zodiac sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Incheon
Debut: July 2010 as a member of girl group Girl's Day
Agency: Yooborn Company

Bang Min-ah debuted in 2010 as a member of girl group Girl’s Day. Girl’s Day first saw success with its sleeper hit “Twinkle Twinkle” in 2011, before transitioning into a more mature image with “Expect” (2013), “Female President” (2013) and “Something” (2014) which propelled the group to become one of the most popular at the time. Bang made her solo debut with the EP “I Am a Woman Too” in 2015 and also started her acting career through the lead role in the 2013 film “Holly.” She landed her first lead role on the small screen through SBS’s romantic comedy series “Beautiful Gong Shim” in 2016 and went on to star in more K-dramas like SBS’s “My Absolute Boyfriend” (2019) and MBC's “Check Out the Event” (2021). On the silver screen, she received recognition for her role in “Snowball” (2020) which earned her multiple accolades including the Rising Star Award at the New York Asian Film Festival.

This information was confirmed by Yooborn Company on Aug. 24, 2022.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]