Sistar (; stylized in all caps) was a South Korean girl group formed in 2010 by Starship Entertainment. The group consisted of Bora, Hyolyn, Soyou and Dasom. They made their official debut with the song "Push Push" on 3 June 2010. Their debut studio album So Cool was released on 9 August 2011. Their second album, Give It to Me, was released on 11 June 2013.
Their biggest hits include "So Cool", "Alone", "Touch My Body", "Loving U" and "Give It to Me". Their fourth single, "So Cool," debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart as well as the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 singles chart, starting a streak of nine consecutive number-one hits before the group's disbandment in 2017.
Sistar has amassed prominent digital sales, being one of five artists to have nine or more number one singles in South Korea. They were ranked number nine and number eleven in surveys of the top girl groups in South Korea conducted by The Dong-a Ilbo in 2016 and Gallup Korea in 2024, respectively. Their accolades include nine Golden Disc Awards, five Melon Music Awards, four MAMA Awards, and seven Seoul Music Awards.
History
Pre–debut In March 2010, Starship Entertainment announced that their new 4-member female group, "Sistar," was scheduled to debut in April. Starship described Sistar as a girl group with both talent and style, creating a new cultural code with unique music, choreography, and fashion. Starship added that they are also a versatile group that can digest a variety of genres, from ballads to hip-hop, and will emerge as a style icon for those in their teens and twenties. Even before their debut, Sistar attracted much attention and topic among music industry experts with their outstanding vocals. Many groups devise a mystical strategy for disclosing the identities of members before their debut, but Sistar were first introduced through a fashion photoshoot in collaboration with casual brand FUBU, where only top stars appeared, which is unusual for a rookie group.
Later that month, Starship announced that the recording process for the debut single album of the group had already been completed. Media outlet Sports Chosun mentioned that Sistar is a 'Super New Girl Group' that attracted much attention toward their debut. Over the past two years of training, they have gained a reputation for training their vocal and dancing skills under the likes of Jo Young-soo, Shinsadong Tiger, and E-Tribe. Music industry professionals shared high expectations for the group, calling them Korea's "Destiny's Child."
2010–2012: Debut, finding success with So Cool, Alone and Loving U
Sistar began their group activities early in 2010 with commercials and magazine photoshoots. They made their official debut with the song "Push Push" on 3 June 2010, followed by their debut television performance on 4 June on Music Bank.
The group returned on 25 August with their second single, "Shady Girl", the music video featured Kim Hee-chul of Super Junior. The group received much media attention when a fan-taken video was uploaded online showing the group filming their performance at "Let's Start Sharing Concert" on 28 August. During the middle of their performance, member Bora suddenly fell onstage, fracturing her thumb. This prompted the other members to stop singing and assist her off the stage with the help of staff. Several minutes later, Bora returned to stage along with the other members to finish filming their performance. The video went viral on the internet and was featured on G4's online show Attack of the Show!, and an RTL Television news segment.
On 14 September, Sistar was invited to perform at Japan's "Hallyu Music Festival" as the only Korean girl group present. On 10 October, Sistar performed on the show Teen Superstar in Thailand. The group released their third single, "How Dare You," in November. On 9 December, the group attended the Golden Disc Awards and won the "Newcomer Award." On 27 December, Sistar won their first music show award for "How Dare You" on Music Bank.
On 27 April 2011, it was announced that Sistar would debut a sub-unit, Sistar19, with members Hyolyn and Bora. Sistar19 had their debut performance on 5 May and promoted throughout the month.< Sistar returned on 9 August with their first studio album entitled So Cool. "So Cool" was the inaugural number one song on the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 chart after the chart's launch on 25 August."Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 Launches; SISTAR Is No. 1 on New Korea Chart" , Billboard, 25 August 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2012. On 11 September, Sistar won their first "Mutizen Award" on Inkigayo.
In early April, it was announced that Sistar was going to broadcast their "So Cool" comeback showcase globally in 41 countries. Their first mini album, entitled Alone, was released on 12 April and contained seven songs, with the title track produced by Brave Brothers. Their second mini album, Loving U, was released on 28 June. The EP contained the title track, "Loving U", produced by Duble Sidekick, one new song "Holiday" and remixes of the groups' past hits.
2013–2015: Give It to Me, summer hits and solo/duo activities
Sistar19 released their first mini album, Gone Not Around Any Longer, and its title track of the same name on 31 January 2013. Their recording label, Starship Entertainment, announced on 16 May 2013, that Sistar will return mid-June, with another confirmation on 2 June, stating that they will be making their comeback with a second full album. On 3 June 2013, teaser photos featuring members Dasom and Bora were released. The following day, Sistar released photo teasers of all the members for Give It to Me and revealed that they will have a Moulin Rouge theme. A video teaser for "Give It to Me" was released on 6 June. Sistar's second studio album, Give It to Me, was released on 11 June with the title track of the same name. The album debuted at number four on Gaon Music Chart. On 26 October, Sistar represented South Korea at ABU TV Song Festival 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam, performing "Give It to Me". Three more singles off the album: "The Way You Make Me Melt", "Crying" and "Bad Boy", as well as two promotional singles, were also released to promote the album. On 26 November, Hyolyn released her debut studio album Love & Hate, which reached number five on Gaon.
On 5 June 2014, Sistar's label, Starship Entertainment, told Newsen that the group was working on a new album and would come back in the beginning of July. On 21 July, Sistar released their third mini album, Touch N Move along with its title track "Touch My Body". EP was commercially very successful, peaking at numbers two and eight on Gaon and Billboard's US World Albums charts, respectively. Another single "Naughty Hands" was released in late July. On 26 August, Sistar released their fourth mini album and second summer special album titled Sweet & Sour, shortly after the promotions of "Touch My Body". EP contained two new songs "I Swear" and "Hold on Tight" and four remixes for singles "Loving U", "Gone Not Around Any Longer", "Give It to Me" and "Touch My Body". In December, Sistar won the Best Female Group Award at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
On 22 June 2015, Sistar released its fifth mini-album, Shake It, along with its title track of the same name. It debuted at number three on Gaon, and two new singles, "Shake It" and "Don't Be Such a Baby" were released in late June. In August, Hyolyn was confirmed to join the second season of Unpretty Rapstar. On 1 August, Sistar performed in Los Angeles, California at 2015 KCON. On 14 August, they performed at The 70th Independence Day of the Republic of Korea, their home country. On 7 September, Hyolyn released a free single, "The Wall Destroyer" featuring one of Eluphant's member, Keebee. On 22 September, Soyou collaborated with singer Kwon Jeong Yeol of 10cm. Their single is titled "Lean on Me."
2016–2017: Insane Love, "Lonely" and disbandment On 21 June 2016, Sistar released their fourth extended play, Insane Love, and its lead single "I Like That". The single debuted at number 1 on the Gaon Digital Chart, continuing the group's string of summertime hit songs. "I Like That" also topped several K-pop music video charts in China, including QQ Music, iQIYI, and YinYueTai. For the song, Sistar was awarded Singer of the Year for June in the Digital Music Category at the 2016 Gaon Chart Music Awards.
On 22 May 2017, Starship Entertainment announced that Sistar would disband following promotions for their final single, "Lonely", to be released on 31 May. All the members wrote personal letters of farewell to their fans, confirming their disbandment. The group performed their most successful summer hits—"Touch My Body", "Shake It", "Loving U", and "I Swear"—along with "Lonely" on four major music shows before their final performance on Inkigayo on 4 June. "Lonely" debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart released on 8 June.
2022: Reunion performance On 22 July 2022, the members of Sistar reunited to perform several of their hit songs on the final episode of You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook as a way to show support for Hyolyn's then-recent comeback.
Other ventures Ambassadorship In June 2010, Sistar was appointed as the promotional ambassador for the 2010 Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival. Later that year, Sistar was selected in October as the promotional ambassador's for the Thailand audition program 'Teen Superstar TV Show' and in December for the Korea Youth Federation, wherein, as public relations ambassadors, Sistar has supported group activities and events organized for one year by the federation locally and internationally.
In November 2011, Sistar was appointed by the Korea Energy Foundation as their public relations ambassador for 'Energy Sharing' and welfare issues. In the following year, news outlet EDaily said that Sistar has solidified their position as the representative face of the Korean wave after being appointed as the promotional ambassadors for the ‘2012 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival’ wherein Sistar is expected to serve as judges for the 700 teams from 50 countries participating in the competition. In December, the group was appointed by MBC+U-stream Studio as ambassadors for the 1st 'Tokyo Kimchi Festival' held in Shin-Ōkubo, Tokyo, Japan.
In March 2013, Sistar was appointed as the public relations ambassador for Wonju, Gangwon-do. Sistar actively promoted the '2013 K-Pop Concert' and the 'K-POP Cover Dance Festival' held in Wonju and also attended various festivals and events held in the region. In March 2014, Sistar was chosen as a promotional ambassador for the Osong International Bio Industry Expo. The group filmed multiple TVCFs, encouraging viewers to take part in the event as part of their activities.
In August 2014, Sistar served as a public relations ambassador for the Mariana Tourism Office. As part of their activities, Sistar, through the music video of their single 'I Swear' from their special album 'Sweet & Sour', visited Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands and completed filming the music video. Through the music video, fans were introduced to not only the beautiful sights of Saipan's major tourist attractions but also unique places in Saipan, such as locally popular restaurants and supermarkets.
Endorsements