JIHYO

The leader of South Korean powerhouse Twice, vocalist Jihyo used her musical abilities to shepherd the group to a string of number one albums and chart-topping singles through the late 2010s and early 2020s. In 2023 she released her debut solo EP, Zone, featuring the single "Killin' Me Good." Born in the city of Guri in South Korea's Gyeonggi province, Park Ji-hyo (aka Jihyo) was scouted by JYP Entertainment at the age of eight: her performance at a competition run by Junior Naver impressed the organization enough to sign her as one of JYP's newest trainees. After ten years of training with the company, an 18-year-old Jihyo stepped into the spotlight on Sixteen, a reality show designed to select the members for JYP's newest girl group, Twice. After ten episodes during the summer of 2015, the group's line-up was decided: Jihyo, voted as the group's leader, was joined by Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Mina, Momo, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, and Sana. Twice's debut was a colossal success: the group's first lead single, "Like Ooh-Ahh," was the first K-Pop debut song to surpass 100 million video views online, with its accompanying mini-album, The Story Begins, debuting number three on the Gaon charts. Throughout the late 2010s, the group's anthemic sound made them one of the world's most successful girl groups. Along with a relentless run of nine number one singles in Korea, the group released their chart-topping debut Korean album, Twicetagram, alongside a number one-charting Japanese album (BDZ), and eight mini-albums, four of which debuted at number one on the Gaon charts. Jihyo and her bandmates continued this hot streak through the early 2020s, releasing Korean albums Eyes Wide Open and Formula of Love: O+T=<3 (charting at number two and number one, respectively), two further Japanese albums, &Twice and Perfect World, and two mini-albums, More & More and Taste of Love. In 2022, the vocalist released her first OST, contributing "Stardust Love Song" to tvN's show Twenty-Five Twenty-One. She also delivered her debut solo EP, Zone, in August 2023. Buoyed by the single "Killin' Me Good," the album topped the Circle Albums chart and hit number 14 on the Billboard 200.
© David Crone /TiVo