T-ara is a South Korean girl group formed by Core Contents Media in 2009. Before their debut, there was a high level of interest in the group as they were called "Super Rookies" and had been training for three years prior to debut.
Originally a five-member group, they released their first song "Good Person" for the soundtrack of the Korean drama Cinderella Man in April 2009. In June 2009, members Jiwon and Jiae left the group, delaying the group's debut. The next month, T-ara regrouped to become a six-member group with the addition of Boram, Qri, and Soyeon, and released their debut single ("Lies").
In July 2010, T-ara introduced a new member, Ryu Hwayoung, to become a seven-member group. T-ara uses a rotating leader system, and has a different member of the group elected as leader each year, in order to give both the group and the individual members the opportunity to grow in a new direction.
In 2011, T-ara signed a $4.3 million contract with management company J-ROCK for their Japanese debut, the highest out of all the girl groups debuting in Japan. Their major record label is EMI Music Japan while their management and promotional marketing takes place under J-ROCK. The group's first single, a remake of their 2009 hit "Bo Peep Bo Peep", debuted at #1 on the Oricon weekly charts with 49,712 copies sold, the first for a foreign group and an international female artist ever in history.
In June 2011, it was announced that T-ara would be making a comeback with the title track "Roly Poly" on July 1, 2011. It was also announced that the group would be advancing into the Japanese market with a showcase on July 5. As of June 14, 2011, Core Contents Media has announced that Hyomin shall be taking over the leadership for this album and for their Japanese promotions.
They further explained saying, “In order to instill a sense of responsibility in each of the members, we have decided to change the leader for each new album release. We will be passing the leader role onto members who have not been leader yet. The reason Eunjung was leader during their debut was because she and Hyomin had trained the longest with T-ara, and we felt that she would be the best fit". They continued, “Likewise, Hyomin has been chosen for T-ara’s Japanese and ‘Roly-Poly’ promotions for the same reasons as Eunjung. We have made this decision after much discussions with both the members and our agency.”
T-ara's "Roly-Poly" music video and song was released on June 29 and reached #1 on Cyworld, GomTV, Bugs, Nate and Mnet real-time charts just after an hour.
On August 2011, T-ara released Roly-Poly in Copacabana. The song was named after "Copacabana" popularized in the 80's in Jongno disco clubs. The new version shows T-ara's new Eurodance moves and with the upgrade of the rhythm makes this version perfect for summer vacation songs.
T-ara released their debut Japanese single "Bo Peep Bo Peep" on September 28, which debuted at #1 on Oricon's daily single chart with 20,068 sold on its first day of release. The single is coupled with a Japanese remake of their song "I Go Crazy Because of You". The single also tops the Oricon's weekly single chart with 49,712 copies sold in the first week, a debut record for a Korean female pop group.
In September, it was announced that T-ara would be making a comeback in November. The album will contain a similar electronic sound to that of Absolute First Album and Breaking Heart. A 30-minute music video will be released in Early November which will have a drama-like storyline and a 1 billion won production budget.
T-ara's second Japanese single is a remake of "Yayaya" from their Temptastic mini-album, which was released on November 30.
On November 9, 2011, T-ara released the track and music video for their comeback song "Cry Cry". The 15-minute drama music video is part 1 of a longer story, which will be followed up with part 2 on December 24 with the music video for their upcoming song "Lovey-Dovey". "Cry Cry" starred T-ara's maknae Jiyeon and actor Cha Seung Won, along with others. "Cry Cry" hit #1 on various Korean charts including Gaon and Naver.
T-ara's third mini album Black Eyes was released digitally on November 11, due to the overwhelming demand for "Cry Cry". The album was physically released on November 18, which charted at #1 on Hanteo and #2 on Gaon's weekly album charts. Two additional music videos for "Cry Cry" were filmed, a dance version which was revealed on November 18 and a ballad version on November 21.
