This is a controversial topic and there is no one way to make a “correct” separation between generations of k-pop groups (actually it is questionable if there are generations after all, personally I prefer talking about “eras” or “phases”). There are some definite periods of k-pop music, but the transitions are flowing and it is often hard to decide whether a group should belong to a phase defined by the year of debut alone or the style of music and theme of an entire era. Some people argue there are at least 5 generations as of now, others count only 3. Most fans accept that there are 3-4 generations and we will use that concept here, too. Please note that this is a personal view on things and does not claim to be the “right way” or only way to see it.
Upcoming | The group is going to debut soon, group name, members and some promotional images have been announced. |
Cancelled | A group that was about to debut soon but for some reason the debut got delayed indefinitely or the whole project was cancelled. |
Active | The group is considered to be still active, that means they are promoting or doing stage performances, attend TV shows and show clear signs of activity as a group. Their latest release should be no longer than 2 years ago (regardless of country or format). |
Hiatus | A group that does not count as active due to longer inactivity or lack of releases but has not officially disbanded is counted as “on hiatus”. Some groups are declared to be on hiatus officially by their labels but often they simply stop releasing and promoting and sort of “disappear”. |
Disbanded | A group that is declared having disbanded by the label or group members. |
Long Hiatus | In some cases a group on very long hiatus should be considered being disbanded even if group members say otherwise. Especially when many group members actively pursue different careers like acting or solo careers, it sometimes can be safe to assume that the original group formation will never again release anything. Especially if the members have already grown older (25+). After School is a good example for this. |
Solo Singer | These are iindividual performers, often former group members, that have started a solo career in the music scene. There is no safe indicator here for their level of activity, some of them have not released new material in years. |
Generation 1 (1996–2003)
First generation of K-Pop began with the birth of the idol industry after the debut of H.O.T. in 1996 and follows the early years of K-pop with fresh, feminine girl groups debuting, and includes idol groups debuting from 1996 to 2003. An extension of First Generation called Generation 1.5 is sometimes separated, including groups from 2000 to 2003.
1994 | Cool | |
---|---|---|
1996 | B.B. | Seo Chan Whee |
1997 | Baby V.O.X Diva ECO Han's Band S.E.S Tutti | Park Ji Yoon Um Jung Hwa Yangpa |
1998 | Circle Fin.K.L. KYT/Koyote | Kim Hyun-Jung |
1999 | O-24 As One Cleo See U T.T.MA Tashanni | Baek Ji-young Lee Jung Hyun |
2000 | Chakra Papaya | BoA Lee Soo Young Wax |
2001 | Jewelry KISS M.I.L.K Nazcar Sugar Toya | Jang Nara Dana Yoon Mirae |
2002 | Isak N Jiyeon Luv Shinvi | |
2003 | Big Mama Bubble Sisters | Bada Chae Yeon Eugene Gummy Lee Hyori Lexy Ok Ju-hyeon |
Upcoming Cancelled Active Hiatus Disbanded Long Hiatus Solo Artist |
Generation 2 (2004–2009)
Second Generation evolved in the early 2000s and saw K-pop spreading throughout Asia and beginning to be introduced to the West, especially with the slow rise of social media, saw a diversification of concepts and genres. It includes idol groups that debuted from 2004 to 2009.
2004 | 7 Princess Shyne | Younha Sunday |
---|---|---|
2005 | The Grace (CSJH) Gavy NJ I-13 LADY LPG Orange Sorea Band | Ivy Jessi |
2006 | 2NB Brown Eyed Girls Girl Friends Kirots SeeYa | Kan Mi-youn Zhang Liyin |
2007 | Baby Vox Re.V Black Pearl Cats / The Reds 2nd Kara Girl's Generation (SNSD) Sunny Hill Swan Wonder Girls | Iconiq J-Min Seo Inyeong / Elly Son Dambi ZIA |
2008 | Dambi Davichi Miss $ Wink | IU Joo Navi Solbu / Kwon Jian |
2009 | 2NE1 4Minute 4Tomorrow 7Size After School Brand New Day f(x) HAM / Heart & Mind JQT Lady Collection Rainbow Secret Sweet Revenge T-ara Urban Zakapa | ALi DIA Gilme Hong Jinyeong Kim Sori NS Yoon-G Park Bom Sohyun Song Jieun Tymee (E.Via) |
Upcoming Cancelled Active Hiatus Disbanded Long Hiatus Solo Artist |
Generation 2.5 (2010–2012)
An extension of Second Generation called Generation 2.5 is typically described as the transitional period between Generations 2 and 3. This period saw a growth in the idol industry, beginning to see the start of the oversaturation of K-pop, making the industry much more competitive. This era includes idol groups debuting from 2010 to 2012.
2010 | B-Dolls BeBe Mignon Black List Chocolate Coed School D.Heaven EVAS G.Story Girl's Day GP Basic Miss A Nine Muses Orange Caramel Sistar Vanilla Lucy VNT | G.NA Gain Gil Hakmi Hyuna Jessica Ora Park Boram Shoo Soya Stephanie (Kim Bokyung) |
---|---|---|
2011 | 2Boram Apink April Kiss Baby Soul + Yoo Ji Ah Bella Black Eye Blady Brave Girls C-REAL Chi Chi ChoColat CLINAH Coin Jackson Dal★Shabet EI-YO Elizabeth F-ve Dolls HaraSora INY Leader'S New.F.O Piggy Dolls Pinkdolls RaNia (BP RaNia) SpinEL Stellar Swing Girls Swincle Wind Hold Venus Women Power | Blue Berry Fat Cat Geum Dan Bi Kahi Rottyful Sky / Hanul (†) |
2012 | 15& 2winD& 84LY Akdong Musician AOA AS 1 BBde Girls BIKINY / GIRLFRIEND Black Queen ➜ Hey Girls BT Swing Crayon Pop D-Unit D.Q Dazzling RED E2RE EvoL Exid Fiestar FlaShe Gangkiz GLAM Goddess Hello Venus High Lady ➜ High.D Hey Girls (Black Queen) ILIPS Jevice Lay.T LXIA Melody Day Mystic White NEP P.O.P CON ➜ Queen B'z Pandora Puretty Ruby (The) She'z Six Bomb SKARF Spica Sunny Days Tahiti The Barberettes The SeeYa Tinus Tiny-G Two X VIVID | Ailee Anda(miro) Baek A Yeon BEN Juniel Lee Hi Stephanie |
Upcoming Cancelled Active Hiatus Disbanded Long Hiatus Solo Artist |
Generation 3 (2013–present)
K-pop saw another boost with the Third Generation that grew in the digital age with the influence of social media and resulted in the globalization of the genre. This era also saw a growth in survival programs that pushed for more competition, and includes idol groups that primarily debuted in 2013 onward. Considering typical contracts to last seven years, that generation could be followed by another one from 2020 on.
2013 |
2Eyes
2Yoon
A-DEAN
AGirls
AltheA
BESTie
Bom & Hi
BP Pop
Delight
GI / Global Icon
Heart Rabbit Girls
K-Girls
Heart Rabbit Girls
Hint (Turan)
Ladies' Code
Live High
Lush (The)
Mamamoo
NC.A
N*White
Pascol
Peach Girl
Peemine
Pungdeng-E
Purplay
Queen B’Z
S - The One
Switch Berry
The Gloss
Tint
Tren-D
Turan➜ I+#NT
WA$$UP 42 total, 22 disbanded, 1 hiatus. 1 cancelled |
CL Heyne Joo A Kim Bo-hyeong Shin Ji-hun Sunmi U Sung Eun Z.Hera |
---|---|---|
2014 |
1PS
4L/Four Ladies
4Ten
A-Daily
A-Fati
Aila
A.I.N
A.KOR
ANDS
Badkiz -> Hot Place
BarbieD (Kiwi Band M)
Bay.B
Bebop
Bella4
Berry Good
Billion
Bob Girls
Bubble X
D.Holic
GirlHood
Hi Suhyun
Hot Place (Badkiz)
Kiss&Cry
Laboum
Lip Service
Lodia
Lovelyz
Luluz
Melody Day
Minx → Dreamcatcher
M.O.A.
N*White
Ouigee
Poot Poot
Purfles
Rainbow Blaxx
Red Velvet
Road Girls
Rosemary
Scarlet
Smile.G
Sonamoo
Spica.S
Step Girl
Switch
Tarine
The Unnies
Topic
Vetty-L
Vidan
Wings
Ye-A
Year 7 Class 1 53 total, 39 disbanded, 1 hiatus |
Alice Vicious (Livii) Alice White Cheetah esNa Gong Min Young HA:TFELT Heize Hyomin J-Min Jiyeon Jun Jyunseong Kim Na-young Kissum Megan Lee Nicole Park Bo-ram Park So-jin Shannon Suran |
2015 |
10X10
4Some
ACE
A.H.H.A
A-plus
April
As 1
Asha
A.Some
ATT
AweSome Baby
BaBa/Pureum
BabyBoo
Bambino
Blackswan
Bellroseya
CLC
Cupid
DIA
GFriend
Girls Girls
H2L
Honey Friends
I.C.E
Icia (SIDA)
Jjarimongttang
Laysha
LoveUs
MyB
Oh My Girl
Playback
Pocket Girls
PPL
Rubber Soul
SUS4
The Ark
Tweety
Twice
Unicorn
UNIZ
Verry
Vividiva
Wanna.B
ZzBest 44 total, 28 disbanded, 3 hiatus |
Baek Yerin Elsie Heeca Hwang In Sun Jina_U Jucy KissN Miwoo Park Ji-min Ryu Sera Shin Zisu Soyumi Yeseul Yezi |
2016 |
A.De
Awesome Day
Black Pink
Blity
Bloomy
BolBBalgan4 (BOL 4)
Bulldok
C.I.V.A
CocoSori
Dorothy
Gugudan
Heymiss
Hi.D
Highteen
Hash Tag
Holics
Holly Queen
I.B.I
I.O.I
Matilda
Mercury
Mixx
Momoland
Moxie/Magsi
New-A
Queendom
Real Girls Project
Oahsis/SeeArt
Sol-T
Sunny Girls
Unnies
Various
Wable
WJSN (Cosmic Girls) 34 total, 17 disbanded, 4 hiatus |
Aisle Cosmic Girl Dalbodre Dalsoobin Grace Han Seung Yeon Hyolyn Jenyer JooHee Kim Ju-na Kinie.K Mintty/Mint Monika Moon Hyuna Nada Seol.A Tiffany |
2017 |
20 (Duo)
1NB
2Wenty's
4X
ABRY
Amor
Apple.B
A-seed
Awesome
BeBe6
Berry Chu
Blah Blah
Bl.eX.Y
Busters
BONUSbaby
Burny Girls (Duo)
Cashcoma (Duo)
Chic Angel
Chloris
Day Day
Dreamcatcher
Elris
Favorite
Fanxy Red (ACRUSH)
G-reyish
GeeGu/Gate 9
Girls' Alert
Girls Next Door
Good Day
H2L
Hash Tag
Heart
Hi Cutie
HINT
H.U.B
K.A.R.D
Limesoda
Lipbubble
Marmello
My Darling
O My Jewel
Pit A Pat
P.O.P
Pristin
Ramisu
Rose Quartz
S2
S2U
S.I.S
S.E.T (s3t)
Sunny Play
The Two Of Us
Triple H
VIVA
Walwari
Weki Meki
XoX
Yellow Bee
ZZBae 59 total, 2 cancelled, 19 disbanded |
CherryBerry Choyoon Chungha Faver Hayana Honey Apple Hur Young Ji I (Cha Yun-ji) Im Bo-reum/Lily Ina Jung HyeRin Kang Si-ra Kasper Kimi Kim Sohee Kisses Kriesha Chu Minzy MiSO Saay Seohyun Soma Soyou Suzy YuSeol |
2018 |
(G)I-dle
12DAL (Duo)
2TS / 30대 걸그룹 (Duo)
A.B.O.
ALiKE
AiRiSU
AQUA
A Train To Autumn
AZM
B Girls
Bbeum
Berry Good HEART HEART*
Black Mamba
Blue Fox
BONUSbaby
BBURECTOR
Camila
Celeb Five
Cherry In Top
CST
D:amant (Duo)
Destiny
DPOP Friends
Dreamnote
Fanatics
First Bite
Flor.us
Flossom
Flow Sister
Fromis 9
GBB
Girlkind
Geupsik-Dan ➜ D-Crunch
GWSN (Girls in the Park)
Honey Popcorn
ii
IZ*ONE
Jelly Girl
Khan
Kitten Girls
LOONA
Maywish
My Darling
Musky
Nature
Neonpunch
Oahsis/SeeArt
PIERCE
PinkFantasy
PRISM
Purple
Red In Ear
Rose Finger
Saturday
ShaFLA
ShaSha
Sio.Sijak
Sugar Powder (Prom.Unit)
Sugar Tint
Sun&Moon (Duo)
TeensEL
Tropical
Uni.T
Vitamin
We Girls
WJMK/Wuju Meki
Wish Girls
YJIG
YPDA
Zzangdalla 70 total, 1 pending, 3 cancelled, 5 disbanded, 1 hiatus |
Alice Ashley A-Yeon Carla Gracie HeeRa J.Mee Kang Hye-yeon Katie Lua Mia Migyo Minseo Minty Moon Seulgi Ryu Seojin Sooyoung Sori Tia Yel Yubin Yoo YerY |
2019 | 3YE 4CARAT ALLS-Girls ANS API ARIAZ AZM Black Bunny BVNDIT Cherry Bullet CoCo CSVC Deluxe Everglow Fanatics Fly With Me G-(i)Kon Girl Crush Gloss Grow.B High Color (Duo) High School Ho1iday ➜ A Hot Place ii (Duo) I LUV ITZY K-Tigers Zero Label Up Lalary LUSTY Mayqueen Melody Pink Midnight PEACE PlayM Girls/Favegirls Purplebeck Q6IX/Retrose Refiners Rendezvous Rocket Punch Rockit Girl SKYGIRLS Swalla/A-Mix The Pink Lady U.A UHSN Venus White Day Z-Girls | Hwa Jeong Jayeon maRe Sohlhee Somi |
Upcoming Cancelled Active Hiatus Disbanded Long Hiatus Solo Artist |