T-ara

 ( Main Tara Official Website ) 

In June 2009, Mnet Media announced that Jiae and Jiwon would be leaving T-ara due to differences in music style. The first new member to be added was Jeon Boram, the daughter of singer Jeon Young-rok and actress Lee Mi-young, who was contacted a month before debut after the CEO of Core Contents Media watched a video clip of her dancing to BoA's "My Name". She had previously released two singles as a solo artist to moderate success, and was also an actress and magazine model. Three weeks before debut, Soyeon, a former SM Entertainment trainee originally slated to be a main vocalist and leader of Girls' Generation, and Qri, a popular Ulzzang at the time, were added to T-ara. In early July 2009, the group was moved from Mnet Media to its subsidiary company Core Contents Media.

T-ara made their debut on MBC's Radio Star talk show on July 29, 2009, which was unusual for Korean artists who usually debuted on music programs instead. They made their debut performance on Mnet's M Countdown on July 30, performing their debut single "Lies", along with its B-side, "Wanna Play?". On July 30, CCM announced that just one day after debut, the group had already received 13 invitations to appear on Variety show. All tracks from the single entered the top 100 charts on online streaming platforms, with "Lies", peaking at number five on MelOn.

In September 2009, Eunjung, Soyeon, Hyomin and Jiyeon collaborated with labelmates Kwangsu, Jihyuk, and Park Geon-il of Choshinsung for the single "TTL (Time to Love)". Released on September 15, 2009, it became the first number-one song on all Korean online charts for both groups . T-ara and Supernova teamed up again for "TTL Listen 2", an alternate version of "TTL", featuring all members from both groups, which was released on October 9, 2009.

T-ara released their debut studio album, Absolute First Album, on November 27, 2009. In order to determine the album's title track, Core Contents Media held a survey in which the public had to choose between "Bo Peep Bo Peep" or "Like the First Time". 9,000 people took the survey on various music portals with 53% (4,770 people) choosing "Like The First Time" over "Bo Peep Bo Peep". However, the latter was promoted on music shows instead for unknown reasons. "Bo Peep Bo Peep" peaked at number four on the Gaon Chart chart, while "Like The First" peaked at number ten. They held their comeback performance on Music Bank on December 4, 2009. At the 24th Golden Disk Awards, T-ara was awarded Rookie of the Year.

The group won their first music show award with "Bo Peep Bo Peep" on the New Year's Day episode of Music Bank. The song went on to win five awards in total: two on Music Bank and three on Inkigayo, earning them their first "Triple Crown". Later in January 2010, the group announced promotions for their B-side track, "Like The First Time", which ended quickly as Soyeon was diagnosed with H1N1. The same month, T-ara made a cameo appearance on the seventh and eight episodes of God of Study, in which Jiyeon played a main role.

In February 2010, the group announced a reissue of their debut album under the title Breaking Heart. The lead single, "You Drive Me Crazy" and B-side track "I'm Really Hurt", were digitally released on February 23, 2010, and peaked at number one and number thirty-one on the Gaon Chart chart, respectively. T-ara won two consecutive Mutizen awards on Inkigayo for "You Drive Me Crazy" and one on M Countdown. "You Drive Me Crazy" became the third best-selling girl group song of the year. Several other T-ara tracks also appeared on Gaon's year-end singles chart. Breaking Heart was released physically on March 3, 2010, peaking at number two on the weekly Gaon chart and number thirty-five on the yearly chart. After promotions for "You Drive Me Crazy" ended, T-ara performed "I'm Really Hurt" on music shows until early April 2010. On July 16, 2010, T-ara's representatives announced the addition of Ryu Hwa-young as the seventh member of the group. The reason given was that with so many solo projects, they would be able to have a more complete lineup for T-ara when individual members were filming or doing other appearances. They also stated that it would allow the members to undertake more solo activities, and would give them all some relief from their heavy schedules.

In November 2010, the group appeared in the third season of the reality show Hello Baby, where they took care of Moon Mason and his two brothers. T-ara released "Wae Ireoni", the lead single for their first extended play, Temptastic, on November 23, 2010. The single peaked at number four on Gaon's weekly digital chart and at number two on the download chart. It sold over 1.7 million digital copies by 2011. Temptastic was released in digital format on December 1, 2010, along with their second single, "Yayaya". The album's physical release was delayed until December 3 due to the bombardment of Yeonpyeong earlier in November 2010. T-ara received two consecutive wins for "Wae Ireoni" and "Yayaya" on M Countdown.

The group released a limited edition re-issue of John Travolta Wannabe, titled Roly-Poly in Copacabana, on August 2, 2011. It featured an alternate version of "Roly Poly". "Roly-Poly in Copacabana", a Eurodance remix of the hit, was named after the song "Copacabana", which was popularized in the 80's in Jongno disco clubs. The album peaked at number three on the Gaon chart. T-ara released their debut Japanese single "Bo Peep Bo Peep" on September 28, which peaked at number one on the Oricon weekly singles chart with nearly 50 thousand copies sold, making them the first non-Japanese girl group to top the chart with a debut single in Oricon history. The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and was certified Gold by the RIAJ for both full-length cellphone downloads and PC downloads.

In November 2011, T-ara released their third extended play Black Eyes which charted at number two on the Gaon charts. The album was preceded by the release of "Cry Cry", which peaked at number one on both the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 and Gaon's weekly singles, and won two consecutive first-place awards on M Countdown. The music video for "Cry Cry" was noted for having a billion South Korean won production budget and a thirty-minute drama story line. The group released their second Japanese single, a remake of "Yayaya" from their Temptastic EP, on November 30. The single peaked at number seven on the Oricon charts and number six on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

In December 2011, Core Contents Media announced that T-ara's third leader Park Hyo-min would be passing on her leadership to Soyeon. The group performed a three-day mini-concert tour titled X-mas Premium Live, that was held at the Shinagawa Stella Hall in Tokyo, Zepp in Nagoya, and Zepp in Osaka. T-ara rose to become the second biggest girl group in Korea in 2011 by ranking at number eight on the Gallup Korea poll. T-ara and Davichi released their Christmastide ballad, "We Were in Love" on December 23, 2011. It was later included on T-ara's Funky Town re-release album. The single reached number one on the Gaon Chart Chart and peaked at number two on the Billboard charts Korea K-Pop Hot 100. In November 2011, CCM announced that T-ara will not be attending any year-end award ceremonies due to their heavy schedules in and outside South Korea, which resulted in the group's immediate elimination from most of the country's award nomination lists.

T-ara re-released Black Eyes under the title Funky Town on January 3, 2012. The album peaked at number one on the Gaon weekly album chart and number two on the monthly album chart, selling 76.000 copies. "Lovey-Dovey" was released as the album's title track, which peaked at number one on both the Gaon and Billboard Korea K-pop Hot 100 charts. The single has sold more than 3 million digital copies in South Korea alone. In February, Forbes, in celebration of their ninth year of establishment, reported the year's list of the "Top 40 Power Celebrities". T-ara ranked on the list at number seventeen, thus making them as the third most powerful girl group and the seventh most powerful female celebrity in Korea.

On June 14, 2012, Core Contents Media introduced 18-year-old Areum as the new maknae (막내]], youngest member). On May 23, T-ara released "Round & Round", a remake of Nami's 1984 hit. The song received commercial success becoming the group's seventh top ten hit in South Korea since 2010. It received generally positive reviews from critics praising T-ara for bringing it a new fresh sound. It was selected by SPIELTIMES as one of the best K-Pop remakes.

The group released their first Japanese album Jewelry Box on June 6, 2012. It debuted at number two on the Oricon weekly albums chart with sales of over 57,000 copies. The album was later certified Gold by RIAJ for physical sales shipments. They embarked on their first Japanese concert tour T-ara Japan Tour 2012: Jewelry Box in Nagoya on June 19. The tour's attendance was expected to exceed 40,000 people. On July 3, T-ara released their fourth extended play, Day by Day, which charted at number five on the Gaon chart. The title track, "Day by Day", was released on the same day, peaking at number two. The first comeback performance for "Day by Day" was held on July 7, 2012, on Music Core, which was backed by a 70-person orchestra and featured the stage debut of the group's eighth member, Areum.

On July 25-26, T-ara held a concert in Japan where Hwayoung performed only one song due to an alleged leg injury. Afterward, Hyomin tweeted, "There are differences in levels of determination. Let us have more determination," which the other members supported. Hwayoung responded, "Sometimes, even determination alone is not enough..God, you know everything right?". Her sister Hyoyoung added, "My better half is suffering. My heart hurts.". These tweets led to speculation of conflict within the group, which caused a major controversy and backlash against the members.

On July 30, Core Contents Media announced Hwayoung's departure after 1 year and 8 months, citing staff complaints and denying the bullying rumors. Despite both sides stating there was no bullying, public opinion overwhelmingly supported Hwayoung, leading to T-ara temporarily suspending activities.

It was announced that there would be no changes to T-ara's upcoming comeback. However, CCM later took the statement back and announced that their comeback would be postponed indefinitely. Their Day by Day extended play re-issue, Mirage, was eventually released on September 3, 2012. The title track "Sexy Love" and the promotional singe "Day and Night", were released from the album on the same day, with "Sexy Love" peaking at number four on the Gaon charts and number three on the Billboard Korea K-pop Hot 100 charts. "Day and Night" was a collaboration single featuring T-ara's Areum with Gun-ji of Gavy NJ and Shannon.

On September 10, 2012, it was announced that the group would release a best of album in Japan consisting of all of their Korean singles to date (excluding "Day by Day" and "Sexy Love") in celebration of one year since their Japanese debut. The was eventually released on October 10. On September 26, T-ara released the Japanese version of "Day by Day", which is mainly composed of scenes from their Korean music videos for that song. In October, T-ara released the Japanese version of "Sexy Love" and shortly after, the group departed to Japan to promote for their upcoming single.

In September 2012, T-ara was offered in funding for an Asia tour including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. With 20 stops, the tour was set with concerts in arenas with 10,000–20,000 seats adding up to over 150,000 in total attendance.

In early April 2013, it was announced that T-ara would be forming a sub-unit with members Hahm Eun-jung, Hyomin, Park Ji-yeon, and Areum called T-ara N4, short for 'T-ara Brand New 4'. The sub-unit debuted on April 29, 2013, with the song "Jeon Won Diary", produced by Duble Sidekick. T-ara performed at the Nippon Budokan on July 13, 2013, to celebrate the release of their second Japanese album Treasure Box due August 7, 2013. The title for Treasure Box was revealed on June 15, 2013, along with the album's track list of thirteen songs. The group's concept for the album was "takarasagashi". T-ara released "Painkiller" as a digital single. It was a collaboration with Davichi, The SeeYa, F-ve Dolls and Speed. Jiyeon appeared as the main character in the music video.

On July 10, 2013, it was confirmed with a video released by CCM that Areum would be leaving the group to pursue a solo career "towards the beginning of next year". At their Nippon Budokan Concert, it was announced that Qri would be the new leader of T-ara. On September 15, Core Contents Media announced that T-ara would hold their long-awaited Korean comeback on October 10. Before their comeback, T-ara, together with Davichi, SPEED and The SeeYa held a concert in Mongolia, which attracted a crowd of 20,000 people. On October 6, T-ara performed "Number 9" for the first time at the Hallyu Dream Concert along with "Sexy Love". "Number Nine" was released with T-ara's mini album Again on October 10.The Japanese version of "Number Nine" was released on 20 November 2013. The single topped the weekly USEN chart in Japan. "You Gave Me Guidance", a track from the single, was chosen as the soundtrack for the Japanese movie Jinx!!!.

T-ara had a Korean comeback on December 2 with a repackage of Again, named Again 1977. It featured the bonus track "Do You Know Me", along with a ballad version of the song. Their concept for this comeback and music video was Broadway theatre-inspired with retro style. On December 13, T-ara released a Christmas song, "Hide & Seek". T-ara was ranked seventh as the group with most number one hit songs on digital music charts in the past decade with 13 songs, despite debuting 4.5 years ago. Reportedly, the group made over US$18.5 million in revenue in 2013 alone, ranking second among girl group, behind Girls' Generation and 6th overall among South Korean artists.

On January 19, 2014, T-ara had their second concert in Chengdu, China, one out of five concerts they planned to stage in China the same year. On February 14, T-ara held a joint concert with label-mates Speed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia which attracted over 3,000 fans. On 19 February CCM released a music video for a promotional track from Cho Young Soo's All Star Project with the single titled as "First Love" sung by Hyomin, Jiyeon and Soyeon featuring rapper EB. T-ara had a Japanese comeback with the single "Lead The Way" on March 5, and their third Japanese album Gossip Girls was released on May 14.

On September 11, T-ara's sixth mini album And & End was released along with the music video for the title track "Sugar Free" and three other alternate versions of the video. The song was inspired by EDM and is part of the Big Room subgenre of electro house music. On September 24, a remix album was released called EDM CLUB Sugar Free Edition. It included an English version of "Sugar Free", the first song T-ara had recorded in English. On October 13, T-ara became the first South Korean girl group to sign with a Chinese management company. The group signed a 5 billion KRW (~US$4.8 million) contract with Longzhen Culture Development. A press conference was held in Beijing to commemorate the event while over 100 media outlets have applied to cover it. The company estimated that the group would bring over 16 billion KRW (~US$15.4 million) in yearly profit. On November 24, T-ara released a Korean cover of "Little Apple" by Chopstick Brothers, as well as a music video. It featured Jiyeon, Eunjung, Qri, and Hyomin, as well as Cho Seung-hee from F-ve Dolls and Dani. The video hit ́8 millions views in only a day and a half on Tudou, China's largest video sharing platform at the time. The song also topped Tudou's music chart. On December 25, T-ara held their first domestic concert named "Dear My Family" at COEX Auditorium in Seoul. In order to be close with fans and spend a meaningful time with them, the concert was small with 1,100 seats. On December 27, T-ara held their concert in Shanghai as the beginning stop of their China tour.

In March 2015, it was announced that T-ara would be the main performer for Malaysia's Sultan of Johor Coronation celebrations in Johor Bahru. The event attracted 50,000 audience. On June 20, 2015, T-ara began their first China tour "Great China Tour" starting from Nanjing, Beijing and Hefei. It was the first concert held by T-ara after signing with their new agency Banana Culture, who manages their Chinese promotions. The group performed 22 songs and sold out 4,000 tickets. The next concert on their Great China Tour was held in Guangzhou on December 19, and sold more than 5,000 tickets – making it the second consecutive sold-out concert on the tour. On July 17, 2015, MBK Entertainment confirmed that the group will join the summer comeback lineup in the first week of August. On August 3, 2015, T-ara's seventh extended plays, So Good with title track "So Crazy" was released. It was composed by Brave Brothers and surpassed 1 million views in 2 days. On August 13, T-ara held a press conference for their web-drama Sweet Temptation which features a total of 10 episodes for 6 separate stories. The drama was released in October 2015. On October 15, the Insider Monkey published a list of 16 best-selling girl groups of all-time where T-ara was placed 10th with a total of 36.18 million sales recorded. The group then appeared on season 3 of Chinese game show The Brain, making them the second Korean act to appear on this show, following Kim Soo-hyun, who visited the show during the first season.

On June 4, T-ara participated at the 2016 Dream Concert. The group's performance was a remix of "Bo Peep Bo Peep", "Roly Poly" and "So Crazy", which was well received by the public. On August 6, the group traveled to China to perform at The Asian Music Festival in Shanghai, an event jointly organized by the Shanghai Municipal Publicity Department and the Ministry of Culture, at which the group performed five songs.

In 2016, Dong-a Ilbo newspaper has published several items on the Korean idol stars who have had influence in the last 20 years based on a poll of 2,000 people in Korea. In the category of the Top 14 Favorite Songs, T-ara ranked 14th with the song "Roly-Poly". On September 9, T-ara performed three songs for the IASGO in Seoul. On September 11, T-ara flew to Japan for their Tokyo Fan-meeting. The "Premium Live Concert" was held the Tokyo Dome City Hall where T-ara performed seven songs and interacted with their fans. T-ara performed twice during the day as the event was divided into two parts, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening. T-ara performed their song "You Gave Me Guidance" for the first time live. On September 17, T-ara held their last Concert for their Great China Tour at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai with around 12,000 people attending, the highest figure for any South Korean group to date.

T-ara participated in the Busan One Asia Festival on the opening performance on October 1 and later on October 4. Following their appearance, T-ara flew to Jeju Island to perform at the Jeju Olleh Duty Free Shop Concert on the 9th and performed five songs. In October 2016, MBK Entertainment announced that T-ara would be releasing a mini-album produced by Duble Sidekick in November. T-ara's eighth extended play, Remember, with lead single "Tiamo " was released on November 9. The release was followed by three fan-signing events.

Following this, more staff members revealed evidence of Hwayoung being disrespectful to members and stylists, and exaggerating her injury for sympathy. Although Hwayoung initially denied the claims and criticized the staffers, she later admitted the texts were real and subsequently deleted her Instagram account. On March 6, 2017, MBK Entertainment announced that T-ara would be releasing their final album with the company in May, with Soyeon and Boram terminating their contracts after its release. Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon were to stay with the label until December 31, 2017. On May 7, MBK Entertainment revealed the group's plans had changed, and that the final album had been rescheduled to release in June 2017, with members Boram and Soyeon not being able to partake due to the expiry of their contracts. On May 8, it was announced that T-ara's last performance as six-members will be in Taiwan on May 13.

The remaining four members continued as a group with releasing their ninth extended plays and last promotional album What's My Name? on June 14, 2017. After a five-year period without receiving any awards on music shows, T-ara won first place on The Show on June 20. On November 4, the group held their first concert in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, which reportedly attracted 10,000 attendees. A portion of the ticket sales would be donated to charity in Vietnam in honor of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and South Korea.

On January 3, 2018, Hyomin took to her Instagram account to announce that she, Jiyeon, Eunjung, and Qri had decided to not renew their contracts with MBK, thus leaving the company. The company later confirmed that the group had left the company but did not state that the group had disbanded. MBK Entertainment later confirmed that they had registered a trademark for T-ara on December 28. The members officially filed documentation outlining grounds for rejection of MBK Entertainment's trademark on January 19. On August 8, MBK Entertainment trademarks for T-ara had been denied by the Trademark Act.

On June 6, 2024, in an interview with Chinese cultural technology company "Yoocard", it was revealed that T-ara will be reuniting for activities in Shanghai from July 20 to 29. In collaboration with Yoocard, a Pop-up retail opened in Shanghai as well, selling numerous types of merch, as well as debuting the group's first official lightstick. It was also revealed that T-ara will be holding multiple fan-meetings in Hong Kong and Macau in September as a celebration of the group's 15th anniversary. T-ara held their first Vietnamese fan meeting in nearly a decade on November 23, 2024. T-ara reunited once again to perform as one of the headliners at the Ye!loo concert in Kuala Lumpur on May 31, 2025 at the Malaysia National Hockey Stadium. On September 12, 2025, they performed at the Re\verse Concert in Mongolia, their first performance in the country in 12 years. On November 10, 2025, T-ara announced a stop in Hong Kong as part of their "TIME TO TOGETHER" on December 20.

On January 10, 2026, T-ara announced 2026 Fan Concert in Vietnam titled ‘Memories of Youth’ and the concert will be held at Quân khu 7 Stadium on February 7, 2026.