Twice (Korean: 트와이스; Japanese: トゥワイス; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2015 reality show Sixteen. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. The group debuted on October 20, 2015, with the extended play (EP) The Story Begins.[2

Twice rose to fame in 2016 with their single "Cheer Up". The song charted at number 1 on the Gaon Digital Chart and became the best-performing single of the year. It also won "Song of the Year" at two major music awards shows—Melon Music Awards and Mnet Asian Music Awards.[3][4][5] Their subsequent single "TT", from their third EP Twicecoaster: Lane 1, claimed the top spot for four consecutive weeks. The EP was the highest selling K-pop girl group album of 2016, which sold 350,852 copies by year-end.[6][7] Within 19 months after debut, Twice has sold over 1.2 million units of their four EPs and special album.




The group officially debuted in Japan on June 28, 2017, under Warner Music Japan with the release of their first compilation album titled #Twice. The album debuted at number 2 on the Oricon Albums Chart, which sold 136,157 copies within seven days, the highest first-week album sales of a K-pop artist in Japan in two years.[10][11] It was followed by the release of Twice's first original Japanese maxi single titled "One More Time" in October. With over 250,000 unit sales, Twice became the first Korean girl group that earned Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for both album and CD single in the same year.[12][13] Twice ranked third in the Top Artist category of Billboard Japan's 2017 Year-End Rankings




The group's name, Twice (stylized as TWICE), was named by the JYP Entertainment's founder Park Jin Young. He explained, Twice as "The group will touch people's hearts twice, once through the ears, and once again through the eyes.




On December 19, 2013, JYP Entertainment (JYPE) announced that they would debut a new girl group in the first half of 2014, the first female group to come out of the company since the debut of Miss A in 2010.[18] On February 27, 2014, JYPE trainees Lena and Cecilia were confirmed as members of the group tentatively called as 6mix, while other rumoured members included JYPE trainees Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jisoo (later Jihyo) and Minyoung.[19][20] The group's debut plan was eventually canceled when Lena and Cecilia left the company.[21]




On February 11, 2015, Park Jin-young announced that the lineup of JYPE's upcoming seven-member girl group would be decided through Sixteen, a competition survival show that would air on Mnet later that year.[22] The show began on May 5 and ended with Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung as the seven Twice members. Park then announced that he would be increasing the size of the group from seven members to nine by adding Tzuyu, who was the "audience's pick" since she was the most popular contestant by the show's end, and Momo, who was added by Park himself since he felt the group needed someone with Momo's performance abilities. The decision was controversial at the time with many people complaining about eliminated contestants being able to join the group.[23][24][25]




On October 7, 2015, JYPE launched the band's official website and announced via SNS that the group would debut with the extended play (EP) The Story Begins and single "Like Ooh-Ahh". The track was described as a "color pop" dance track with elements of hip-hop, rock, and R&B.[26][27] The composition team included Black Eyed Pilseung, known for composing successful releases such as Miss A's "Only You".[28][29] The album and the song's music video were released on October 20. The group held a live showcase the same day, where they performed all tracks from the EP.[30][31][32] The music video hit 50 million views on YouTube within five months of their debut and became one of the most-viewed debut music videos for any K-pop group.[33][34][35] On December 27, the band performed a remix version of their single "Like Ooh-Ahh" at SBS Gayo Daejeon, Twice's first-ever attendance on a year-end music program