10-Year-Old Girl Group Brave Girls Achieve Their First #1 Ever With A 4-Year-Old Song

In a remarkable turn of events, second-generation girl group Brave Girls has achieved the first no.1 of their 10-year career with a song released in 2017. Here’s how.

Brave Girls debuted in 2011 under Brave Entertainment, a company founded by producer Brave Brothers. Despite the misnomer, Brave Brothers is just one man, and he was initially signed as a composer under YG Entertainment. Over the years, he’s produced for many of the biggest second-generation artists, including AOA, BIGBANG, BTOB, 4MINUTE, T-ARA, SISTAR, and more.

Brave Girls in (2016) — From left to right: Eunji, Yujeong, Minyoung, Hyeran (former), Yoojin (former), Hayun (former), Yuna | SJ

When the group first debuted, they did enjoy some success. Their first single, “Do You Know”, peaked at no.19 on the Gaon Singles Chart, while their first single album (The Difference) reached no.2 on the Gaon Album Chart.

However, over the following years, their commercial performance became more hit and mix. While fans were in love with their catchy songs, they didn’t always do well on the charts. The group was also affected by several member changes. By 2017, all the original members had been replaced; today’s lineup is made up of Minyoung, Yujeong, Eunji, and Yuna.

In March 2017, shortly after the remaining two original members departed, Brave Girls released their fourth mini-album and a new single—”Rollin'”. Fans supported the song so passionately, Brave Girls released a new version of “Rollin'” a year later as a gift. However, the song didn’t receive the reception it deserved on the charts.

As the years passed, Brave Girls fans—known by the fandom name Fearless—began to wonder whether the group would ever receive a no.1. Their most recent single, “We Ride”, was released in August 2020 after a three-year hiatus. Sadly, the song peaked at no.291 on the Melon Daily Chart.

But now, the group’s time in the spotlight has finally arrived. On February 27, 2021, just a few months shy of 10 years since Brave Girls’s debut, their song “Rollin'” has reached no.1 on the Bugs Realtime Chart. But why? It’s all down to a fan’s viral video.

A few days prior, a YouTube channel by the name of VIDITOR uploaded a video titled “Brave Girls ‘Rollin” Comment Collection”, which merged a stage mix of the group’s “Rollin'” performances with comments from listeners. The video format recently became popular on the Korean side of YouTube, and luckily for Brave Girls, their video took off.

Within four days, the viral compilation reached over 2 million views on YouTube—and viewers fell in love with the song. “Rollin'” quickly began climbing the ranks on Bugs, Genie, Melon, and FLO. Within a few days, the four-year-old song finally did the unexpected: reaching first place.

“Rollin'” surpassed some of the biggest hits of the moment to top Bugs, including IU‘s “Celebrity”, Sunmi‘s “Tail”, and SHINee‘s “Don’t Call Me”. Fearless and fellow girl group fans are in awe of the group’s remarkable achievement—and so are the members. Many of them took to Instagram to thank fans for scoring them the first no.1 of their careers.

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A post shared by 브레이브걸스 민영 BraveGirls Minyoung (@nyong2ya)

Not only this the no.1 a huge achievement for Brave Girls, it’s also another record for second-generation girl groups. Brave Girls now joins Apink as the only second-generation girl groups to reach no.1 on the Bugs Realtime Chart this decade.