Girls' Generation (Korean: 소녀시대; Japanese: 少女時代), also commonly referred to as SNSD, is an eight-member South Korean girl group under SM Entertainment. They are considered South Korea's number one girl group and is one of the artists responsible for the "Hallyu Wave". The members are: Taeyeon (태연), Sunny (써니) Tiffany (티파니), Hyoyeon (효연), Yuri (유리), Sooyoung (수영), Yoona (윤아), and Seohyun (서현). Former member Jessica (제시카) left the group in 2014. They are a multilingual group, with members that speak English, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese. Both Tiffany and Jessica were raised in America and are fluent in English, Hyoyeon traveled to Beijing in 2004 to learn dancing and Mandarin, and Sooyoung started out in the Japanese entertainment industry in the girl group route φ in 2004. The group debuted on SBS Inkigayo on August 5, 2007, performing their first single, "Into the New World". They gained attention at the beginning of their career with songs such as "Kissing You" and "Baby Baby." However, it was not until 2009, they gained immense popularity with their hit single "Gee", which, until 2012, held the record for being the longest running number one song on KBS Music Bank, having held the number one chart ranking for nine consecutive weeks. "Gee" was named 'song of the decade' by the Korean music site, Melon. The group solidified their place in the Korean music industry with their follow-up singles "Genie", "Run Devil Run," and "Oh!." In 2010, Girls' Generation signed with Nayutawave Records in order to venture out to the Japanese music scene. In September of 2010, Girls' Generation released the Japanese version of "Genie" as their debut single in Japan. It peaked at number four on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart and was certified platinum for digital sales exceeding 250,000 units by the RIAJ. The following month, the group released their second Japanese single, "Gee", which reached number two on the Oricon Singles Chart. "Gee" became the first single by a non-Japanese girl group to enter the top three of the Oricon chart since 1980. On October 27, 2010, Girls' Generation released their third Korean extended play HOOT. It charted atop the Gaon Album Chart and at number two on the Oricon Album Chart, and became the third best-selling album of 2010 in South Korea. At both the 2010 and 2011 Seoul Music Awards, the group won two awards for Artist of the Year, becoming the fourth South Korean act and the first girl group to win the category in two consecutive years. Their self-titled debut Japanese album was released by Nayutawave Records and Universal Music Japan on June 1, 2011. A repackaged edition of the album, The Boys, was released on December 28, 2011. Girls' Generation's third Korean studio album, The Boys, was released on October 29, 2011. The album was released in the United States by Interscope Records, marking Girls' Generation's debut album in the country. To help The Boys connect with audiences worldwide, the group made their debut on US television upon performing on Late Show with David Letterman on January 31 and Live! with Kelly on February 1. The album became a success in South Korea, peaking atop the Gaon Album Chart on the week commencing October 16, 2011. The release ultimately became the highest-selling album of 2011 in South Korea with 385,348 copies sold. Girls' Generation-TTS (소녀시대-태티서, SoNyeoSiDae-TaeTiSeo), a sub-unit comprising of Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, was formed in 2012. Their debut album Twinkle was released on iTunes and other music service sites on April 29, 2012. Girls' Generation II ~Girls & Peace~ the second Japanese studio album and the fifth overall by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation was released on November 28, 2012, through Nayutawave Records. It is the first release by all the members since their third Korean studio album "The Boys" (2011), In December 2012, Girls' Generation released "Dancing Queen"—a remake of British singer Duffy's "Mercy" (2008)—as a pre-release to their upcoming studio album. On January 1, 2013, the group released their fourth Korean studio album titled I Got a Boy. The album was a commercial success in South Korea, peaking atop the Gaon Album Chart and Billboard's World Albums Chart. The title track, "I Got a Boy", claimed the number-one position on Billboard's Korea K-Pop Hot 100 and the Gaon Digital Chart. The title track was recieved spectacularly by critics, who praised the innovative experimental style of the track. The music video won the award for Video of the Year at the inaugural YouTube Music Awards in 2013, beating other popular nominees including Psy and Justin Bieber, which was subjected to major attention from Western media outlets as the group was considered lesser-known compared to other candidates at the time. On February 24, 2014, Girls' Generation released their fourth mini-album Mr.Mr.. It subsequently debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart upon its release. The mini was the 5th highest-selling album of 2014 in South Korea, with 163,209 copies sold by the end of the year. The title track "Mr.Mr." charted atop the Gaon Digital Chart and sold 906,962 copies in 2014, becoming the year's 46th best-selling digital single in South Korea. All six songs from the mini debuted on the Gaon Digital Chart. Love & Peace is the seventh studio album and the third Japanese studio album by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. The album was released for digital download on December 10, 2013, in selected countries in Asia by Nayutawave Records (Universal Music Group), followed by a physical release in Japan the next day. This marks their last Japanese studio album featuring member Jessica before her departure from the group. On September 29, 2014, Jessica left the group for reasons that still remain unclear, as all parties involved have conflicting accounts of the incident. The remaining eight members proceeded with the group's activities, holding The Best Live concert at Tokyo Dome on December 9, 2014. The concert was a sellout and attracted 50,000 spectators. The recorded show was released as a DVD in April 2015, which topped both Oricon's DVD and Blu-ray charts simultaneously. Being an eight-member group, they released Catch Me If You Can in March 2015. It was a Korean-Japanese record refreshing their new image to the public with a "mind-blowing" choreography, as wrote by Billboard. An unreleased version of the track and music video featuring Jessica later surfaced online, suggesting that this song was in the works while she was still a member. On August 2015, Lion Heart was released, with Party, Lion Heart and You Think being the title tracks. In conjuction with the release of the album, Girls' Generation commenced a new concert tour called Phantasia and became the first South Korean girl group to hold a fourth concert tour. Sailing (0805) was released in 2016, whose lyrics were written by Sooyoung, celebrating their ninth anniversary since debut. August 2017 was marked with the sixth full album Holiday Night, celebrating their tenth anniversary. The album sold over 167,000 by the end of the year and surpassed The Boys first week sales. A short period of promotion was reserved, regarding of their solo promotions. In October of the same year, it was announced that Tiffany, Sooyoung and Seohyun had not renewed their contract with SM Entertainment to focus on their solo careers elsewhere. Now having members with different labels, the group (still eight) has not disbanded, but envisage a long hiatus since them. A list published by Billboard in 2019, ranked Girls' Generation at number one on their "Top 10 K-pop Girl Groups of the Past Decade". In May 2022, the Official GG Twitteraccount tweeted "the legends are back! #GirlsGeneration will release an album as 8 members to celebrate their 15th anniversary this August!".