Tzuyu | |
---|---|
Born | Chou Tzu-yu June 14, 1999 Tainan, Taiwan |
Alma mater | Hanlim Multi Art School |
Occupation | Singer |
Musical career | |
Origin | South Korea |
Genres | |
Instrument | Vocals |
Years active | 2015–present |
Labels | |
Member of | Twice |
Chinese name | |
Traditional Chinese | 周 子 瑜 |
Hanyu Pinyin | Zhōu Zǐyú |
Bopomofo | ㄓㄡ ㄗˇ ㄩˊ |
Wade–Giles | Chou1 Tzŭ3-yü2 |
Hokkien POJ | Chiu Chú-jû |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 저우쯔위 |
Revised Romanization | Jeou Jjeuwi |
McCune–Reischauer | Chŏu Tchŭwi |
Chou Tzu-yu (Chinese :周子瑜; Pe̍h-ōe-jī :Chiu Chú-jû;born June 14,1999),known mononymously as Tzuyu (Korean : 쯔위,Korean pronunciation: [t͈sɯ.ɥi] ), is a Taiwanese singer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015. [1] [2] [3]
Tzuyu released her debut extended play (EP), Aboutzu , on September 6, 2024. Its lead single, "Run Away", became her first number-one single on the Billboard Taiwan Songs chart.
Tzuyu was born on June 14, 1999, in the East District of Tainan, Taiwan. [4] [5] [6] She started dancing from a young age and trained at a dance academy. [7]
In 2012, Tzuyu was discovered by talent scouts at the Muse Performing Arts Workshop in Tainan, and moved to South Korea in November of that year to begin training. [6] [8] In 2015, Tzuyu participated in the South Korean reality television show Sixteen , created by JYP Entertainment and co-produced by Mnet. [1] [9] As one of nine successful participants, she went on to join the newly formed girl group Twice. [1]
In October 2015, Tzuyu officially debuted as a member of Twice with the release of their first extended play, The Story Begins . [10] Its lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh" was the first K-pop debut song to reach 100 million views on YouTube. [11] Since then, she has worked as a presenter on multiple South Korean music television shows. [12] As a soloist, Tzuyu released covers of "Me!" by Taylor Swift and "Christmas Without You" by Ava Max as part of the Melody Project series. [13] [14]
On August 2, 2024, JYP Entertainment announced that Tzuyu would be making her solo debut with the release of her debut extended play, Aboutzu , on September 6. [15]
Tzuyu has featured alone in various advertisements, including those for LG U+ [16] and Crocs Korea. [17] She covered the October 2021 issue of L'Officiel Malaysia [18] as a model for the Coach Fall/Winter 2021 collection. [19] In January 2022, Tzuyu was chosen as the new muse of South Korean clothing brand Zooc. [20] [21] In October 2022, she was announced as the muse of Visée, one of Japan's most popular cosmetics brands. [22] [23] In October 2023, she was appointed as the brand ambassador for the Pond's Skin Institute's Brand Evolution Campaign. [24]
On February 29, 2020, Tzuyu donated ₩ 50 million ( US$ 42,363.34) to the South Korean Community Chest, for helping prevent the spread of COVID-19. [25]
Tzuyu has received widespread attention for her beauty since her debut with Twice, [1] [12] [26] [27] and was nicknamed "Light of Taiwan" [A] by the Taiwanese media due to her popularity. [29] [30] [31] [32]
After the flag controversy in 2016, Tzuyu was credited with increasing Taiwanese votes by up to 1-2% in favor of President Tsai Ing-wen. [33] [34] According to Gallup Korea's annual music survey, Tzuyu was the third most popular idol among South Koreans in 2016. [35] She ranked ninth in the 2017 survey [36] and twelfth in 2018. [37] In 2019, Tzuyu was ranked as the second most popular female K-pop idol in a survey of soldiers completing mandatory military service in South Korea. [38] In 2023, Tzuyu surpassed Jay Chou and became the most followed Taiwanese celebrity on Instagram with over 10 million followers. [39]
In 2016, she passed an exam at Tainan Municipal Fusing Junior High School to certify her middle school education. She attended high school at Hanlim Multi Art School in South Korea, and graduated in February 2019 along with bandmate Chaeyoung. [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]
In November 2015, Tzuyu appeared with bandmates Sana, Momo, and Mina on the Korean variety show My Little Television . She introduced herself as Taiwanese and held the flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan) alongside that of South Korea. [45] Mainland Chinese internet users reacted angrily towards Tzuyu's actions due to the political rift between the two countries. [46] Soon after, Twice was barred from Chinese television [47] and Tzuyu was pulled out of her endorsement with Chinese communications company Huawei. [48] Meanwhile, her agency, JYP Entertainment, released a video showing Tzuyu reading an apology, which said in part:
There is only one China, the two sides of the strait are one, and I have always felt proud to be Chinese. I feel extremely apologetic to my company and to Internet friends on both sides of the strait for the hurt that I have caused, and I also feel very guilty. [49]
Tzuyu's apology sparked a furor among the Taiwanese public on election day. [50] [51] The incident gained international attention, as it was believed to have affected the 2016 Taiwanese general election. [49] [34] A survey found that Tzuyu's video apology affected the decision of about 1.34 million young voters. [52]
In response to criticism, JYP Entertainment announced that it would be adopting new procedures concerning its exports and overseas activities in order to protect employees from future controversies. This included the implementation of cultural sensitivity training for its artists and staff members. In an interview with The Korea Times , a JYP representative stated that the training would include issues pertaining to political conflicts between countries. [53]
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KOR [54] | JPN [55] | JPN Comb [56] | US [57] | US World [58] | ||||
Aboutzu | 3 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 1 |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KOR DL [63] | NZ Hot [64] | SGP Reg. [65] | TWN [66] | US World [67] | |||
"Run Away" | 2024 | 22 | 40 | 29 | 1 | 6 | Aboutzu |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Daring Woman" (당돌한 여자) (with Jihyo, Nayeon and Chaeyoung) | 2015 | Two Yoo Project – Sugar Man Pt. 11 |
All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise. [68]
Title | Year | Artist | Album | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
"21:29" | 2019 | Twice | Feel Special | As lyricist |
"Celebrate" | 2022 | Celebrate | ||
"Fly" | 2024 | Tzuyu | Aboutzu |
Title | Year | Director(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
"Run Away" | 2024 | Yang Soon-Shik (YSS Studio) | [69] [70] |
Year | Title | Role | Note | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Sixteen | Contestant | A survival show designed to select the members of Twice | [9] |
2016 | Inkigayo | Special MC | with Nayeon, Minhyuk, and Kihyun | [71] |
2019 | Battle Trip | Cast | with Chaeyoung and Dahyun, Ep. 141–142 | [72] |
Title | Release date | Publisher | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Yes, I am Tzuyu. | April 28, 2020 | JYP Entertainment | [73] [74] |
Sixteen is a 2015 reality girl group survival show created by JYP Entertainment and Mnet. The show pitted sixteen trainees against one another to secure a spot in the girl group Twice. Sixteen contestants were assessed not just by their singing and dancing abilities but also their charisma and personality. The show ran from May 5 to July 7 on Mnet for ten episodes.
Twice is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. Twice was formed under the television program Sixteen (2015) and debuted on October 20, 2015, with the extended play (EP) The Story Begins, and has received the honorific title of "The Nation's Girl Group" in their home country.
The Story Begins is the debut extended play by South Korean girl group Twice. It was released by JYP Entertainment on October 20, 2015, through KT Music. It features six tracks, including the lead single, "Like Ooh-Ahh", which was composed by Black Eyed Pilseung and is a blend of several different genres.
Page Two is the second extended play (EP) by South Korean girl group Twice. The album was released digitally and physically on April 25, 2016, by JYP Entertainment and distributed by KT Music. It is supported by the lead single, "Cheer Up" which was produced by South Korean producing duo Black Eyed Pilseung.
Twicecoaster: Lane 1 is the third extended play (EP) by South Korean girl group Twice. The EP was released digitally and physically on October 24, 2016, by JYP Entertainment and distributed by KT Music.
"TT" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Twice. The song was released by JYP Entertainment on October 24, 2016, as the lead single from their third extended play Twicecoaster: Lane 1. It was written and composed by Sam Lewis and Black Eyed Pilseung respectively. The title "TT" refers to an emoticon used to express crying or sadness.
Sana Minatozaki, known mononymously as Sana, is a Japanese singer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, formed in 2015 by JYP Entertainment.
Im Na-yeon, known mononymously as Nayeon, is a South Korean singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, created by JYP Entertainment through the reality television show Sixteen (2015).
"Cheer Up" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Twice. It was released by JYP Entertainment on April 25, 2016, as the lead single from their second extended play Page Two. It was written and composed by Sam Lewis and Black Eyed Pilseung respectively.
"Like Ooh-Ahh" is the debut single recorded by South Korean girl group Twice. It was released by JYP Entertainment on October 20, 2015, as the lead single from their debut extended play The Story Begins. It was written and composed by Black Eyed Pilseung and Sam Lewis.
Kim Da-hyun, known mononymously as Dahyun, is a South Korean singer, rapper, and actress. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015.
The videography of South Korean group Twice consists of forty-three music videos, one film, nineteen video albums, thirty-two DVDs and sixty reality shows. The group composed of nine members; Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, was formed by JYP Entertainment in July 2015 through the survival television show Sixteen.
The Year of "Yes" is the reissue of South Korean girl group Twice's sixth EP Yes or Yes. It was released by JYP Entertainment on December 12, 2018. The reissue contains the initial seven tracks from Yes or Yes, along with two new songs: "The Best Thing I Ever Did" and the Korean version of "Be as One" from the group's Japanese album BDZ.
Yoo Jeong-yeon, known mononymously as Jeongyeon (Korean: 정연), is a South Korean singer. She is a member of Twice, a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment.
Mina Myoi, known mononymously as Mina, is a Japanese singer and dancer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015.
Park Ji-hyo, known mononymously as Jihyo, is a South Korean singer. She is the leader and vocalist of the South Korean girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015.
Feel Special is the eighth extended play by South Korean girl group Twice. It was released by JYP Entertainment on September 23, 2019. Marketed as the group's eighth "mini album" release, it consists of seven tracks, including the lead single of the same name and the Korean version of their Japanese single "Breakthrough".
Son Chae-young, known mononymously as Chaeyoung, is a South Korean singer and rapper. She is a member of the girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment.
Twicelights World Tour was the first world tour by South Korean girl group Twice. It saw 25 concerts in 16 cities across various countries in Asia and North America, spanning from May 2019 to February 2020. Four encore shows in Seoul and Tokyo that were originally scheduled for early 2020 were cancelled following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aboutzu is the debut extended play (EP) by Taiwanese singer Tzuyu of the girl group Twice. It was released on September 6, 2024, through JYP Entertainment and Republic Records. The EP contains six tracks, including the lead single "Run Away" and collaborations with Peniel of BtoB and rapper pH-1.
An article in a Korean newspaper analyzed that a small gesture by Tzuyu, then 16 years old, increased President Tsai's vote by 1-2 %.