The revival of the group Brave Girls has come to its unfortunate end, with the quartet officially terminating its activities as of Thursday.
Brave Entertainment, the label behind the four-member K-pop girl group, announced on Thursday that the band will end its activities with the members' contracts with the agency terminating that day.
"The exclusive contracts of the four members -- Minyoung, Yujeong, Eunji and Yuna -- have come to an end today. With the release of the new digital single 'Goodbye' as their last, Brave Girls will end all official activities today," the agency said in the statement released Thursday.
"The company and the members have decided to say a beautiful goodbye after a long and thorough discussion. We will not forget the supports we have shared with each other and will individually return to the love of our fans in each of our new positions," the statement continued.
While many groups come and go in the fast-paced K-pop industry, Brave Girls' closure may disappoint fans more than others as the group had become a symbol of late-blooming success.
The group first debuted in 2011 with its first single "The Difference," but failed to make a name for themselves.
In 2016, the group was relaunched as a 7-member band, among which the final four members were included. Since then, the act released four singles and two EPs, but the reshuffle also did not lead to much fame for Brave Girls.
It was in 2021 that the quartet finally entered the limelight after its 2017 single "Rollin'" soared back up the charts after a compilation video of the girls performing at various military concerts went viral on YouTube.
Backed by the explosive popularity of the band and the 2017 song among Korean soldiers, as well as many years of overlooked hard work, Brave Girls finally made it to the top.
"Rollin'" went onto reign on the top of local music charts and brought the group its first-ever TV music show No. 1 on March 14, 2021, the first major milestone achieved in over five years -- the longest period taken by any K-pop girl group to reach the feat.
The breakout single also made history on Billboard's K-pop 100 chart in the US, making Brave Girls the third girl group to top the chart following Oh My Girl and Blackpink.
Their newfound stardom extended beyond "Rollin'." Not only did the act's past songs and videos receive a lot of belated love, but the girls went on to release their 5th EP, "Summer Queen," fronted by the title song "Chi Mat Ba Ram" in June 2021. At the year's end, the four-piece dominated the spotlight at the annual music awards where they scooped up multiple trophies for the first time in their five-year career.
But the "Rollin'" effect was not strong enough to cement their takeover.
The act's sixth EP, "Thank You," tallied a fairly good score in terms of numbers, with the music video garnering 30 million views in just five days, but received a critical review from the listeners for the redundant retro concept. Fans were especially disappointed at the agency for the lack of promotions and financial support for the album.
The act's first-ever standalone concert in Seoul was also canceled. Originally slated to take place in January 2022, the show was postponed due to the nationwide resurgence of COVID-19 infections and ultimately did not take place.
In July, Brave Girls conducted its first and last US concert tour around nine cities.
Seven years is the maximum period at which labels can sign exclusive contracts with artists, and thus many groups either disband or lose members at the seventh anniversary. Even Brave Girls was no exception for the seven-year curse.
In their statement to the press released Thursday, Brave Entertainment left a note of gratitude for the members and the fans, named "Fearless," who have endured the ups and downs together.
"We are sincerely grateful and share a generous round of applause for the members, Minyoung, Yujeong, Eunji and Yuna, who have gone through all the joys and sorrows together as they spent the past seven years passionately as Brave Girls," the agency said, adding, "we will always root for the members' new ventures."
"We are well aware that Brave Girls' journey did not end just as a 'miracle' but as a 'legend' all thanks to the members and the fans. We will always remember Brave Girls as the 'icon of hope,'" the statement ended.
The group will drop its last single "Goodbye" at 6 p.m. on Thursday, sending their last words of gratitude to fans.
