Information
Debut
Girls' Generation were initially known as "Super Girls", a fan made name, before their debut. Touted as the female Super Junior by SM Entertainment, the group was announced to include members with diverse talents able to speak in different languages such as English, Chinese, and Japanese fluently for future expansion in different markets. Initially 11 members were in the group. However, 2 members withdrew; one of them being So Yeon who is now inT-ara and the other is Chanmi who is now in Coed School. The members were unveiled individually from July 7, 2007 to the 14th.
They unofficially debuted at M.net's "School of Rock" on July 18, 2007 where they performed "Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)", which later became their debut single. On July 27, 2007 a documentary aired on "M.net" titled Girls' Generation Goes To School, which showed behind the scenes footage of the group, including the preparation of their unofficial debut performance at "School of Rock".
"Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)" was physically released on August 2, 2007, and they officially debuted on SBS Inkigayo on August 5, 2007. Girls' Generation were #1 on M!Countdown and Inkigayo twice with "Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)".
They unofficially debuted at M.net's "School of Rock" on July 18, 2007 where they performed "Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)", which later became their debut single. On July 27, 2007 a documentary aired on "M.net" titled Girls' Generation Goes To School, which showed behind the scenes footage of the group, including the preparation of their unofficial debut performance at "School of Rock".
"Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)" was physically released on August 2, 2007, and they officially debuted on SBS Inkigayo on August 5, 2007. Girls' Generation were #1 on M!Countdown and Inkigayo twice with "Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)".
1st Studio Album
Girls' Generation released their self titled debut album So Nyeo Si Dae on November 1, 2007. The first track on the album titled "So Nyeo Si Dae (Girls' Generation)", which was a remake of Lee Seung Chul's 1989 hit, was used as the lead single. The debut performance was onM!Countdown, the same day as the album's release date, and the music video for "So Nyeo Si Dae (Girls' Generation)" was released on November 2, 2007. The song won #1 onM!Countdown and on Inkigayo twice.
Following the success of "So Nyeo Si Dae (Girls' Generation)", it was announced on January 8, 2008 that they would began promoting "Kissing you" as their second single. They debuted the performance of "Kissing you" on January 13, 2008 at Inkigayo, and released the music video on January 14th, which featured Super Junior member Donghae as their special boyfriend. "Kissing you" became #1 on Music Bank, and was #1 twice on Inkigayo andM!Countdown.
Due to popularity, they released a repackaged album titled Baby Baby on March 17, 2008. The song "Baby Baby", was used as the third single, and the debut performance was on April 13, 2008 at Inkigayo. So Nyeo Si Dae has sold 121,143 copies to date. On October 8, 2008, Girls' Generation's Factory Girl, a reality show featuring Girls' Generation as Elle Girl editors, was broadcast on M.net until it's last episode on December 17, 2008.
Following the success of "So Nyeo Si Dae (Girls' Generation)", it was announced on January 8, 2008 that they would began promoting "Kissing you" as their second single. They debuted the performance of "Kissing you" on January 13, 2008 at Inkigayo, and released the music video on January 14th, which featured Super Junior member Donghae as their special boyfriend. "Kissing you" became #1 on Music Bank, and was #1 twice on Inkigayo andM!Countdown.
Due to popularity, they released a repackaged album titled Baby Baby on March 17, 2008. The song "Baby Baby", was used as the third single, and the debut performance was on April 13, 2008 at Inkigayo. So Nyeo Si Dae has sold 121,143 copies to date. On October 8, 2008, Girls' Generation's Factory Girl, a reality show featuring Girls' Generation as Elle Girl editors, was broadcast on M.net until it's last episode on December 17, 2008.
1st Mini Album (Gee Syndrome)
During promotional activities for Baby Baby, Girls' Generation started individual solo activities.Taeyeon began hosting as a disc jockey with Super Junior's Kang In, Yoona was cast as the lead actress in the drama Neoneun Nae Unmyeong, and besides endorsing products and lending their vocals to drama soundtracks, the group remained in indefinite hiatus for nine months. However on December 26, 2009 solo teaser posters of each Girls' Generation member were erected all over Seoul.
On December 28, 2008 SM Entertainment confirmed that their album would be released on January 7, 2009 and their debut performance would be held at "Music Bank" on January 9, 2009. SM Entertainment stated "You will be able to feel an upgraded charm to Girls' Generation with this new album. Fan's eyes and ears will rejoice after seeing the bright and cute charms that only Girls' Generation can have".
On January 2, 2009, SM Entertainment revealed an MV teaser for "Gee", the title track to their debut mini-album Gee. Shortly after the physical release of Gee on January 7, 2009, the title track hit #1 on various music portal sites such as MelOn, Dosirak, and Cyworld. However, unlike previously announced, Girls' Generation held their come back stage at MBC "Music Core" on January 10, 2009 due to a ban "Music Bank" officials placed on the group. They performed "Gee" and "Himnae! (Way To Go)". A certain part of the choreography for "Gee" called the "Crab Leg Dance" by fans became immensely popular amongst the public. The group won their first "Mutizen" at "Music Bank" on January 16, 2009 despite their absence. On February 22, 2009 Girls' Generation won "Song of the Month" at the "Cyworld Digital Music Awards" for "Gee", and SM Entertainment released an official MV for "Himnae! (Way To Go)" on March 5, 2009.
Dubbed "Gee Syndrome", the song became immensely popular as it continued to dominate #1 on offline and online charts. Girls' Generation broke the all time record for most consecutive #1’s, with 9 consecutive #1 wins at "Music Bank". Girls' Generation concluded promotions for "Gee" on March 17, 2009.
On December 25, 2009 Gee won the #1 song for the entire 2009 in KBS Music Bank K-chart, with a total of 7,265 points (2,887 digital sales points, 1,590 audience rating points, 1,009 album sales points, 1,779 broadcasting points. Broadcasting points count any TV appearance that lasts more than one minute, including cover and parodies).
On December 28, 2008 SM Entertainment confirmed that their album would be released on January 7, 2009 and their debut performance would be held at "Music Bank" on January 9, 2009. SM Entertainment stated "You will be able to feel an upgraded charm to Girls' Generation with this new album. Fan's eyes and ears will rejoice after seeing the bright and cute charms that only Girls' Generation can have".
On January 2, 2009, SM Entertainment revealed an MV teaser for "Gee", the title track to their debut mini-album Gee. Shortly after the physical release of Gee on January 7, 2009, the title track hit #1 on various music portal sites such as MelOn, Dosirak, and Cyworld. However, unlike previously announced, Girls' Generation held their come back stage at MBC "Music Core" on January 10, 2009 due to a ban "Music Bank" officials placed on the group. They performed "Gee" and "Himnae! (Way To Go)". A certain part of the choreography for "Gee" called the "Crab Leg Dance" by fans became immensely popular amongst the public. The group won their first "Mutizen" at "Music Bank" on January 16, 2009 despite their absence. On February 22, 2009 Girls' Generation won "Song of the Month" at the "Cyworld Digital Music Awards" for "Gee", and SM Entertainment released an official MV for "Himnae! (Way To Go)" on March 5, 2009.
Dubbed "Gee Syndrome", the song became immensely popular as it continued to dominate #1 on offline and online charts. Girls' Generation broke the all time record for most consecutive #1’s, with 9 consecutive #1 wins at "Music Bank". Girls' Generation concluded promotions for "Gee" on March 17, 2009.
On December 25, 2009 Gee won the #1 song for the entire 2009 in KBS Music Bank K-chart, with a total of 7,265 points (2,887 digital sales points, 1,590 audience rating points, 1,009 album sales points, 1,779 broadcasting points. Broadcasting points count any TV appearance that lasts more than one minute, including cover and parodies).
2nd Mini Album
Girls' Generation's come back date, set for June 25, 2009, was confirmed on June 14, 2009. A teaser image for their second mini-album was also revealed. Girls' Generation stated "We are really excited to be coming back with a new concept and music. We are working extremely hard to come back with more charisma than ever, so please wait for us and support us." The last episode of Girls' Generation's Horror Movie Factory also ended on June 14th due to low ratings. The lead single for their 2nd mini-album was revealed to be "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" on June 16, 2009 and photo's from the set of the music video were also released.
Individual photo's of Girls' Generation's come back, called the "Marine Girl" concept, were released on June 18, 2009 while the music video teaser for "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" was released on June 19, 2009. The preview for their new reality show Girls' Generation's Hello Baby, set to air on June 23, 2009, was also released on June 19th. The mini-album cover for Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie) was released on June 21, 2009. Soon after it's release, controversy erupted over the mini-album cover due to the plane that was said to be a direct replica of Japan’s A6M Zero fighter planes, which was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War 2, and the use of an eagle emblem on Girls' Generation's hats that resembled hats worn by the Nazi's. SM Entertainment stated about the controversy "The album cover for Girls' Generation had been designed based on the marine girl concept, there’s no hidden meaning to it at all."
Regardless of the controversy, "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" reached the #1 spot on online music charts less than 24 hours after it release. However, the mini-album was postponed to June 29, 2009 due to the mini-album cover. SM Entertainmet stated "We used military icons on album cover, however it was interpreted and understood in a way we didn’t expected. So we are planning to delete the part and put an icon of South Korean supersonic jet T-50".
Individual photo's of Girls' Generation's come back, called the "Marine Girl" concept, were released on June 18, 2009 while the music video teaser for "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" was released on June 19, 2009. The preview for their new reality show Girls' Generation's Hello Baby, set to air on June 23, 2009, was also released on June 19th. The mini-album cover for Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie) was released on June 21, 2009. Soon after it's release, controversy erupted over the mini-album cover due to the plane that was said to be a direct replica of Japan’s A6M Zero fighter planes, which was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War 2, and the use of an eagle emblem on Girls' Generation's hats that resembled hats worn by the Nazi's. SM Entertainment stated about the controversy "The album cover for Girls' Generation had been designed based on the marine girl concept, there’s no hidden meaning to it at all."
Regardless of the controversy, "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" reached the #1 spot on online music charts less than 24 hours after it release. However, the mini-album was postponed to June 29, 2009 due to the mini-album cover. SM Entertainmet stated "We used military icons on album cover, however it was interpreted and understood in a way we didn’t expected. So we are planning to delete the part and put an icon of South Korean supersonic jet T-50".
1st Asia Tour & 2nd Album
Girls' Generation teamed up with f(x) to release a digital single called "Chocolate Love" to endorse the LG Cyon "Chocolate" cellphone. The single consisted of two slightly different versions sung by both groups: f(x)'s "Electronic Pop" version and Girls' Generation's "Retro Pop" version. Produced by the Swedish song-writing duo Bloodshy & Avant, "Chocolate Love" was released on October 8, 2009 through various online music sites. Girls' Generation released the music video for their version of "Chocolate Love" online on October 14, 2009 and along with f(x), the group held a showcase for the single which aired on the popular online streaming service "GOM TV". Despite not receiving any radio airplay or being promoted on music shows, the single reached the #2 position on the online music chart "MelOn".
Girls' Generation's announced their first Asia tour called "Into the new world" in early November. They began their first solo tour with two scheduled dates on December 19th and 20th held at the Seoul Olympic Stadium; tickets sold out in 3 minutes. There the group unveiled two new songs called "Show! Show! Show!" and "Geunyang Utja (Be Happy)", which were later revealed to be tracks on their second studio album Oh!. Due to the success of the Seoul concerts, Girls' Generation held two encore concerts on February 27, 2010 and the 28th at the "Seoul Olympic Stadium". Besides South Korea, their 1st Asia tour consisted of one concert at Shanghai, China on April 17, 2010 and one concert at Bangkok, Thailand on July 24, 2010.SM Entertainment revealed a teaser photo and the name of Girls' Generation's second album and title track called Oh!, on January 20, 2010. "Oh!" was described as an "electro-pop song", and was announced to have been composed by Kenzie, who has written and composed previous popular Girls' Generation tracks such as "Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)" and "Merry-go-round". Their come back was scheduled to be held at Music Core on January 30, 2010, and the track list and cover for the album was released. The music video teaser for "Oh!" was released on January 22, 2010, which received over a million views on Youtube and "GOM TV" in less than two days and made Naver servers inaccessible due to the amount of viewers it received. "Oh!" was released on various online music portal sites on January 24, 2010, which quickly climbed to the #1 spot instantly after its release; the song also climbed to the #1 spot faster than "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)". The music video for "Oh!" was released on January 26, 20109, and the ending of the music video revealed the nine Girls' Generation members dressed up as cute cheerleaders looking upon another Girls' Generation dressed in black sexy clothing. SM Entertainment confirmed that the teaser at the end was a glimpse of a follow-up track; which was later revealed to be "Run Devil Run".
Before it's release, Oh! racked up a record breaking amount of pre-orders; 59,500 online orders and 90,390 offline orders which amounted to a total of 149,790 pre-orders. "Oh!" was released on January 28, 2010 and sold approximately 30,000 copies in one day. Girls' Generation made their come back onMusic Core where they performed "Show! Show! Show!" and "Oh!". The group then won the "Daesang", which is the highest award artists can receive, "Bonsang", and "Digital Music Daesang" at the 19th Seoul Music Awards on February 3, 2010.
On March 11, 2010 SM Entertainment began releasing concept pictures of each Girls' Generation member, beginning with Yuri and ending with Tiffany on the 15th. Nicknamed "Black Soshi" by fans, Girls' Generation released their fourth digital single "Run Devil Run" on March 17, 2010. The song was used as the lead single for Oh!'s re-packaged album of the same name and the music video featured a continuation of their "Black Soshi" concept that the end of the "Oh" music video showed a glimpse of. The dance version for the "Run Devil Run" music video was released on March 18, 2010 and the debut performance for the song was held at Music Bank on March 19, 2010. SM Entertainment later on released the story version of the "Run Devil Run" music video on March 31, 2010. Girls' Generation ended promotional activity for "Run Devil Run" on April 30, 2010 at Music Bank.
Girls' Generation's announced their first Asia tour called "Into the new world" in early November. They began their first solo tour with two scheduled dates on December 19th and 20th held at the Seoul Olympic Stadium; tickets sold out in 3 minutes. There the group unveiled two new songs called "Show! Show! Show!" and "Geunyang Utja (Be Happy)", which were later revealed to be tracks on their second studio album Oh!. Due to the success of the Seoul concerts, Girls' Generation held two encore concerts on February 27, 2010 and the 28th at the "Seoul Olympic Stadium". Besides South Korea, their 1st Asia tour consisted of one concert at Shanghai, China on April 17, 2010 and one concert at Bangkok, Thailand on July 24, 2010.SM Entertainment revealed a teaser photo and the name of Girls' Generation's second album and title track called Oh!, on January 20, 2010. "Oh!" was described as an "electro-pop song", and was announced to have been composed by Kenzie, who has written and composed previous popular Girls' Generation tracks such as "Dasi Mannan Segye (Into the new world)" and "Merry-go-round". Their come back was scheduled to be held at Music Core on January 30, 2010, and the track list and cover for the album was released. The music video teaser for "Oh!" was released on January 22, 2010, which received over a million views on Youtube and "GOM TV" in less than two days and made Naver servers inaccessible due to the amount of viewers it received. "Oh!" was released on various online music portal sites on January 24, 2010, which quickly climbed to the #1 spot instantly after its release; the song also climbed to the #1 spot faster than "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)". The music video for "Oh!" was released on January 26, 20109, and the ending of the music video revealed the nine Girls' Generation members dressed up as cute cheerleaders looking upon another Girls' Generation dressed in black sexy clothing. SM Entertainment confirmed that the teaser at the end was a glimpse of a follow-up track; which was later revealed to be "Run Devil Run".
Before it's release, Oh! racked up a record breaking amount of pre-orders; 59,500 online orders and 90,390 offline orders which amounted to a total of 149,790 pre-orders. "Oh!" was released on January 28, 2010 and sold approximately 30,000 copies in one day. Girls' Generation made their come back onMusic Core where they performed "Show! Show! Show!" and "Oh!". The group then won the "Daesang", which is the highest award artists can receive, "Bonsang", and "Digital Music Daesang" at the 19th Seoul Music Awards on February 3, 2010.
On March 11, 2010 SM Entertainment began releasing concept pictures of each Girls' Generation member, beginning with Yuri and ending with Tiffany on the 15th. Nicknamed "Black Soshi" by fans, Girls' Generation released their fourth digital single "Run Devil Run" on March 17, 2010. The song was used as the lead single for Oh!'s re-packaged album of the same name and the music video featured a continuation of their "Black Soshi" concept that the end of the "Oh" music video showed a glimpse of. The dance version for the "Run Devil Run" music video was released on March 18, 2010 and the debut performance for the song was held at Music Bank on March 19, 2010. SM Entertainment later on released the story version of the "Run Devil Run" music video on March 31, 2010. Girls' Generation ended promotional activity for "Run Devil Run" on April 30, 2010 at Music Bank.
Japanese Debut & 3rd Mini Album
On August 11, 2010, Girls' Generation debuted in Japan under the stage name Shoujo Judai (少女時代) with the DVD Shoujo Jidai Tourai ~Hatsu Rainichi Kinen Ban~, which contained all their music videos released in Korea. On September 8, they released their debut Japanese single, "GENIE", which was a Japanese version of their Korean song "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)", included on the same titled mini-album Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie). The single peaked at #4 on the Oricon charts. On October 20th, Girls' Generation released their second Japanese single, "Gee", another remake of one of their hit Korean songs. It peaked at #2 on the Oricon charts.
On October 27, the group released their third mini album, Hoot. The title track, "Hoot", was released on October 25 at 10am KST through various online music websites. Prior to their comeback, after just releasing "Hoot" on October 25, it took less than 7 minutes for the song to dominate 7 major Korean realtime music charts, topping every single one of them at #1 include Monkey3, Dosirak, Melon, Soridaba, Cyworld, Bugs and Daum. SM Entertainment released "Hoot" music video on October 28, 2010 on SM homepage and their official Youtube channel. The music video also featured Super Junior's member Siwon. In less then 24 hours the video hit more than 1 million viewers on Youtube. They won their first award on Music Bank on 5th November 2010. On December 22, 2010, a special edition ofHoot was released in Japan, including additional tracks from previous albums. The release rose to the #2 position on the Oricon charts and selling 21,000 copies on the first day, faring surprisingly well considering the tracklist itself is entirely in Korean.
On October 27, the group released their third mini album, Hoot. The title track, "Hoot", was released on October 25 at 10am KST through various online music websites. Prior to their comeback, after just releasing "Hoot" on October 25, it took less than 7 minutes for the song to dominate 7 major Korean realtime music charts, topping every single one of them at #1 include Monkey3, Dosirak, Melon, Soridaba, Cyworld, Bugs and Daum. SM Entertainment released "Hoot" music video on October 28, 2010 on SM homepage and their official Youtube channel. The music video also featured Super Junior's member Siwon. In less then 24 hours the video hit more than 1 million viewers on Youtube. They won their first award on Music Bank on 5th November 2010. On December 22, 2010, a special edition ofHoot was released in Japan, including additional tracks from previous albums. The release rose to the #2 position on the Oricon charts and selling 21,000 copies on the first day, faring surprisingly well considering the tracklist itself is entirely in Korean.
1st Japanese Album & 3rd Album
On June 1, 2011, they released their first full-length original Japanese studio album Girls' Generation. This album contains 12 songs including the singles "Genie", “Gee”, "Run Devil Run", "MR. TAXI" and a Japanese version of "Hoot".
Girls' Generation was certified Platinum (250,000) by Recording Industry Association of Japan on June 14, 2011, making it the fifth Korean artist's album to do so after S.E.S, BoA, TVXQ and KARA. Girls' Generation then was certified Double Platinum (500,000) on July 8, 2011, a first for any Korean girl group. The group also set a record for "recording the highest sales of the FIRST album as a foreign artist in Japan. Girls' Generation is the fourth artist to obtained number 1 spot on weekly album chart after BoA, TVXQ and Big Bang," and became the third Korean artist to surpass the 500,000 mark after BoA and TVXQ. As a result of their rising popularity, Girls' Generation became the highest earning foreign artist in Japan for the first half of 2011.Girls' Generation has sold over 629,436 copies, and now holds the 5th spot for best selling albums of 2011 in Japan according to Oricon.
Recently, the group has been in the midst of their second Asia Tour. They held their first two concerts in Seoul on July 23 and 24, followed by concerts in Taipei, Taiwan on September 9, 10 and 11, and then continue onto Singapore on December 9.
On August 21, 2011 The 1st Asia Tour: Into The New World DVD reached the No.1 spot in Japan's "Tower Records" being the highest selling DVD between August 15-21st.
Girls' Generation was designated by SISA Press as "The Most Influential Entertainers in Korea" for the year 2011, after having placed 6th in the 2010 ranking .
On September 26, 2011 the first teaser featuring Taeyeon was released for the impending comeback with the group's 3rd Korean album The Boys, followed by Sunny & Hyoyeon on September 27; Jessica, Sooyoung and Tiffany on September 28 and Yoona, Yuri, and Seohyun on September 29. The first image teaser for "The Boys" was released on the midnight of October 1, 2011 through SM Entertainment's YouTube channel.
Girls’ Generation was originally scheduled to release the third album The Boys through iTunes worldwide and through various music websites in Asia including Korea on October 5, 2011. But on September 30, it was revealed that the album's release has been postponed so as to bring about a worldwide album release, with details to be released as soon as they were confirmed. On October 10, it was confirmed that the album will be released on October 19, 2011 and comeback on KBS Music Bank on October 21, 2011.
Setting their sights on the international market, Girls' Generation signed a contract with Universal Music Group under Interscope Records in 2011.
The title track, "The Boys", was released in both Korean and English. It was written, composed and arranged by Teddy Riley, who wasMichael Jackson’s producer.
Within minutes after the release of "The Boys", Girls' Generation achieved an "all-kill" status on all major on and off-line music charts in Korea.
On October 21, 2011, Girls' Generation began their promotions on KBS Music Bank with "The Boys" and "MR. Taxi". On October 23, 2011, it was also confirmed by the members at the SMTown Live '10 World Tour that The Boys maxi-Single would be released internationally on November 19, 2011, although it was later moved to December 8, 2011.
On the following week after their comeback performances, Girls' Generation won their first #1 awards for "The Boys" on M! Countdown on October 27, their second on KBS Music Bank on October 28, and their third on SBS Inkigayo on October 30, making "The Boys" an 'all-kill' on music program charts. They also went on to receive a "triple crown" on SBS's Inkigayo. Overall, the group has won twelve times on various music programs.
The Boys sold 227,994 albums just within 12 days in South Korea alone, becoming the best selling album in October and third best selling album thus far in 2011.
It was announced on November 11, 2011 that Girls’ Generation would be releasing their first official Japanese photobook titled “Holiday”. Girls' Generation's The 1st Japan Arena Tour was also made available on Blu-ray and DVD on December 14, 2011.
Girls' Generation's first Japanese photograph collection book ‘Holiday‘ seized the #1 spot on the book sales ranking chart under the photograph collection category. The photos were a collection of the girls enjoying leisurely time off, and it sold 17,000 copies the first week after going on sale on November 30. In overall book sales ranks, it ranked at #18.
The group also participated on the 2011 Winter SMTown – The Warmest Gift compilation album along with their labelmates performing the song "Diamond", which was released on December 13, 2011.
By the end of December, The Boys sold over 385,348 copies in South Korea, becoming the best selling album in 2011.
Girls' Generation was certified Platinum (250,000) by Recording Industry Association of Japan on June 14, 2011, making it the fifth Korean artist's album to do so after S.E.S, BoA, TVXQ and KARA. Girls' Generation then was certified Double Platinum (500,000) on July 8, 2011, a first for any Korean girl group. The group also set a record for "recording the highest sales of the FIRST album as a foreign artist in Japan. Girls' Generation is the fourth artist to obtained number 1 spot on weekly album chart after BoA, TVXQ and Big Bang," and became the third Korean artist to surpass the 500,000 mark after BoA and TVXQ. As a result of their rising popularity, Girls' Generation became the highest earning foreign artist in Japan for the first half of 2011.Girls' Generation has sold over 629,436 copies, and now holds the 5th spot for best selling albums of 2011 in Japan according to Oricon.
Recently, the group has been in the midst of their second Asia Tour. They held their first two concerts in Seoul on July 23 and 24, followed by concerts in Taipei, Taiwan on September 9, 10 and 11, and then continue onto Singapore on December 9.
On August 21, 2011 The 1st Asia Tour: Into The New World DVD reached the No.1 spot in Japan's "Tower Records" being the highest selling DVD between August 15-21st.
Girls' Generation was designated by SISA Press as "The Most Influential Entertainers in Korea" for the year 2011, after having placed 6th in the 2010 ranking .
On September 26, 2011 the first teaser featuring Taeyeon was released for the impending comeback with the group's 3rd Korean album The Boys, followed by Sunny & Hyoyeon on September 27; Jessica, Sooyoung and Tiffany on September 28 and Yoona, Yuri, and Seohyun on September 29. The first image teaser for "The Boys" was released on the midnight of October 1, 2011 through SM Entertainment's YouTube channel.
Girls’ Generation was originally scheduled to release the third album The Boys through iTunes worldwide and through various music websites in Asia including Korea on October 5, 2011. But on September 30, it was revealed that the album's release has been postponed so as to bring about a worldwide album release, with details to be released as soon as they were confirmed. On October 10, it was confirmed that the album will be released on October 19, 2011 and comeback on KBS Music Bank on October 21, 2011.
Setting their sights on the international market, Girls' Generation signed a contract with Universal Music Group under Interscope Records in 2011.
The title track, "The Boys", was released in both Korean and English. It was written, composed and arranged by Teddy Riley, who wasMichael Jackson’s producer.
Within minutes after the release of "The Boys", Girls' Generation achieved an "all-kill" status on all major on and off-line music charts in Korea.
On October 21, 2011, Girls' Generation began their promotions on KBS Music Bank with "The Boys" and "MR. Taxi". On October 23, 2011, it was also confirmed by the members at the SMTown Live '10 World Tour that The Boys maxi-Single would be released internationally on November 19, 2011, although it was later moved to December 8, 2011.
On the following week after their comeback performances, Girls' Generation won their first #1 awards for "The Boys" on M! Countdown on October 27, their second on KBS Music Bank on October 28, and their third on SBS Inkigayo on October 30, making "The Boys" an 'all-kill' on music program charts. They also went on to receive a "triple crown" on SBS's Inkigayo. Overall, the group has won twelve times on various music programs.
The Boys sold 227,994 albums just within 12 days in South Korea alone, becoming the best selling album in October and third best selling album thus far in 2011.
It was announced on November 11, 2011 that Girls’ Generation would be releasing their first official Japanese photobook titled “Holiday”. Girls' Generation's The 1st Japan Arena Tour was also made available on Blu-ray and DVD on December 14, 2011.
Girls' Generation's first Japanese photograph collection book ‘Holiday‘ seized the #1 spot on the book sales ranking chart under the photograph collection category. The photos were a collection of the girls enjoying leisurely time off, and it sold 17,000 copies the first week after going on sale on November 30. In overall book sales ranks, it ranked at #18.
The group also participated on the 2011 Winter SMTown – The Warmest Gift compilation album along with their labelmates performing the song "Diamond", which was released on December 13, 2011.
By the end of December, The Boys sold over 385,348 copies in South Korea, becoming the best selling album in 2011.