STIAL

**STIAL** (스틸) was a six-member South Korean girl group formed by Crescent Entertainment. The group debuted on May 20, 2015, with their mini album *Steel Girls* and its title track "Vibrato".

The group disbanded on June 28, 2021, after all members, except member Yewon, decided not to renew their contracts and left Crescent Entertainment.

## History

### Pre-debut

STIAL started forming as early in 2012, Yewon participated on K-pop Star 2 where she was eliminated in episode 16 and was unable to debut with the debut group. Seonmi auditioned for the 2nd Cube Entertainment Audition in 2013, she was a trainee there until she left the company in December, 2014.

FiFi and Yumi debuted in the independent duo L4 on September 12, 2012, however on July 2014, the group disbanded after Yumi's scamming scandal controversy. The group released a total of 3 singles 2 mini albums and 1 digital single.

Ha-eun debuted as a solo artist under Extra Star Entertainment with her first digital single "In The Eye" on January 10, 2013, the song was a success selling 11,000 copies in the first week. On December 9, 2013, she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, putting her career on hold. Extra Star Entertainment announced on January 18, 2015, that her condition stabilized enough to continue her singing career.

### 2015: Debut with *Steel Girls* and *STIAL School*

On March 15, 2015, Extra Star Entertainment announced to be debuting a six-member girl group under their own division in May. On March 29, Extra Star Entertainment founded Crescent Music as a subsidiary to manage STIAL's activities by a 95%. On April 6, they revealed the first two members Seonmi and Yewon, followed by FiFi and Yumi on April 7 who previously were members of duo girl group L4. On April 8, they revealed the fifth member Ha-eun a known soloist that had hyperthroidism, on April 9 they revealed the sixth and last member Eunmi. They had various pre-debut activities such as attending various concerts and performing covers.

On May 20, STIAL debuted with their first mini album *Steel Girls* and the lead single "Vibrato", Steel Girls peaked at 29 on the Gaon Album Chart and "Vibrato" at 21 on the Gaon Digital Chart. The album sold a total of 15,000 copies in its first week, STIAL got their first win in KSBS's Inkimana on May 27 followed by their second win at *MBZ Music's* Stage Champion on May 29.

On September 20, Crescent Music announced STIAL's first comeback to be released on October. On September 22 they released the concept photos followed by the music video teaser on September 29. On October 1, they released their second mini album *STIAL School* with the lead single "Study", Stial School peaked at 43 on the Gaon Album Chart and "Study" at 35 on the Gaon Digital Chart. STIAL released a virtual reality clip of a October 8 performance. The video – created by virtual reality company Moovr – allows viewers to use their computer mouse or move their smartphone to scroll around a 360-degree rotating view of the stage as the four members perform.

### 2016: Fandom name, *TO LAITS, Hot Like Money*, STIAL Asia Tour, *Winter Bird*

On January 4, 2016, STIAL revealed their official fandom name as LAITS, which was STIAL spelled backwards. They held their first fanmeeting on January 8. On January 16, Crescent Music announced that they would release a song for their fans the next month. On February 14, they released their first digital single "To LAITS", the song failed to enter the Gaon Digital Chart but peaked at 52 on the Gaon Download Chart.

On June 6, they released their third mini album *Hot Like Money* and the lead single "Demonstrate", the album became their most successful release selling a total of 24,000 copies in a week. The album peaked at 7 on the Gaon Album Chart and "Demonstrate" at 5 on the Gaon Digital Chart. On July 15 they announced their first concert *STIAL Asia Tour*, with 14 cities in Asia and 15 shows.

On December 13, they released a special christmas digital single "Winter Bird (겨울새)", the song charted at 39 on the Gaon Digital Chart. Crescent Music announced a new member joining on January 1, however, the plans were cancelled after the trainee left the company before her debut.

### 2017: Japanese debut and *AVEM*

On March 25, 2017, Crescent Music announced STIAL's Japanese debut on April. The group had various promotions in Japan before officially debuting, they had their own Japanese reality show following their stay on Japan. They officially debuted in Japan on April 20 with their first single "Color TV", the song peaked at 21 on the Oricon Single Chart.

On September 1, they released their first single album *AVEM* with the lead single "AVE MARIA", the album included the songs "PARTY LIFE", "RED UMBRELLA" and the instrumental of the lead single. The album peaked at 10 on the Gaon Album Chart and "AVE MARIA" peaked at 15 on the Gaon Digital Chart. The group achieved their first music show in MBC Music's *Show Champion* on September 6, they later got a second win in *The Show* on September 19.

On the September 13 episode of Weekly Idol, STIAL took on their biggest challenge yet with the newly minted segment "2x Random Play Dance." The girl group is known on Weekly Idol for being masters of both dancing twice the speed and Random Play Dance. The MCs told them that they would be the first to attempt to combine the segments and that "it was a segment only STIAL could do." Nonetheless, Jung Hyung Don was so confident that they couldn't do it perfectly in one try that he offered to buy them an entire-body massage chair with his own money if they succeeded. In the end, Eunmi faltered slightly when it came to "Fingertip," which prompted Jung Hyung Don to get down on his knees and thank her for saving his wallet.

### 2018: Solo activities, *Check In*, *La Sunlit* and first solo concert

On February 19, 2018, Crescent Entertainment announced that STIAL's Yewon would be debuting solo with her first digital single on March. On March 5, Yewon released her first solo digital single "Egocentric", the single peaked at 14 on the Gaon Download Chart. She held her first solo concert on February 24 and February 25 in Seoul's Olympic Hall.

On April 2, the group cameback with their fourth mini album *Check In* with the lead single "Moon Night", the album debuted at number #3 on Download, Album & Social chart on Korea's top chart Gaon, and sold more than 73,000 copies in South Korea. In the third week of album promotion, STIAL won six awards in South Korean music programs, making "Moon Night" the first song of 2018 to win all the prizes in musical programs.

On June 19, STIAL released a summer mini album, *La* *Sunlit*. STIAL made a debut in Billboard's Social 50 chart at no. 38, a week after the release of the album. The album sold 59,000 copies in South Korea and more than 2,000 in Japan.

On July 4, STIAL signed with Avex Trax for official Japanese promotion. On July 18, 19 and 20 they held their first Japanese solo concert in NHK Hall. They also had an additional performance on July 23 in the Shibuya O-East.

On September 10, Crescent Entertainment announced that Seonmi would be the second STIAL member debuting solo after Yewon in January. On September 21, Seonmi released her first mini album, *I Say*, with the lead single "Forgetless". The album debuted atop on the Gaon Album chart and other South Korean music services, "Forgetless" peaked at 13 on the World Digital Song Sales and stayed at 2 for 4 consecutive weeks.

The group held their first solo concert on December 20, 21 and 22 in the Olympic Hall.

### 2019: *Check Out*, Japanese singles, *Fever Nights* and *Welcome Home*

On January 7, 2019, STIAL released their fifth mini album, *Check Out,* with the lead single "First Light". *Check Out* became the group's highest selling Korean album with more than 82,000 copies sold based on the Gaon Chart. On February 10, STIAL released their second Japanese single album, "First Light (JP ver.)/Love Heart". On March 11, STIAL released their third Japanese single album, "Lovely/Before Then".

On June 20, STIAL released their sixth mini album, *Fever Nights*, with lead single "New Fever". The mini album consists of six tracks, including an instrumental version of their lead single. The group also promoted in Japan by collaborating with Japanese pop girl group Daydream and released Japanese single album, *Be Good: STIAL&Daydream*, on July 1.

On November 10, STIAL released their first Japanese studio album, *Welcome Home*, with its lead single of the same name. This album also contains all of their previous Japanese songs since "First Light" as well as new tracks.

### 2020: FiFi's solo debut, *S: Series*, first world tour, english debut and "Specially for LAITS"

On February 12, 2020, FiFi made her solo debut with her first mini album, *Butterfly*. The album sold 15,000 copies in South Korea and peaked at 9 on the Gaon Album Chart, "Butterfly" peaked at 13 on the World Digital Song Sales for 6 weeks. She held her first online concert on March 30 after she had to cancel her solo concert due to Covid-19.

On June 1, they released their seventh mini album *S1: Alertful Songs* with the lead single "Callin Me". The album sold 104,000 copies in South Korea and 11,000 copies in Japan, becoming their highest selling album since *Check Out* on January, 2019. "Callin Me" peaked at 38 on Billboard Global 200, at 30 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, at 6 on the World Digital Song sales and at 1 on the Gaon Digital Chart. The music video for "Callin Me" reached 20.3M views in 29 hours.

On June 20, Crescent Entertainment announced their first world tour, ASTRAL World Tour, with 16 cities worldwide and 19 shows. On July 3, they released their fifth japanese single album, "Callin Me (JP Ver.)/Flourish", the album debuted atop in Oricon Single Chart. In Mid July, STIAL announced an additional eight cities for their *ASTRAL* world tour, which covered twenty-four cities worldwide.

On September 2, STIAL signed with Republic Records for American promotions. The group debuted in America with their first compilation album, *STIAL Best in English!,* on September 22. The group held their first USA tour from September 26 to November 3 in 7 cities.

They released their first studio album on November 28, *S2: Walburga's Arrival*, with the lead single "Magier". The album sold more than 200,000 copies in South Korea, 15,000 copies in Japan and 6,000 copies in United States. The album and song debuted atop of South Korean music services and stayed for 9 consecutive weeks. "Magier" and "Callin Me" ranked 37 and 15, respectively as Billboards Best Songs of 2020. They released a special song titled "Specially For LAITS" on December 25, to all their fans who supported them for the past 5 years.

### 2021: Japanese singles, *Full Of Love*, *Love in Bloom, STIAL (English Deluxe)* and disbandment

On February 2, they released their sixth Japanese single album, "Magier (JP Ver.)/Hocus Pocus", the album sold 14,000 copies in Japan and the music video for "Magier (JP Ver.) reached 10.3M in 24 hours. The song debuted atop of Japanese music charts.

On April 5, they released their second Japanese studio album, *Full Of Love*, the album included 6 new songs and previous Japanese releases from "Callin Me (JP Ver.)/Flourish" to "Magier (JP Ver.)/Hocus Pocus". The album sold 32,000 copies in Japan and debuted atop of various Japanese music charts, the song debuted at 8 on the World Digital Song Sales chart. The group held their second Japanese tour from April 14 to April 27.

On May 1, STIAL released the promotional single "Love in Bloom" through Universe Music for the mobile application, Universe. On May 11, Crescent Entertainment announced that STIAL would be coming back in both the English and Korean market, both scheduled to be released between Late May and Early June. On May 30, STIAL released their eight mini album, *S3: Crossing Paths*, with the lead single "Crossroads". The album sold 138,000 copies in South Korea and 8,000 copies in Japan. The album debuted atop of the Gaon Album Chart and "Crossroads" peaked at 5 on the World Digital Song Sales chart. The song obtained a total of 10 music show wins.

They released their first English studio album, *STIAL (English Deluxe),* on June 14. The album sold 12,000 copies in United States and more than 1,000 in Canada. All of the songs entered the World Digital Song Sales with "Magier (English Ver.)" peaking at 12, the group promoted in various shows such as *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.* The group held their second North America Tour from June 18 to June 23.

On June 24, Crescent Entertainment announced that STIAL would be disbanding in June 28 after all members except, Yewon, decided to not renew their contract with the company. The group held their last stage and concert on June 28 at the Olympic Hall, after the concert was over the group disbanded and all the members shared their hand-written letters about the disbandment.

## Discography

Studio albums* S2: Walburga's Arrival (November, 2020)

Mini albums* Steel Girls (May, 2015)
* STIAL School (October, 2015)
* Hot Like Money (June, 2016)
* Check In (April, 2018)
* La Sunlit (June, 2018)
* Check Out (January, 2019)
* Fever Nights (June, 2019)
* S1: Alertful Songs (June, 2020)
* S3: Crossing Paths (May, 2021)

Single albums* AVEM (September, 2017)

Digital singles* To LAITS (February, 2016)
* Winter Bird (December, 2016)
* Love in Bloom (May, 2021)

OSTs* My Dream Is Ryan OST (Boom Chiki) (September, 2020)
Studio Albums* Welcome Home (November, 2019)
* Full Of Love (April, 2021)

Singles* Color TV (March, 2017)
* First Light (JP ver.)/Love Heart (February, 2019)
* Lovely/Before Then (March, 2019)
* Be Good: STIAL&Daydream (July, 2019)
* Callin Me (JP Ver.)/Flourish (July, 2020)

English
Compilation Albums* STIAL Best in English! (September, 2020)

Studio albums* STIAL (Deluxe) (June, 2021)

## Ambassadorship

In 2020, Shopee Philippines hired STIAL as their 2020 Global K-Market Ambassador. The group's ambassadorship made a huge contribution to the brand's K-Wave net shares, as the group helped the brand to achieve an eightfold increase to their Korean sales on the platform and to earn first place for Philippines, and sixth place worldwide, in the Best Brand Category of the 2020 Top Brand Buzz Awards.

## Filmography

### DVDs & Blu-Ray

* *STIAL - Where? (2016)*
* *2016 STIAL ASIA TOUR (2016)*
* *2016 Season's Greetings*
* *2017 Season's Greetings*
* *2018 Season's Greetings*
* *2018 STIAL 1st Concert "STIAL's Cert" (2018)*
* *2019 Season's Greetings "Hotel Guest"*
* *2018 STIAL 1st Concert ENCORE "STIAL's CERT" (2019)*
* *STIAL 1st Photo Book "I Am, Want, Be" (2019)*
* *2020 Season's Greetings*
* *2020 STIAL WORLD Tour ASTRAL World Tour (2020)*
* *STIAL 2nd Photo Book (Opinion) (2020)*
* *2021 Season's Greetings*

## Concert and tours

### Headlining concert & tours

* STIAL 1st Asia Tour (2016)
* STIAL 1st Japan Solo Concert: Arrival (2018)
* STIAL 1st World Tour: ASTRAL World Tour (2020)
* STIAL 1st Online Concert (2021)

### Concert participation

* Extra Star Entertainment New Year's Eve Live Concert (2015)

### Showcase

* STIAL Debut Showcase (2015)
* STIAL Japanese Debut Showcase (2017)
* STIAL English Debut Showcase (2020)