APRIL

* Korea
* Japan

**APRIL (에이프릴)** was a South-Korean girl group formed by DSP Media which debuted on August 24, 2015 with the mini album *Dreaming* . The name "April" is formed by the combination of the letter **"A"** meaning the "best", and **"PRIL"** meaning "feminine impression". When combined, 'April' makes the meaning of 'the best, lovely girls" .They consisted of 6 members: Chaekyung, Chaewon, Naeun, Yena, Rachel & Jinsol. At their debut, they consisted of Somin, Chaewon, HyunJoo, Naeun, Yena & Jinsol. Somin, the leader at the time, left the girl group explaining that she did not feel comfortable with the concept the group was going to have for the rest of it's career.

On January 28, 2022, DSP Media announced that APRIL had officially disbanded after six years of activities and two of inactivity.

## History

### 2012 - 2014 (Pre-Debut): Puretty

Puretty (meaning: Pure + Pretty) was a girlgroup under DSP Media which debuted in 2012, which April Members Chaekyung & Somin were apart of. They were signed to Universal Music in Japan. They were disbanded in January 2014, but were promised a new debut.

### 2015: Debut with "Dreaming", Somin's Departure

It was announced on February 9th, 2015, that DSP Media were to debut a new girlgroup. Their debut date was unveiled later on & on August the 20th, the first and only music video teaser for their title "Dream Candy" was released. The Music Video itself was released on the 25th along with the EP. The EP peaked at 8 on the Korean Music Charts and the single peaked at 77 on the Gaon Chart, along with 51,402 copies being sold.

As previously mentioned, ***"Somin, the leader at the time, left the girlgroup explaining that she did not feel comfortable with the concept the group was going to have for the rest of it's career.  . "*** The group would continue to promote as a 5 member unit.

They released their first single album "Boing Boing" with the leading track "Muah!" on November 25th 2015.

### 2016 : First Comeback with "Spring", Lineup Changes

On April 14th 2016, April unveiled their first comeback teaser.  The release of the Music Video for "Tinkerbell" and of their second mini abum, "Spring" took place on April 27th 2016. The mini album sold 4,919 copies & peaked at Number 12 on the Charts.

On October 26th, 2016, it was announced that HyunJoo would permanently leave April due to health issues. DSP uttered that she would continue her career as an actress & would promote on her own.

In the statement announcing HyunJoo's departure, DSP announced their intention to add new members. On November 24th of that same year, it was announced that Rachel & Chaekyung would be joining the four other members in their activities and that they would make their first comeback as new members with the rest of April in January of 2017.

### 2017 : April starts Activities with Chaekyung and Rachel

As foreseen, April made their January Comeback on the 3rd of January 2017 as six members, with their third EP *Prelude,* which was led by the title track *"April Story".* "April Story" sold a total of 62,943 copies and the EP peaked at 14 on the Charts.

Months later, they re-released their single "Sting" (released on April 4th through their reality show, "*A-IF-Ril*.") under the title "Lovesick", promoting it as the a track for their mini album "Mayday" which was led by the title track with the same name, "Mayday" which was released on May 29th.

On September 20th, they made their comeback with their fourth mini album, "Eternity", led by the title track "Take My Hand"

### 2018: First Sub- Unit, Japanese Debut, The Blue & The Ruby

On the first of February, 2018, April's first sub-unit, **Naeun X Jinsol,** named after the two members in the unit, released their first song, "My Story".  DSP confirmed later that month that April was preparing for a full group comeback. They made their comeback on March 12th with "The Blue" which had "The Blue Bird" as it's title track.

In April of 2018, they released the Japanese version of their song "Tinkerbell" as their japanese debut, selling 3,438 physical copies.  T

In September, the news outlet Osen published an article stating that April was reportedly preparing for a fall comeback, which was later confirmed by youngest member Jinsol. On October 16th, they made their comeback with the EP "The Ruby" with the track "Oh!My Mistake" serving as a title track.

### 2019: Japanese Comeback & Hiatus

April released the Japanese Version of "Oh-E-Oh" as their comeback single on the 16th of January.  They later in January released the OST "Magic Dream" for the drama "My Strange Hero".  These activities were followed by an unofficial 464 day hiatus.

### 2020: Da Capo & Hello Summer

April's March 2020 comeback was postponed to the 22nd of April. This comeback was with the "Da Capo" mini album, the title being an italian expression for "From the beginning" or "Afresh". "Da Capo" remains April's best selling album with 12,104 copies being sold in total.

DSP Media announced that they would be making their summer comeback with the special single "Hello Summer" later that year, and it was released on July 29.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 April has debuted
2. ↑ [1]
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 \*
4. ↑ Soompi: Breaking: APRIL Officially Disbands
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 #36th Week of 2015 Album Chart
6. ↑ September 2015 Album Sales Chart
7. ↑ 160413 Soompi Tweet
8. ↑ 2016 June Album Chart
9. ↑ 161026 AllKpop Article
10. ↑ 161124 Osen Article
11. ↑ gaon chart
12. ↑ 2017 January Album Chart
13. ↑ 170909 AllKpop Article
14. ↑ 180201 Entertain Naver Article
15. ↑ 180225 Soompi Article
16. ↑ 180312 Chosun Sports Article
17. ↑ May 2018 Oricon Chart
18. ↑ Entertain Naver /Osen Article
19. ↑ K-Music Article
20. ↑ https://blog.naver.com/wthere/221442964285
21. ↑ Calculation of Hiatus Duration
22. ↑ 2020 May Album Chart