Bom

**Park Bom** (born March 24, 1984), previously known mononymously as **Bom**, is a South Korean singer. She is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group 2NE1.

Following 2NE1's disbandment in 2016, Bom left her group's agency, YG Entertainment, in November 2016. In July 2018 she signed with D-Nation Entertainment and released her first single, "Spring", in March 2019.

## Her early years

Park Bom was born in Seoul, South Korea, on March 24, 1984. She moved to the United States as a child. She studied at Gould Academy, and she played soccer. In 1998 she received the junior varsity coach’s award. In October of 2000 she witnessed a death of her friend, who was a goalie named Lauren Nealle-May. She collapsed during a soccer game. Her death was ruled out as a result of aneurysm. Park Bom had been prescribed with medicine in the United States that contained amphetamine to help her deal with the traumatic event.

Amphetamine is only legal with prescription in America, while there is a strict ban on the substance in South Korea, even for medical uses. She has since replaced the medication with another prescription that is legal in South Korea.

## Career beginnings

Bom returned to South Korea to pursue a music career there and repeatedly auditioned to join YG Entertainment, where she was accepted into the company after three years of auditioning. In 2006, she featured on two of Big Bang's earliest singles, "We Belong Together" and "Forever with U". Bom also collaborated with Lexy on "Baby Boy" from her third extended play Rush, and Red Roc on the single "Along My Way". She has also appeared in a series of promotional music videos for Samsung Anycall of the same name, alongside Lee Hyori, G-Dragon, and Gummy.

## Years with 2NE1

Bom was placed as the main vocalist of 2NE1, alongside CL, Dara, and Minzy. The group then collaborated with label-mates Big Bang for the song "Lollipop" before officially debuting on SBS's *The Music Trend* on May 17, 2009, where they performed "Fire". The group achieved significant success with the number-one single "I Don't Care" from their first extended play, *2NE1*, which won them the Song of the Year award at the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, making them the first rookie group to win a daesang in the same year of debut. In August 2009, after finishing promotions for their debut single, the members took a break to focus on individual activities. She released her first solo single "You and I", which took the number one spot on the Gaon Music Chart for the month of November. The single eventually won Best Digital Single at the 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards. By the end of 2011, it was reported that "You and I" was downloaded 4,483,364 times, becoming **one of the best-selling singles in Korean music history**.

In late 2010, Bom featured on GD & TOP's single "Oh Yeah", appearing on both the Korean and Japanese versions of the song as well as the Japanese music video. The single peaked at number two on the Gaon Chart upon release. On April 21, 2011, she released a second solo digital single, "Don't Cry". The single was a success and achieved a perfect all-kill on Instiz, placing number one on seven local music charts.

In 2013, Bom formed a sub-unit group with labelmate Lee Hi, known as Bom & Hi. The duo released a cover of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on December 17.The same year, she also featured on the Japanese version of G-Dragon's single "Black".

## The drug scandal

In 2014, it was released to the public that Bom had been under investigation for drug smuggling (80 amphetamine containing tablets) through international mail in the past. A package, sent by family members residing in the United States to her residing in South Korea, was stopped at Incheon International Airport customs. Bom was put under investigation but was never charged.In a statement issued by YG Entertainment's Yang Hyun-suk, he spoke against the allegations of preferential treatment. He explained that the drug was illegal in South Korea but legal in the United States. She was unable to travel to the United States during that time due to her busy schedule.

Bom contacted her U.S. physician to refill her medication. Yang further explained that Bom sought out medical care from South Korean physicians and had undergone therapy but proved to be not as effective as her treatment in the United States. In 2010, at the time of investigation, she had provided the prosecutor her medical records from her U.S. hospital confirming her diagnoses as well as ongoing treatment plan.That same year, Bom joined the cast of SBS's *Roommate*, a reality show which features eleven celebrities living together in a share house. She shortly withdrew from the program following the scandal and went into a hiatus from the entertainment industry.

Bom's next appearance was on December 2, 2015, performing with 2NE1 at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards. On November 25, 2016, YG Entertainment announced the disbandment of the group. The company also revealed that former members CL and Dara signed a solo contract, hinting at Bom's departure from the company. Bom, however, took part in 2NE1's final song "Goodbye", released on January 21, 2017. On April 30, 2017, she announced through social media that she is now under YG Entertainment's subsidiary, The Black Label, and is preparing to release a solo album. On May 1, 2017, the company denied that statement and declared that Bom didn't sign any new contract with the company or any of their subsidiaries since they broke her contract back in November 2016. She followed up on social media replying to fans that she did sign a contract and she is coming back.

## Re-debuting herself as solo artist

On July 20, 2018, Bom reportedly signed an exclusive contract with the newly established entertainment company D-Nation Entertainment. It was planned that she would be releasing her debut mini-album consisting of five to six tracks in November, as well as promotional activities overseas. However, it was reported on October 2, 2018 that the mini-album would instead be released around January 2019 and that Bom will be opening a YouTube channel. The following day, it was reported that she would be making her first small screen appearance in four years through *YG Future Strategy Office*, which stars former labelmate Seungri. Bom was featured in the series' third episode, "Music Business", which premiered on October 5, 2018 on Netflix.

The single, "Spring", was announced on February 15, 2019 as the lead single off her debut single album of the same name,  which was released on March 13, 2019 alongside the premiere of its music video. The single was produced by Brave Brothers and was described as an "R&B song of medium tempo".  Additionally, "Spring" features vocals from Park's former groupmate Dara. The single was performed for the first time during *Spring*'s showcase event, which was held on the same day of its release. "Spring" debuted at number two on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart as highest-selling K-pop song and highest-charting new entry of that week. *Spring* was re-released as an extended play titled *re:Blue Rose* on May 2, 2019. The lead single titled "4:44" was produced by the Brave Brothers once again and featured vocals from Wheein.