5Pieces (group)

## 5Pieces

Colombia Records (USA)

Julia Östberg

Carolina Lindquist

Hannah Martens

**5Pieces** (Korean: 파이브피이스스, RR: Paibeu Piiseuseu) is a five-member Swedish K-pop girl group that debuted on November 5, 2008 under SM Entertainment.

## History

### Pre-debut

The popular girl-group was officially formed in 2008 through an audition program in South Korea, but what fascinates us a lot is that the name and group ‘5 Pieces’ goes back a few years more. The members of the group are Emelia, Maria, Julia, Carolina and Hannah. All being of the same age they all met through school: born and raised in a small city in middle-Sweden, the story about 5 Pieces’ friendship can go all the way back to their time in kindergarten.

Maria and Emelia went to the same kindergarten, though never being friends at that age they were in the same group throughout their first years since birth. For Maria, she grew up in the same neighbourhood as Hannah, and the two of them used to play games together with other kids on their street, but even the two of them never showed a close bond those years. It was in 3rd grade the three of them were placed in the same class, where Hannah and Emelia have said they became friends on the first day – and have been best friends ever since – while Maria had another group of friends at that time.

Julia and Carolina grew up in another area of the city and though these two also didn’t bond closely at a start they could be seen hanging out from time to time.

It wasn’t until 7th and 8th grade that 5 Pieces started to shape. The two different schools emerged into one for 7th grade, and it didn’t take long for the five of them to find each other among the 500 other students at the school. Emelia and Hannah were really close since 3rd grade already, but Maria soon joined them in 7th grade; by that time Maria was already listening to both K-Pop and J-Rock, and she was spending her days talking about it to her new friends. Only a while later did Carolina join the trio, and when summer break arrived the four friends grew closer spending a lot of time together.

While not being the four of them all the time, Emelia and Hannah had a hobby of writing fictional stories together and it was something they had done for a while. That summer Emelia came up with the fictional story about 4 Pieces – four female pirates inspired from herself and her three friends. The inspiration for the pirate theme and the name 4 Pieces was basically from the Japanese manga and anime *One Piece* that the friends were reading, and the rebellious image was born with that.

The pirate group became a band during the summer break as well; the interest in K-Pop had grown each day and when school began after the summer the four friends spent more time in the school’s music room than anywhere else. The idea of becoming 4 Pieces – a rock band – was thrilling for them.

Just a few weeks later, Carolina came up to her friends one morning with a classmate of hers, introducing the new friend Julia, who though had just wanted to hang out a bit during the day ended up becoming the fifth member of the band. Given an instrument to learn, Julia didn’t feel all too lonely as the new four loud friends of hers explained all of them had learned the instruments over the past few months to create this band, more than welcoming her.

And like that, 4 Pieces was changed into 5 Pieces, a name they used among themselves, but that soon would be heard all around the world.

### **2008: Audition, [Moon Child] & Antis**

At the start of 2008, during 5 Pieces’ 9th grade in school, the application for an audition came out. The audition was created by one of South Korea’s top record labels called SM Entertainment, and they would allow foreigners to participate in winning a music contract in hope to bring in something new to the music industry of K-Pop, and SM Entertainment was also the home of many idols for 5 Pieces: The friends decided without hesitation to make a video of their band and send it in, thinking they wouldn’t get in but at least they would show their passion for their idols’ record label that their music has reached Sweden.

A few weeks later they received the acceptation for the audition – the next round would take place in Seoul, South Korea. It was a tough decision for 5 Pieces to decide whether to go or not because by next semester they would all begin high school so the time of the audition was at the same time as finals and high school applications. But with a lot of yes or no, the answer became a big YES. 5 Pieces went to Seoul and took part of the *SM Live International Audition 2008*, an audition that would change their lives completely.

What they thought would be one performance and get home in time for finals became a few months of auditioning as this program was aired on Korean television as an *Idol* audition. The audition consisted of a lot of different talents, and among the talents, 5 Pieces was far from the best ones. As a band Maria took the vocals, as a young girl who only sang rock and never had taken lessons along with her friends that had been self-taught with their instruments a year before, this band did not seem to have a good start at the audition. They passed each week though, surprising a lot of people but there was something with these 15 year old friends that caught the attention of judges. 5 Pieces had done their first audition shaky and nervous, they hadn’t performed that well, but they looked to have fun.

The first few weeks of audition went shaky for 5 Pieces. In one round they stood there as one of the two groups that would go pack their bags and go home. The judges then asked 5 Pieces a question they hadn’t considered before; “If you leave your instruments and become a girl-group, you can stay, if you can’t, we will send you home. Can you do become a girl-group?”

A week later, 5 Pieces took on the stage as a girl-group, performing Christina Aguilera’s [Can’t Hold Us Down] that still today is one of their most outstanding performances. It was the first time all five members sang on stage and though they were far from being good singers they pulled off a charismatic and fun performance where they had the live audience get up on their feet and move their hands along to the beat. 5 Pieces were outstanding! They didn’t have the voices or the perfect looks but they had the raw talent to entertain an audience, and that is what took them to the final of the audition program.

Something that impressed the viewers of the program was the constant improvement that 5 Pieces made. Within a few weeks they had gone from a rock band covered in black clothes and makeup to a vocal group that took on the stage in matching outfits and dancing routines.

After winning a contract with SM Entertainment it took less than three months for 5 Pieces’ debut single to be released: November 7, 2008, the first single [Moon Child] came out. After ending the audition with such brilliantly the expectations for 5 Pieces’ debut was big and a lot of people said their first single flopped, saying it was too rushed and that 5 Pieces couldn’t even promote themselves correctly because of the lack of language skills. Not just did the debut single fail to impress listeners as hoped, 5 Pieces had to face a lot of hate for the simple fact that they were not Koreans. They had a lot of support from other idols but those idols’ fans did not seem to like 5 Pieces at all. Fans of DBSK went to the extreme a few times by throwing things on stage when 5 Pieces was going to perform, shouting things and stopping live music programs just to not let 5 Pieces perform. This was as soon as 5 Pieces debuted; they were unable to perform a lot of times because of the audience’s response to them and while doing interviews and variety shows the girl-group seemed to make a lot of mistakes all from sounding rude to not understanding questions and conversations at all.

The promotion was cut off short and it didn’t take long until people spread rumours that 5 Pieces had disbanded and was trying to end their contract with SM Entertainment to go back to Sweden.

5 Pieces’ image at that time was not good. They were seen as rude and they weren’t allowed to attend events because of their bad reputation and for being foreigners, on top of that they had a lot of antis spreading rumours about them where they even brought in another idol to say 5 Pieces had ignored this person and badmouthed the idol who was both older and a senior in the industry. The idol in the rumour commented that he had met 5 Pieces once and was never treated badly, wishing people to stop these rumours.

### **2009: [Once Upon A Time]**

The beginning of 2009 was an endless of bad rumours and antis badmouthing 5 Pieces to the extreme that even SM Entertainment came out with a statement to address the rumours. The reason 5 Pieces came off as rude was their lack of understanding the Korean language and from bad editing on TV they would seem to not care about this for the viewers.

In April 2009, SM Entertainment announced 5 Pieces’ comeback – a full-length album. It was a challenge to come out with an album after the flop of their debut single, but SM Entertainment commented to media that 5 Pieces was ready to show the reason they won the audition a year earlier.

The first album [Once Upon A Time] came out on April 24 after that several of teasers had been released, and the album received a lot of positive reviews and their songs started to be played on the radios. But it was still difficult for 5 Pieces to promote themselves as their image made people turn them down. They made a few appearances together when the album first came out, and it did not take long for their schedule to fill out as viewers and listeners heard the improvement in their Korean.

A popular comedian said in an interview that 5 Pieces was the most misunderstood group at the moment, because they have never been rude, people are missing the sight of the apologetic 5 Pieces every time they have made mistakes. The comment about 5 Pieces changed a lot, but what matter the most was the view of 5 Pieces as they attended events and showed their politeness in person. Not just towards other idols but towards their fans.

In an interview for the album, Carolina commented “our fans are the most precious to us, they believe in us, so we have to live up to that belief”.

And they did: on May 17, 5 Pieces’ song [Once Upon A Time] won on a music program in South Korea. It was their first time winning a price and since the show Inkigayo is only the place where popular songs receive a price, it was a big moment of celebration for 5 Pieces where they cried as they thanked their fans.

The album did a lot better than expected and turned 5 Pieces’ image around to a more positive one, though they still came off as a tough girl-group that you should keep a little distance from.

Though the album came out as a success, when promotions ended the five members went back to Sweden to continue their studies. While working in Korea they had studied over the internet, but once in a while they would go back to Sweden when needed.

### **2010: Solo, [Original], *Life of Pieces* & Accident**

In the start of 2010, 5 Pieces came out with their very first sub-group – 5 Pieces’ Trio – that was a ballad trio consisted of Maria, Carolina and Julia. It was a side project while Hannah was making her career as an actress in Japan with the successful drama Fist of Victory and Emelia was preparing for her solo single [Strong] that came out on March 4. With some solo promotions it seemed that 5 Pieces could do surprisingly well outside the group, but what to come would be even greater.

After another trip to Sweden, 5 Pieces prepared to release their first mini-album the summer of 2010. It was a year after their album release and people still had doubts whether 5 Pieces was a promising group or not.

Along with the teasers for the comeback titled [Original], MTV announced the reality show of 5 Pieces to begin airing – *Life of Pieces*.

2010 is considered the breakpoint for 5 Pieces, it became the year when they did everything and they did everything with success. Sub-groups and solo activities, they did acting and Carolina even helped out writing songs for their mini-album – and they were good at all of it!

[Original] came out on June 11 and right away all the songs on the mini-album hit the music charts in South Korea, proving there were no longer any doubts left in listeners that 5 Pieces in indeed a successful group. [Original] was strong and powerful like their previous songs but it had this addicting sound and choreography that made fans and viewers want to come along and shout ‘we are original!’ At the same time as [Original] was becoming the most popular song of the summer, the reality show Life of Pieces showed an honest and fun side of 5 Pieces that people had forgotten about from their audition tapes. 5 Pieces showed a lot of entertainment on their reality show just by being themselves and it was no question that a second season would be made.

Continuing with their popularity streak, Hannah made an eye-catching solo debut with her single [Burning], showing a new side from being the innocent member of the group to be the sexy girl. She was the first member of 5 Pieces to receive a price for a solo project, winning first place on the music program Music Bank.

#### **Accident**

5 Pieces seemed to have a great 2010. Their popularity was rising and they were becoming one of the top celebrities in the K-Pop industry, when fall came with darker happenings. Hannah had made her solo debut and just won first place on Music Bank when media started to say that 5 Pieces had been in a car-accident. Maria, Hannah and Julia were in the van when their female-manager had lost control of the van in the rainy weather and slippery road. The van tumbled down from the road and landed upside down, causing traffic to stop. Due to the bad weather and the traffic it took hours before they arrived at the hospital.

Both Maria and Julia got away with minor injuries, which were told to the media pretty quickly, while the condition of Hannah was more of a question-mark. In the end fans were told Hannah was in a coma, idols were using twitter to show their support for Hannah to be well and the other members received a lot of love from fans and friends to keep their hopes up. Emelia broke the heart of fans when writing on twitter that it is the worst week of her life.

Hannah was in a coma for almost two weeks; when waking up she has later revealed that she was unable to move her body and the doctors said she might not be able to ever stand on the stage again. Keeping the hope up, Hannah worked hard to be able to be on the stage again and by New Year she attended the music festivals with 5 Pieces. It was their first time attending the yearly music festivals to end the year and though she could not perform she attended the show making both 5 Pieces and fans happy.

### **2011: [I Love You] & Artist of the Year**

5 Pieces went back to Sweden in the first half of 2011 to do finals and graduate from high school. With the lack of communication it seemed like fans in Asia got nervous when June came, saying 5 Pieces has disbanded because even with events planned for all the other SM TOWN artists for that month, 5 Pieces would not attend and it just seemed like 5 Pieces would continue studying after graduation. SM Entertainment explained that 5 Pieces could not attend the events that month because their graduation was the same week, and a few days later 5 Pieces announced their return to Korea – pleasing media and fans all at once.

The second season of their reality show *Life of Pieces* was being filmed during the summer as 5 Pieces was preparing for their 2nd full-length album and started to air in late July, just in time for their comeback.

August 1st, the second album [I Love You] was released with the opposite concept from how citizens had seen 5 Pieces before. With a cute and bubbly concept, 5 Pieces surely shocked their fans and viewers, but this song was strongly welcomed and gave them a lot of recognition with a new nickname: Chameleon. A group that could do a various set of concepts without problems: that was 5 Pieces. In the middle of promotions, SM Entertainment announced that 5 Pieces would continue promoting as four members, as it turned out Hannah was not allowed to promote with them for the repackage album [One and Only] that came out October 25th. SM Entertainment explained that she was still recovering from the car-accident a year ago and needed a few weeks to rest after the hectic schedule with their album; fans worried and got scared by the words, but soon Hannah came back to join 5 Pieces after a few weeks and she showed to be of great health after getting some rest.

During 2011 and 2012, Julia was part of the virtual program *We Got Married* in Korea pretending to be the “wife” of ZE:A’s Kevin. She got more recognition from the show as people got to see more of her personality.

All members of 5 Pieces also got their own variety show called *Best of 5! Pieces* where they invited other idols and challenged them in a variety of fun games: It was such a popular show that a season 2 came out in early 2012.

At *Mnet Asian Music Awards* in 2011, they received their biggest award so far for [I Love You], which was the **Artist of the Year** **Award**. In 2011, 5 Pieces became the most successful girl-group, competing alongside Girls’ Generation.

### **2012: Solo Activities, MOON CHILD & [Black & White]**

2012 is often looked back on as the year when 5 Pieces stood out with solo activities, but if you asked 5 Pieces what they remember the most from 2012, it would be their concert. In January 2012, 5 Pieces started their first concert tour “MOON CHILD”, travelling around Asia and marking their fandom all over the continent as well as in Europe.

For the first half of 2012, the members did some impressive solo acts that are still talked about among their fans. Emelia took the start by releasing a mini album in Japan, her promotions were popular and she toured the country on her own, stating for media the strength of 5 Pieces’ popularity and her own growing fame. Emelia’s activities in Japan continued with her very first acting as a supportive role in the Japanese drama *To Be Number One*, surprising once again with 5 Pieces’ talents. Meanwhile in Korea, Hannah was commented to be the busiest member of 5 Pieces in 2012 with her solo activities, as she put her foot everywhere with the acting in the Korean teen drama *Midnight Dream*, she published her very first book *Joe – Under Seoul’s Streets* and released the tear-bringing ballad [I CRY] followed by the mini album [Butterfly] at the start of the summer. Another member made her solo debut at the start of the summer; Maria’s outstanding image was well-spoken of in 2012 when she released the mini album [Me, Myself & I].

If the first half of the year was solo activities, then the second half was [Black & White]. On October 17 the girl-group released their 3rd Korean album [Black & White], making a so-called “all-kill” with their new songs. The title was released internationally on November 6 in 5 Pieces’ second international single.

### **2013: [Daze], Japan & [Princess]**

Following the all-kill promotions of their [Black & White] album, 5 Pieces started 2013 with the release of a repackage album named [WHO-I AM] and their third international single containing their global hit song [Daze]. 5 Pieces had debuted with a strong image and while trying different concepts over the years, [Black & White] reached a global interest for its original image of the girl-group, and [Daze] was no different. [Daze] was popular all around the world and created a daze for 5 Pieces, creating a solid ground for 5 Pieces’ future international activities and the song hit the charts and the music video was among the most viewed videos on YouTube for the year. 5 Pieces did few performances of the song, yet it was spoken greatly of throughout the whole year and is still viewed as the international breakthrough for the girl-group.

For the rest of the year 5 Pieces was active like crazy in Japan. At the start of the year they released their third Japanese singles [Sleeper], which was officially the first Japanese song from the group as their previous two singles were just translated versions of their Korean hits, and following close behind was their first Japanese album [Run Out] that became 5 Pieces’ second most viewed music video of the year. The album was promoted with TV appearances, interviews and an Arena Tour around Japan. The album sell extremely well and though the song was in Japanese it didn’t seem to be such a bad follower from [Daze]; the popularity of 5 Pieces was not contained for their Japanese promotions, even having international journalists invading their Japan Arena Tour that summer.

5 Pieces’ time in Japan was filled with promotions and work for 2013 as the album and tour BAD GIRLS wasn’t all the ladies were doing; they had more music coming out and took part in an acting project with 5 Pieces as bad students in the mini-drama *Run Out* that was more to show their liking to the culture of Japanese dramas and to invite more fans to their fan-base. It worked as the DVD released shortly after was sold out and came out high on the drama charts. The mini-drama showed that not all members of 5 Pieces were suited for acting, but the drama held a meaning and it received a lot of compliments for the way each member of 5 Pieces came out individually. The drama also spoke out about bullying and included 5 Pieces as a strong supporter to stop bullying; the girl-group received tons of followers for the mini-drama.

With 5 Pieces’ promotions going well in Japan, the next wave of solo activities started off at the summer when Julia made her solo debut with the summer track [I’m Sleepy] that she promoted together with SNSD’s Yuri. As the fourth member to release her own song, Julia did very well showing her own colour like the members before her had done. Emelia came out with another single in Japan in August while the group was promoting their mini-drama, but she did little promotions of the single; in October she made a single comeback in Korea as well with the song [Missing]. Before Emelia made her solo comeback in Korea, Maria became the first member of 5 Pieces to release her own full-length solo album.

[Princess] was released on September 19 and became Maria’s trademark as her songs were said to be perfect to her image. The album did well on the charts and the world was watching when Justin Timberlake surprisingly commented a few weeks later that he would love to collaborate with Maria. Maria responded in an interview about his request and she said she would gladly do it, both as a duet but also add the other members of 5 Pieces to the collaboration – the collaboration has not yet happened. Along to the album, Maria did a successful solo concert in three countries.

5 Pieces started their second tour BLACK & WHITE based on their third Korean album in July 2013 and continued to the start of 2014, visiting 13 cities in Asia, Europe and America.

### **2014: [Girls Power], *A Good Sister*, [Lazy Love Song]**

2014 became the year when 5 Pieces proved themselves to be ladies and feminists. As soon as the year started they released their next Korean single called [I Want a Man], a new concept where 5 Pieces went back in time: they became young women and seemed more mature than ever before. The single was a hit, the new and surprising concept was loved and adored and 5 Pieces’ agency in Korea soon revealed that it was a pre-single for the girl-group’s up-coming fourth Korean album.

Along with the new single it was said that 5 Pieces was preparing for a new reality show. SBS revealed they were shooting a reality show called A Good Sister that would focus on the family love between the members of 5 Pieces and their “Korean little brother” Kim Kyungho – a young boy who they met in 2010 and over the years he has gotten known as 5 Pieces’ little brother. Without blood connecting them as family, the program started airing in February and like most things that 5 Pieces do, it became a hit. 5 Pieces has always been loved for their entertaining personality and their previous programs have been very popular, and though a lot of people had doubts of the whole “acting to be a family”, the concept seemed to be loved once a few episodes had aired. The members of 5 Pieces got to reveal a new side of themselves, as sisters and family where they took care of each other and they pulled pranks on each other while still having an educational program for the viewers where they learned more about the way foreigners view South Korea, how they take care of their younger siblings and the whole sibling concept was extremely welcomed. After the program finished airing there were a lot of family viewers that requested a second season, which has been rumoured to come out in 2015.

In February it came out more details about 5 Pieces’ album, followed in March as 5 Pieces were seen in Europe filming the new music video. In April the music video for the incredible sexy and feministic song [Girls Power] was pre-released ahead of the album. It was said to be a teaser of what the album would consist off. The music video brought in a million of views within a day, it hit new records and 5 Pieces were once again proving their popularity was indeed rising globally. More and more people were talking about them worldwide.

The album was scheduled to be released at the end of April, but the album was postponed to the end of May due to the tragic happening of the Sewol ferry sinking.

5 Pieces’ fourth full-length Korean album [Girls Power] was released on May 27 and they impressed with their sexy concept standing up for Girls Power with their two title tracks ([Girls Power] and [POWER UP]) as both songs hit the top of the charts – worldwide – as soon as the album was released, not to say the rest of the songs on the album were far behind. The whole album became a world sensation and SM Entertainment revealed just a few days later that 5 Pieces received love-calls from all around the world. Sadly for international fans, 5 Pieces promised to promote only in Korea, as a gift for the Korean fans who had stood up for them through four albums. Three of the members had participated in writing songs for the album along with some of the best producers in the industry.

The album received a lot of different attentions though as the song [Girls Power] seemed to give the wrong expression for many, as it didn’t seem to be about confidence and respect but more about selling your body. 5 Pieces didn’t waver and explained very well in interviews what the song and concept was all about, proving it was all about girls’ power.

The ladies of 5 Pieces had never been as beautiful and attractive as now, singing about confidence and the female body, but their charisma was mostly shown in the repackage album in August for the song [You Thought Wrong Of Me]. Carolina wrote the lyrics and surprised people with the intense lyrics. This song too received a lot of critic for its meaning, but still hit high on the charts.

5 Pieces’ started their third tour GIRLS POWER that August, taking on the famous Tokyo Dome for the first time to kick off the tour and though the tour was receiving requests from the world’s all sides, it remained as an Asia Tour. In the middle of touring, Melissa Allen (producer of [Daze] and more) revealed that she is working on new material with 5 Pieces and that fans can expect international activities for 2015.

At the start of September 2014, SM Entertainment announced the solo debut of the fifth and last member of 5 Pieces. Carolina had worked on her own music, writing and producing, and released her solo mini-album [Lazy Love Song] on September 29 after releasing two music videos that showed her unique style and impressive song making skills. Her songs became a sensation, a popular concept at the karaoke and she proved that all five members of 5 Pieces could be successful outside the group as well.

Just as Carolina was making her solo debut, headlines were rising saying that 5 Pieces’ Hannah had been sent to the hospital and a few weeks later Maria was rumoured to be leaving the group. Maria turned down the rumours with a picture of herself with her family, announcing she is spending time with her family and will return soon, and as she said; a few days later she attended 5 Pieces’ concert in Asia.

SM Entertainment explained after Hannah’s headlines that she had been sent to the hospital for an old injury in her leg, a week later she performed at SM Town’s concert in Tokyo and fans noticed there was nothing wrong with her leg. Weeks after this, fans pointed out that the same night Hannah had been sent to the hospital, the police had noted that a foreign young woman had come in with a seizure they had written was an accidental overdose given from taking the wrong medication. SM Entertainment’s representatives never commented on the overdose and nothing has been said other than the fans speculating from the police report that it could’ve been Hannah who has been known to take painkillers since the car-accident in 2010. But as said, no one has confirmed it and no need to bring it up as Hannah seemed to be in good health again.

5 Pieces ended their huge success of the fourth Korean album promotions and Asian tour with a Christmas single at the end of November called [The Falling Snow]. A sweet Christmas ballad promoted on music programs and with a Christmas concert with all their latest hits included. On the stage for the Christmas concert the girl-group confessed that their promotions would go worldwide for 2015, but promising their fans they will see each other soon again; if not through a comeback they could see each other through events and other promotions.

For Christmas is turned out that 5 Pieces had invited their families to Korea to celebrate the holiday there. All members updated differently with pictures or comments over the holiday that they were enjoying some free time over Christmas with their family.

### **2015: [NEW ME] & [Pieces’ Invasion]**

Hannah started the New Year with solo promotions by releasing a pre-single called [Bittersweet] featuring Carolina – the duo had written and composed the song themselves. Along with the single it was revealed that Hannah would be the second member to release her own full-length solo album, and the album [New Me] was released at the start of February along with the start of Hannah’s solo concert. The album stood out a lot for its sexy and personal concept where Hannah had helped out one way or another for every song and concept on her album, writing songs and giving her opinions.

Following their final promotions of the Christmas single at the start of 2015 the Korean broadcast channel SBS announced a second season of last year’s hit success *A Good Sister*. The reality show started airing the first of February, the same day Hannah had her concert comeback in Busan. *A Good Sister* aired every Sunday at 16:55 with 30 episodes to the end in August. Hannah and Kyungho released a collaboration album with SBS with the concept of children rhymes to promote alongside the reality show; the album was named [Little Star].

On April 1, 2015, 5 Pieces very much awaited international album [Pieces’ Invasion] was globally released. The title track topped the charts in over 14 countries and the girl-group did a promotional tour in Europe and the US.

5 Pieces’ 2nd Japanese album [labyrinth] was released on June 24, and it was promoted with an arena tour under the same name as the album. 5 Pieces travelled through six cities with 14 concerts during June to August with a lot of promotions in Japan and topping charts during the whole time, showing their popularity in the country. Small incidents occurred during the tour, such as Emelia fainted on stage during the last days in Saitama and too many falls without injuries, but the tour ended as a huge success.

In the middle of their summer promotions in Japan, Hannah attended a concert in Korea that ended with a bad fall. An anti-fan had spread glass over the stage, so when Hannah and her dancers walked over they noticed the stage was slippery until Hannah fell. She injured her hands and had to keep bandage on for several weeks. SM Entertainment took the matter to court, to let the anti face the charges of injuring a member of 5 Pieces. While the news got mixed reactions it seemed Hannah got upset as she wrote on her Twitter account that the person who threw glass on the stage of the purpose to hurt her was reckless as anyone on the stage could’ve gotten hurt. The post was deleted shortly after being uploaded, but it had already been spotted. In September, 2015, the anti-fan received six months voluntary work from court.

Hannah got engaged with her boyfriend SHINee’s Jonghyun on September 5, 2015.

5 Pieces’ started their fourth tour WORLD INVASION on October 3, 2015, in Seoul, South Korea and the tour will visit five continents under a year from the start. It is 5 Pieces biggest world tour so far and already at the opening weekend the world is already waiting impatiently for the tour to reach their country.

In November the girl-group released their 11th Japanese single and in December it was followed with their 12th Japanese single and a winter concert that reached three cities around the Christmas weeks.

Hannah attended *Mnet Asian Music Awards* in December, 2015, where she performed and received two awards for her album [NEW ME], including Artist of the Year – she is the first solo artist to receive the award, proving her global popularity as a solo artist.

Emelia made her solo comeback as EM with the single project [Silence Our Lips] in three different languages and with each a different artist featuring. Her creativity in the lyrics, the features and music videos were impressed all around Asia. Rumours are spreading, saying Emelia is preparing more solo releases in 2016 as she has been seen hanging out with different producers.

The last few days of 2015, it was revealed that Emelia is dating the Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård. They met in Los Angeles back in September and he has been seen visiting 5 Pieces’ concerts.

5 Pieces were invited to perform at the traditional Swedish New Year’s program, performing for their home country and celebrating the New Year in Sweden.

### **2016: Sub-units, Marriage & SOLDIER**

5 Pieces’ tour WORLD INVASION received global attention as it visited Europe, Australia and other places around the world during the end of 2015 and most of 2016. Their tour ended at the start of September, 2016. The girl-group made a single-comeback in Korea for February with the song [Mr Handsome], followed by an international single [Change Your Life] and Japanese single [Eternity]. Emelia also said in an interview that she is working hard preparing for her up-coming solo activities.

On April 27, 2016, Hannah married SHINee’s Jonghyun after around five or six years of dating. They became the first married idol couple and Hannah also became the first active female idol to get married. Though rumours spread saying Hannah won’t promote anymore with 5 Pieces due to this marriage, only a week later she attended 5 Pieces’ concerts in North America. 5 Pieces have said they plan on continue working together for a long time.

Maria lent her voice to the drama *Descendants of the Sun* for the ballad [How Can I Love You] in April and again in June sang [Lean On Me] to *Lucky Romance*, proving again how soothing her voice is. Maria, Carolina and Julia returned to the music scene as the sub-unit 5 Pieces’ Trio (5P-Trio) in July with the colourful mini-album [Macaron]. They received awards for the musical-inspired music video. Besides from the trio, Hannah joined a project group called Musketeers together with SHINee’s Taemin, EXO’s Kai and soloist ANA.N. the project group focuses on dance pop as they are some of the best dancers under SM Entertainment, and their close friendship got a focus for their promotions.

Emelia released her 5th single [Angel] under her solo stage name EM featuring Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and SHINee’s Key. The song topped the charts without any promotions and it was just the start of her year. During summer, Emelia released another single. This time it was with rapper Tiger JK for the song [BA RAM BA BAM] that got popular for its fun yet hip choreography and melody, letting both young and old follow the rhythm. Emelia released her first solo album [Soldier] on October 19, an album filled with collaborations, personal stories and a variety of sound. It proved Emelia’s charismatic rap and deep voice singing.

5 Pieces announced in August, 2016, that they are going on a break after finishing their tour. The reason for the break is for the members to focus on their individual activities, where Carolina went to Sweden for an art project and for Emelia to do her album promotions. Maria said “we have worked long and hard without a break so we want to take this opportunity to really miss the stage and our fans, and to melt all these things we have experienced with this tour”.

Though being on a break, fans can catch up with the members on social media and through the YouTube channel *its5pieces*, which is updated every Friday. Maria’s Car Karaoke is a hit segment of the channel

### **2017: Movie, Rumors, Comeback & Suicide Attempt**

5 Pieces’ tour WORLD INVASION received global attention as it visited Europe, Australia and other places around the world. Their movie *WORLD INVASION the Movie* came in theatres at the first half of 2017 and by summer is released on DVD in several countries around the world. 5 Pieces won Favourite Music Group at Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards!

Following Emelia’s solo promotions of [Soldier] in Korea for 2016, Emelia released a Japanese version of the album on February 15. Her SOLDIER tour spread out in eight cities in Korea, China and Japan during February to April. Her popularity is said to have bloomed with her [Soldier] promotions. She is performing and hosting KCON in Mexico and New York.

Hannah collaborated with world-famous producer Max Martin for SMSTATION’s song [Just Like Fire], which has become a hit track for 2017. Hannah also made a comeback with the project group the Musketeers, which Hannah is the leader of. They released one single [I Did It For Love] in April and their first mini album [Energetic] in June. Later in November, Hannah attended American Music Awards and performed [Just Like Fire], which is the first time a member of 5 Pieces has performed on an American award show. After the performance that made headlines internationally and raised people’s interest in 5 Pieces, Hannah’s rise in followers on Instagram lead to her being the most-followed Kpop artist!

Julia made her first solo comeback in four years with the single [Shiny Me] that was written and produced by Carolina. It is named as the summer hit of 2017 and was released in June. She received award for her style and sound in Korea.

Ever since 5 Pieces announced their hiatus back in August 2016, rumors have been going around saying all kind of things. Rumors have been spreading wildly about the group splitting up, being on bad term with each other, arguing and again disbanding. Throughout the rumors, 5 Pieces and their agency SM Entertainment have repeatedly said that is not happening and that the members are just focusing on solo activities and their vacation. After 5 Pieces’ movie premiere at the start of April, Emelia and Maria had been seen hanging around in their hometown (in Sweden) having their long-awaited vacation. 5 Pieces’ comeback got delayed for unknown reason.

As 5 Pieces was said to be working on their comeback in the late summer, they surprised with the release of their 16th Japanese single [SIGNAL] at the end of August. 5 Pieces revealed during interviews at the time that the one year of hiatus felt long and they have missed the stage and working as 5 Pieces. Following the release of their 4th Japanese album [2 You], 5 Pieces met up with their fans for the Japan tour *To The Stars*, that visited five cities in October and November. Japanese media pointed out the tour to be 5 Pieces’ best so far. Shortly after, 5 Pieces announced their 17th Japanese single and their first J-Puzzle Fan-Club Event that would take place in December and followed after New Year’s in January.

A long-awaited but short comeback. 5 Pieces’ made a comeback in Korea with the single [Insane] at the end of October. The response varied because fans were disappointed of the one track-single while 5 Pieces’ had released a full-length album and gone on tour in Japan just before, but 5 Pieces’ reassured fans that 2018 will be all about promotions, asking Puzzle to look forward to it. Meanwhile, [Insane] got a lot of attention from fans because it was personally written by 5 Pieces as a message out to their fans. The song was explained to be about 5 Pieces’ members thinking they have gone insane, that they are in no control because Puzzle is calling their names. Fans took notice of it in the music video that portrays the mental patients hearing voices, which in fact is Puzzle calling them back to the stage. This even went on the news in South Korea, where they described the theory behind the song and music video and explained how Halloween was taken over by 5 Pieces’ comeback this year.

On December 18, 2017, a horror spread among Kpop fans as well as 5 Pieces. Hannah’s husband, SHINee’s Jonghyun, tried to commit suicide due to depression. The attempt took a heavy toll on all five members and Hannah skipped a few of 5 Pieces’ schedule in Japan while tending to her husband. According to sources, Hannah was the one who found her husband and got him to the hospital. SM Entertainment has asked media and fans to keep some distance and pray for Jonghyun’s health to improve. After the attempt, Jonghyun has kept a low profile but has been seen sticking close to his wife, even following her to Sweden over New Years.

[Pillow Fight] was released as a single at the end of November 2017, one Korean version and one international version. The song was written by Carolina and Emelia, they both explained the inspiration to write the song came from one of 5 Pieces’ movie nights where they talk for hours and eat fast food. The song reached TOP3 on the online charts in several countries and quickly became the most liked song on karaoke in South Korea.