Mamamoo (Korean: 마마무; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed and managed by RBW. The group is composed of four members: Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein, and Hwasa. Known for their strong live vocals, harmonies, and writing much of their material, they are recognized as one of the premier girl groups in K-pop. They are highly regarded in the industry for their talent and ability to cross multiple genres with their music; from retro, jazz, and R&B concepts in their early years to more contemporary hip-hop, as well as emotional ballads. Since their debut in 2014, they have been noted for challenging conventional beauty standards, breaking gender stereotypes, and conducting themselves in ways that most typical K-pop stars do not.
Mamamoo officially debuted on June 18, 2014, with their first extended play (EP) Hello, featuring the lead single "Mr. Ambiguous". Their debut was considered by critics as one of the best K-pop debuts of 2014. Mamamoo rose to domestic fame in 2015 with their single "Um Oh Ah Yeh", which became a sleeper hit and peaked at number three on the Gaon Digital Chart. Combined with their many appearances and victories on the music competition program Immortal Songs, this launched them into mainstream public recognition. Their popularity increased following the release of "You're the Best" from their debut studio album Melting (2016), which was a commercial success. In 2017, they made a splash on the international scene with their fifth EP, Purple. Its lead single "Yes I Am" earned them their first number one on the Billboard World Albums chart.
The quartet went on to achieve consecutive hits with the singles "Starry Night" (2018), "Egotistic" (2018), and "Gogobebe" (2019), from their "Four Seasons, Four Colors" project in which every member took turns in becoming the focus for each album. This culminated in their biggest international success to date, "Hip" from their second studio album Reality in Black (2019), becoming a number-one hit on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. Their twelfth EP, Mic On (2022), was supported by the My Con World Tour (2022-2023), their first global concert tour. Following a period of reduced activity, the group returned in 2026 with the single "4 Flowers" and the 4ward World Tour.
Mamamoo has received numerous accolades, most notably the Golden Disc Award for Best Group, the Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Vocal Group, multiple honors at the Seoul Music Awards, as well as the Gaon Chart Music Award for New Artist of the Year in their rookie year.
Contents
History
2014–2015: Formation, debut and rising popularity
The group's name "Mamamoo" is intended to symbolize a baby babbling for the first time. This is because they aim to make music that would be familiar to everyone around the world like the word "mama" that babies would commonly first learn and speak of, as well as the added meaning of approaching their listeners instinctively with their music.
Prior to their official debut, Mamamoo collaborated with several artists. Their first collaboration, titled "Don't Be Happy" with Bumkey was released on January 8, 2014. A second collaboration with K.Will titled "Peppermint Chocolate" featuring Wheesung was released on February 11, 2014. "Peppermint Chocolate" debuted at number 10 on the Gaon Digital Chart in its first week. On May 30, 2014, Mamamoo released a collaboration single called "HeeHeeHaHeHo" with rap duo Geeks.
The group made their official debut on June 18, 2014, with the lead single "Mr. Ambiguous" from their first extended play (EP) Hello. The music video for "Mr. Ambiguous" contained cameo appearances from many well-known K-pop industry figures such as CNBLUE's Jonghyun, Baek Ji-young, Wheesung, Jung Joon-young, Bumkey, K.Will, and Rhymer of Brand New Music. The album contained three previously released collaborations and four new songs. The group made their first live appearance on the June 19 episode of M Countdown. In July 2014, Mamamoo released their first original soundtrack contribution titled "Love Lane" for the Korean drama Marriage, Not Dating.
On November 21, 2014, Mamamoo released their second EP Piano Man with the title track of the same name. The title song peaked at 41 on the Gaon Digital Chart. By the end of 2014, Mamamoo ranked tenth highest among idol girl groups for digital sales, 19th in album sales, and 11th in overall sales according to Gaon's year-end rankings. On January 10, 2015, Mamamoo performed a rendition of Joo Hyun-mi's "Wait a Minute" at the singing show Immortal Songs 2, reaching the final round before losing to Kim Kyung-ho.
On April 2, 2015, Mamamoo released "Ahh Oop!", the first single of their third EP titled Pink Funky. "Ahh Oop!" marks the group's second collaboration with label mate Esna, after she was featured in "Gentleman" on their EP Piano Man. On June 13, 2015, the group traveled to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to perform at an event sponsored by the South Korean Embassy with Crayon Pop and K-Much. The event was a commemorative concert held in honor of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Mongolia.
2016–2017: Breakthrough and subsequent EPs
On January 10, 2016, RBW announced Mamamoo's first solo concert since their debut in 2014. The concert, titled 2016 Mamamoo Concert-Moosical, was held on August 13–14, 2016, at the Olympic Hall in Seoul. 7,000 tickets for the concert were sold out in one minute.
On January 26, 2016, Mamamoo pre-released an R&B ballad, "I Miss You", from their first full-length album Melting. On February 12, 2016, another track, "1cm/Taller than You" was pre-released with a music video. The full album was released on February 26, 2016, debuting at number 3 on the Gaon Chart. The title track "You're the Best (넌 is 뭔들)" also debuted at number three and peaked at number one the following week, becoming their first number-one single. The song was a commercial success and charted on at least eight major music sites upon release.
On March 6, 2016, they received their first music show win with the song "You're the Best" on Inkigayo, followed by wins on Music Bank, M Countdown, and other music shows. They received eight wins in total for the single. On March 16, 2016, Mamamoo performed in Austin, Texas at South By Southwest's K-Pop Night Out.
On August 31, 2016, Mamamoo released the singles "Angel" and "Dab Dab" as subgroups consisting of vocalists (Solar and Wheein) and rappers (Moonbyul and Hwasa) respectively. On September 21, 2016, Mamamoo released their follow-up digital single "New York" and accompanying music video. After wrapping up promotions for "New York", RBW announced that the group would make their comeback on November 7 with their fourth EP Memory and the lead single "Décalcomanie". Shortly afterwards, Mamamoo participated in several year-end award shows, while also featuring in the OST titled "Love" for the TV show Goblin.
On January 19, 2017, Mamamoo announced their second solo concert titled 2017 Mamamoo Concert Moosical: Curtain Call, which was held on March 3–5, 2017 in Seoul and August 19–20, 2017 in Busan at KBS Busan Hall. Following the first show of their March 2017 concert in Seoul, Mamamoo received criticism for performing in blackface when, as part of the concert, they played a video containing the members impersonating Bruno Mars while wearing darker makeup, meant to recreate a snippet of the music video for Mars' "Uptown Funk" (2014). The clip was cut from following concert dates and multiple apologies were promptly issued, including one directly from the members, stating that they were "extremely ignorant of blackface and did not understand the implications of our actions. We will be taking time to understand more about our international fans to ensure this never happens again."
2018–2019: Widespread recognition, Japanese debut and member solo debuts
On January 4, 2018, Mamamoo released a single called "Paint Me" as a pre-release for their upcoming project series "Four Seasons, Four Colors". The goal of the series is to showcase four mini albums, each combining one color and a matching member's characteristic for each season. The group stated that they wanted to show their depth as artists and present a more mature style with the project.
Mamamoo started off the "Four Seasons, Four Colors" project with the release of their sixth EP, Yellow Flower, on March 7. Yellow Flower debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart, becoming their first number-one album since their 2014 debut. The Latin-inspired and dance-pop song "Starry Night" was released alongside the album, with an accompanying music video. "Starry Night" debuted and peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart, earning 44.7 million Gaon Index points in its debut week. It also ranked at number six on the mid-year and 13 on the year-end editions of the Gaon Digital Chart. The song earned the group their first music recording certification since the Gaon Music Chart and Korea Music & Content Association (KMCA) introduced certifications in April 2018; in November 2018, it was certified platinum for 100 million streams, and July 2019, it was certified platinum for 2.5 million paid digital downloads.
On July 1, Mamamoo released the single "Rainy Season" as the pre-release single from their upcoming album. "Rainy Season" peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart, and was nominated for Best Female Vocal Performance at the 2018 Genie Music Awards. On July 16, the group released their seventh EP, Red Moon, as the second installment in the "Four Seasons, Four Colors" series. The EP debuted and peaked at number three on the Gaon Album Chart, with 38,000 copies sold in July 2018. The EP debuted at number four on the Billboard World Albums with 1,000 copies sold, marking their best U.S. sales week, and gave the group their first-ever appearance on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart, entering the chart at number 25. The Latin-pop lead single "Egotistic", released alongside the EP, peaked at number four on the Gaon Digital Chart and the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales chart, earning the group their fifth top-ten entry on the latter chart.
On August 18–19, Mamamoo held their third headlining concert, titled "2018 Mamamoo Concert 4Seasons S/S", at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul. Tickets for the concert were sold out within two minutes of being available for sale.
2020: Focus on members' solo activities and Travel
In January 2020, Kim Do-hoon, the CEO and executive producer of Mamamoo's record label RBW, stated that the members would begin to work more on solo projects in 2020. Moonbyul became the first member to release a solo project that year, releasing her debut EP Dark Side of the Moon on February 14. On April 23, Solar released her debut single "Spit It Out" and its accompanying single album. Following the single's debut at number 12 (and subsequent peak at number six), Mamamoo became the second Korean group in which every member had a solo song chart on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart.
Mamamoo released a promotional single, "Wanna Be Myself," on September 10. The "nostalgic" and "minimalist" music video was released in conjunction with the song itself and gained 3.8 million views in its first 24 hours of being released. The single peaked at number 93 on the Gaon Digital Chart and at number 11 on the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales chart.
In October 2020, Mamamoo announced their tenth EP would be released in November. "Dingga" (딩가딩가), the first single from the EP, was pre-released on October 20. The disco-influenced pop song, characterized by themes of isolation and longing in the COVID-19 pandemic, was described by Teen Vogue as a "fun, chill" dance track accompanied by a "striking, retro-inspired music video to match." Led by a "simply melody line and funky vibes," the single earned top ten positions in South Korea and on the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales chart, and further charted in Singapore and Japan. The full EP, titled Travel, and its second single, "Aya", were released on November 3. Despite mixed reviews for its lack of cohesion, Travel peaked at number two on the Gaon Album Chart. The EP broke the group's personal sales records, selling a reported 100,000 copies in its first day and over 128,000 copies in its first week,and additionally topped iTunes charts in 29 countries. The second single from Travel, "Aya", was successful on streaming and peaked within the top 40 of the Gaon Digital Chart.
2021–2023: Member contract renewals, WAW, Mamamoo+, Mic On, and first world tour
On January 22, 2021, RBW announced that Solar and Moonbyul had renewed their contracts with the agency, while Wheein and Hwasa were still discussing contract renewals. On March 30, Hwasa officially renewed her contract with RBW, with Wheein's contract remaining under discussion. RBW also confirmed that Mamamoo would stay together and was not planning to disband. On May 1, Mamamoo held a global virtual concert on live-streaming platform LIVENow, becoming the first South Korean music act to hold a concert on the platform.
Their eleventh EP, WAW, was released on June 2, along with the lead single "Where Are We Now". WAW topped iTunes albums charts in 21 countries worldwide, and it sold over 40,000 domestic copies in its first day of release, according to the Hanteo chart.
On June 11, RBW announced that Wheein would be leaving the company, and that she had chosen not to renew her solo contract with the agency. However, she signed a second contract extension to remain as a member of Mamamoo until at least December 2023. Thus, RBW remains responsible for her activities in the group but is no longer involved in her solo endeavors. On August 31, it was revealed that Wheein signed an exclusive solo contract with the agency THE L1VE.
A compilation album, titled I Say Mamamoo: The Best, was released alongside the lead single "Mumumumuch" on September 15. The album peaked at number eight on the Gaon Album Chart. On March 23, 2022, Mamamoo released the Japanese edition of The Best.
In August 2022, it was announced that members Solar and Moonbyul would be forming the group's first official subunit, Mamamoo+, with an expected album release at the end of the month. The duo's debut single "Better", featuring rapper Big Naughty, was released on August 30. After six months, in March 2023, they released the single album Act 1, Scene 1, which includes the songs "GGBB" and "LLL", and on March 21 they released "Chico Malo" (나쁜놈), which mixes rap and traditional Korean instruments like gayageum.
On October 11, 2022, Mamamoo released their twelfth EP titled Mic On and the lead single "Illella". To support the release, the group embarked on their first world tour, the My Con World Tour, starting on November 18 with three shows in Seoul. This was followed by the Asian leg of the tour with shows in Chiba, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila. The United States leg of the tour commenced on May 16, 2023, with concerts in New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, Nashville, Fort Worth, Chicago, Glendale, Oakland, and Los Angeles. From June 16-18, they held encore concerts back in Seoul to close the tour.
2024–present: Hiatus and return with 4ward
Following the release of Mic On and the conclusion of the tour, Mamamoo entered a hiatus while the members focused on their individual careers and side projects including Mamamoo+. As of February 25, 2024, the group is no longer listed under RBW's list of artists on their Korean website, despite being featured on a banner at the top of the web page, but still listed on RBW's Japanese website.
On June 26, 2024, Mamamoo uploaded a special video titled "10th Anniversary 'Mama No Plan'" (10주년 맞이 '마마無계획') on their YouTube channel to celebrate their 10th debut anniversary as a group.
On October 30, 2025, RBW confirmed to the media that Mamamoo was preparing for a full-group comeback, scheduled for June 2026, and that a world tour starting in Korea was also being planned. On December 31, 2025, RBW confirmed the group would release a full album in June 2026 and embark on a large-scale world tour.
On April 3, 2026, Mamamoo announced the start of their global project by releasing the poster for the 4ward World Tour through their official social media. The tour was confirmed to begin in Seoul on June 19, on their 12th debut anniversary. On May 11, RBW announced that Mamamoo would hold the first concerts of the 2026 world tour at the Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul from June 19 to 21. On May 21, Mamamoo announced that the special single "4ward" would be released on June 4, marking their first comeback in over three years.
Members
Adapted from their RBW website profile:
Solar (솔라)
Moonbyul (문별)
Wheein (휘인)
Hwasa (화사)
Tours and concerts
World tours
My Con World Tour (2022–2023)
4ward World Tour (2026)
Concert tours
Mamamoo Concert: 4Season S/S (2018)
Mamamoo 1st Concert Tour in Japan (2018)
Mamamoo Concert: 4Season F/W (2019)
Mamamoo 2nd Concert Tour in Japan: 4season Final (2019)
Concerts
Mamamoo Concert 'Moosical' (2016)
Mamamoo Concert 'Moosical: Curtain Call' (2017)
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Since their 2014 debut, Mamamoo has received five Mnet Asian Music Awards and Asia Artist Awards respectively, four Golden Disc Awards, Seoul Music Awards and The Fact Music Awards respectively. A total of 44 awards out of 161 nominations.