Le Sserafim ( ; ; stylized in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...

) is a South Korean

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

formed by

Source Music Diegetic music or source music is music in a drama (e.g., film or video game) that is part of the fictional setting and so, presumably, is heard by the characters. The term refers to diegesis, a style of storytelling. The opposite of source m ...

and

Hybe Corporation Hybe Co., Ltd. (, stylized as HYBE Corporation) is a South Korean multinational entertainment company established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk as Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production ...

. The group consists of five members:

Sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

, Kim Chae-won, Huh Yun-jin, Kazuha and Hong Eun-chae. Originally a sextet, Kim Ga-ram left the group on July 20, 2022, after the termination of her exclusive contract. Le Sserafim debuted on May 2, 2022, with the release of their first extended play, ''

Fearless Fearless or The Fearless may refer to: Psychology * Lack of fear * Courage or bravery Film, television and audio Film * ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi * ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...

.''

Name

The group's name, Le Sserafim, is an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of the phrase "I'm Fearless".

History

2011–2021: Pre-debut activities

made her acting debut in the movie ''Ano Hito Ano Hi'' in 2011. The same year, she joined the Japanese idol group

HKT48 HKT48 (read "H.K.T. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. HKT48 is named after the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of Fukuoka Prefecture, where Akimoto originally intended to base the group. The group currently performs at ...

as a first generation trainee. She was promoted to a full member of HKT48 Team H in 2012 and transferred to HKT48 Team KIV in 2014. After being with the group for 10 years, Sakura officially graduated on June 27, 2021. Sakura, Kim Chae-won and Huh Yun-jin participated in the reality competition series ''

Produce 48 ''Produce 48'' () was the third season of the South Korean reality competition series ''Produce 101''. It was a large-scale project in which the public "produces" a girl group by voting for members out of a pool of 96 contestants from South Kor ...

'' in 2018. Yunjin represented

Pledis Entertainment Pledis Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded by Han Sung-Soo in 2007. The label is home to actress Nana, Hwang Min-hyun, Baekho, and K-pop groups Seventeen and Fromis 9. Its name originates from the pleiades, a star cl ...

, while Chaewon represented

Woollim Entertainment Woollim Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2003 by Lee Jung-yeop. The label is home to artists such as Golden Child, Rocket Punch, Drippin, and Kwon Eun-bi. It has previously handled artists Epik High, Infinit ...

. After finishing in second and tenth place, respectively, Sakura and Chaewon were named to the final lineup of the show's project girl group

Iz*One Iz*One ( ; ko, 아이즈원, Aijeuwon; ja, アイズワン, Aizuwan; stylized as IZ*ONE) was a South Korean–Japanese girl group formed through the Mnet reality competition show ''Produce 48''. The group was composed of twelve members: Jang ...

, promoting as members until its disbandment on April 29, 2021. Yunjin finished in 26th place and was eliminated in episode 11. Prior to joining the group, Kazuha was a professional ballerina, and after passing an audition, she was personally scouted by Big Hit Music founder

Bang Si-hyuk Bang Si-hyuk (born August 9, 1972), known professionally as "Hitman" Bang (stylized as "hitman" bang), is a South Korean lyricist, composer, producer, and record executive. He is the founder of Big Hit Music (formerly Big Hit Entertainment) and ...

during her studies at Dutch National Ballet Academy in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Kazuha also previously attended the Bolshoi Academy in Moscow, Russia and the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

in the United Kingdom. Hong Eun-chae was a former student at Def Dance School for two years. She previously auditioned for

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, and operates as a record label, tale ...

and

before joining

in 2021.

2022–present: ''Fearless'', Kim Ga-ram's departure, and ''Antifragile''

On March 14,

announced that they would launch a new girl group, with Sakura and Kim Chae-won set to be the first members. On March 21, Hybe confirmed the group would officially debut in May. The members were revealed in "The First Moment of Le Sserafim" teasers from April 4 to April 9 (in order: Sakura, Kim Ga-ram, Hong Eun-chae, Kim Chae-won, Kazuha, and Huh Yun-jin). On April 13, Source Music announced that Le Sserafim would release their debut extended play (EP) ''

'', on May 2. Pre-orders for the EP surpassed 270,000 copies in seven days and 380,000 copies in sixteen days. Prior to the group's debut, Kim Ga-ram became a subject of controversy. She was accused of bullying other students at her middle school and engaging in underage smoking and drinking. Hybe Corporation denied the allegations, claiming that Kim was the victim, not the perpetrator, of bullying. They expressed that they would take legal action against those who spread false rumors, and Kim was not removed from the debut lineup. On the day of its release, ''Fearless'' sold more than 175,000 copies. On May 10, eight days after their debut, the group earned their first music show win on

SBS MTV SBS M is a South Korean pay television music channel owned by SBS Medianet, a division of SBS Media Holdings. It features South Korean pop artists, international music, news, and a few reality and variety programs. It was launched in 2001 as t ...

's ''

The Show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** Sp ...

''. On May 20, Hybe Corporation and Source Music issued a joint statement regarding Kim Ga-ram's bullying allegations announcing that she would take a hiatus due to the pending investigations and that Le Sserafim would temporarily promote as a five-member group in the meantime. On July 20, Hybe Corporation and Source Music announced that Kim Ga-ram would depart from the group and that her contract had been terminated, with Le Sserafim continuing as a five-member group. Le Sserafim released their second EP, ''Antifragile'', on October 17. It marks their first release as five members following Kim Ga-ram's departure. The album reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' 200, thus becoming the fastest K-pop female group to make a debut on the chart. On November 24, Hybe released a

webtoon Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

, titled ''Crimson Heart'', inspired by the group's message to "advance without fear" through

Webtoon Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

. Le Sserafim will release their first Japanese single on January 25, 2023.

Members

Current

Sakura Miyawaki is a Japanese singer and actress based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Le Sserafim. Miyawaki began her music career with the girl group HKT48 in 2011, and was a concurrent member of their sister group AKB48 from ...

() * Kim Chae-won () – leader * Huh Yun-jin () * Kazuha Nakamura () * Hong Eun-chae ()

Former

* Kim Ga-ram ()

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Videography

Music videos

Filmography

Web shows

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * at

{{Authority control K-pop music groups Musical groups established in 2022 South Korean girl groups South Korean dance music groups South Korean pop music groups Musical groups from Seoul Musical quintets 2022 establishments in South Korea Hybe Corporation artists Universal Music Japan artists