TWICE are the nine-member group that defined what a K-pop girl group sounded like in the late 2010s. Formed on the 2015 survival show SIXTEEN and debuted by JYP Entertainment that October, they released an unbroken run of hits for their first five years: Cheer Up, TT, Knock Knock, Signal, Likey, Heart Shaker, What is Love?, Dance The Night Away and FANCY.
The group's early identity was bright, hooky and built on choreography anyone could copy, which is why the TT hand gesture and the Cheer Up 'shy shy shy' line became national memes in Korea. From FANCY onward the sound matured into slicker pop, and the English singles The Feels and MOONLIGHT SUNRISE opened a second global audience in the 2020s.
TWICE are also the rare group whose members all renewed their contracts together and who have kept releasing music in Korean, Japanese and English every year for a decade. ONCEs have a lot of catalog to argue about, and the subunit MISAMO and the members' solo work only add to the pile.
Start here: five songs
- 1
TT (2016)
The crying-emoji hand gesture that took over Korea in the autumn of 2016. It is the TWICE song most people can hum without knowing they know it.
- 2
FANCY (2019)
The turning point from cute to chic. A glossy dance-pop single that reset the group's image and is usually the first pick for fans who came in later.
- 3
Feel Special (2019)
Written from the members' own experiences with anxiety and support, it is the emotional center of the discography and the song ONCEs point to when asked why they stay.
- 4
The Feels (2021)
TWICE's first English single, a retro disco-pop track that charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and introduced the group to a lot of Western listeners.
- 5
Cheer Up (2016)
The song of the year in Korea in 2016 and the source of 'shy shy shy'. Play this and Like OOH-AHH back to back to hear where it all started.
Timeline
2015
SIXTEEN and debut
The nine-member lineup is finalized on the survival show SIXTEEN. Like OOH-AHH debuts in October and grows slowly into a hit through early 2016.
2016
Cheer Up and TT
Cheer Up wins song of the year at the Melon Music Awards and TT makes the crying-emoji gesture a national craze. TWICE become the biggest girl group in Korea within a year of debut.
2017–2018
The hit machine
Knock Knock, Signal, Likey, Heart Shaker, What is Love?, Dance The Night Away and Yes or Yes arrive in quick succession. Japanese debut with One More Time launches a second career in Japan, including dome tours.
2019
FANCY and Feel Special
FANCY updates the sound and image; Feel Special turns the members' own struggles into a single that ONCEs treat as the group's anthem.
2020–2021
Eyes wide open and The Feels
More & More and I Can't Stop Me push toward mature pop. The Feels, the first English single, charts on the Billboard Hot 100.
2022–2023
Contract renewals and the stadium tour
All nine members renew with JYP. Talk that Talk and Set Me Free precede the READY TO BE world tour, which includes the group's first stadium shows in the United States.
2024–2025
One Spark, Strategy, THIS IS FOR
One Spark and the English single Strategy with Megan Thee Stallion mark year ten. The 2025 album THIS IS FOR celebrates the tenth anniversary with a new world tour.
Moments fans remember
Shy shy shy
Sana's mispronounced 'shy shy shy' line in Cheer Up was supposed to be a throwaway. It became the single most quoted lyric in K-pop that year, and it is still the first thing most Koreans think of when they hear the group's name.
Feel Special and the letter to fans
Around the Feel Special release in 2019, Mina stepped back from activities to deal with anxiety, and the group talked openly about it. The song's message, that one person can make you feel special on a bad day, was written with those months in mind.
Nine, twice
K-pop groups rarely survive their seven-year contract mark intact. TWICE renewed with all nine members in 2022, and the tenth-anniversary tour in 2025 was as much a celebration of that as of the songs.
Play the world cups
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From Like OOH-AHH to Strategy — pick the ultimate TWICE anthem.
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