In 1998, in sixth grade of elementary school, she was noticed at a department store and cast by SM Entertainment. She trained in dance, singing and foreign languages for about two years. The year she turned 14, she released her debut album ID; Peace B on Aug. 25, 2000, and went on to sweep the rookie awards at the year-end music award shows. In 2001, she launched her career in Japan.
The breakthrough yearIn March 2002, she became the first Korean singer to reach No. 1 on Oricon’s album chart with her first Japanese album, Listen to My Heart. In April she released her second Korean album, No.1, and that year-end, the year she turned 16, she became the youngest to win the grand prize at SBS Gayo Daejeon.
In 2003, her second Japanese album, Valenti, sold nearly one million copies on its release day and was No. 1 on the Oricon weekly chart for two weeks in a row. In 2004, she attended the MTV Asia Awards as a joint representative of South Korea and Japan and received an award. In 2005, she released “Girls on Top.”
In 2006, her fourth Japanese album, Outgrow, also reached No. 1 on the Oricon album chart on its release day, putting all five of her albums since Listen to My Heart at No. 1. Through 2007, she appeared on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen six years in a row. In 2008, she prepared to enter the U.S. and did not appear on the Kohaku Uta Gassen. In March 2009, her U.S. debut album, BoA, reached No. 127 on the Billboard 200, the first for a Korean singer.
In 2010, she released “Hurricane Venus.” In 2012, she promoted her first self-written song, “Only One,” the title song of her seventh album. In 2013, she tried acting in the KBS drama Expect to Date and won the one-act drama award at that year’s KBS Drama Awards.
In 2014, she made her Hollywood debut in the U.S.-Korea co-production Make Your Move. In 2015, she wrote, composed and produced every track on her eighth album, Kiss My Lips. In January 2016, she won the Best Album Award at the Seoul Music Awards for it, and in October she appeared in the JTBC drama Listen to Love.
In 2017, she presented the “CAMO” project, a try at a new image. In 2018, she released her ninth album, Woman. In 2019, she released her second mini album, Starry Night.
On Dec. 1, 2020, she released her tenth album, Better, for her 20th debut anniversary.
In 2022, she released the new song “Step Back” with Taeyeon, Karina and others in the SM girls’ unit Got the Beat. In 2023, she was cast in the tvN drama Marry My Husband, returning to acting after seven years. In January 2024, she played Oh Yu-ra in the drama, and she became producer of the new group NCT Wish.
In 2025, she released her eleventh album, Crazier, for her 25th debut anniversary. In January 2026, it became known that her exclusive contract with SM Entertainment had ended at the end of the previous year, and in March she founded the one-person agency BApal Entertainment. In May, she released her first new song since founding BApal.
BoA (born Nov 5, 1986) debuted with ID; Peace B on Aug 25, 2000, the year she turned 14, and became known in 2002, the year she turned 16, with her second album No.1 and the youngest grand prize at SBS Gayo Daejeon. That same year in Japan, she became the first Korean singer to reach No. 1 on Oricon’s album chart with Listen to My Heart.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.