Some of the artists on this list didn’t even release albums this year!
- BLACKPINK's Jennie Becomes 1st Korean Female Soloist To Chart A Song For 15 Weeks On Billboard Hot 100
- March Girl Group Member Brand Reputation Rankings Announced
- BLACKPINK’s Jennie’s “SOLO” Becomes 1st Female K-Pop Solo Artist MV To Hit 1 Billion Views
2020 gave K-Pop fans many solo artist releases, both from long-established soloists as well as the new ones. There are tons of talented female solo artists in the industry, some of them have always been solo while others found successful solo careers outside of a group. The following 10 female K-Pop idols had the most album sales in 2020, with some of them shockingly not even releasing new albums this year!
10. Chungha
Chungha became popular when she participated in Produce 101 and finished in fourth, earning her a place in I.O.I. She was in the group until its planned disbandment in January 2017, and it was announced that she would be debuting as a solo artist rather than in another group. She released her debut EP, Hands On Me, in June of the same year, along with the title track “Why Don’t You Know”. This year, she released the single album Maxi Single with the song “Play”. In total, she’s sold 20.2k albums in the year, with her first full-length album, Querencia, planned for early 2021.
9. Eunji
https://starbiz.net/tag/eunji made her debut as a solo artist outside of Apink on April 18, 2016, with the EP Dream and the title track “Hopefully Sky”. She’s also known for her extensive list of OSTs and collaborations with artists such as Seo Inguk, Huh Gak, and 10cm. Since her solo debut, she has released 4 EPs total, with the latest one being Simple which was released on July 15 this year and has the title track “Away”. In total, she has had 26.8k album sales this year.
8. YooA
YooA made her solo debut outside of Oh My Girl this year on September 7 with the EP Bon Voyage and a title track of the same name. This debut got her a win on The Show on September 15, and she also released an OST for the movie Over The Moon later in the month. In total, she has had about 27.0k album sales this year.
7. Jennie
Jennie made her debut as a solo artist outside of BLACKPINK on November 12, 2018, with the EP Solo and a title track of the same name. Incredibly, even though she didn’t release any new albums in 2020, she still makes it onto this list! And it’s no wonder — “Solo” was a big hit, topping charts in South Korea and on Billboard with the music video becoming the most-watched MV by a female Korean solo artist in the first 24 hours. In 2020, she still sold 27.7k albums, which is really impressive for an album in 2018
6. Baek Yerin
At first, Baek Yerin was in the group 15& alongside Park Jimin, debuting in October 2012 and working together until the duo disbanded as Jimin left JYP Entertainment in August 2019. November 2015 was when Baek Yerin made her solo debut with the EP Frank and the title song “Across the Universe”. In September 2019, she also left JYP Entertainment to create her own label, Blue Vinyl. Her most recent album, tellusaboutyourself, was just released on December 10 with the title song “0415”, and so far in 2020, she has had 31.8k album sales.
5. Taeyeon
Taeyeon is a former Girls’ Generation member. She started her career as a solo artist in October 2015 with the EP I and a title song of the same name. After her solo debut, she was awarded the Best Female Artist award at both MAMA in 2015 and the 2016 Golden Disk Awards. In total, she has released two full-length albums and 6 EPs, with her new album, What Do I Call You, just released on December 15. Taeyeon has had 59.0k total album sales in 2020.
4. Hwasa
Hwasa first debuted with MAMAMOO in June 2014, then began her career as a solo artist on February 13, 2019, with the single “Twit”. The song scored a Triple Crown by topping Gaon’s Digital, Download, and Streaming charts, and also peaked at #3 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart. In 2020 she released her first EP, Maria, with a title track of the same name. The album debuted at #7 on Billboard’s World Albums chart, and also did well on many others. In 2020, she has sold 68.8k album units.
3. IU
IU started her incredibly successful solo career in September 2008 at the age of 15 with the song “Lost Child” off of the debut Lost and Found. The album earned her the “Rookie of the Month” award by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in November of that year. Since then, she has released 5 full-length studio albums, 2 compilation albums, 5 single albums, and 9 mini-albums, with her most recent being Love Poem, released in November 2019 with the title song of the same name. She didn’t release any new albums in 2020 (though she did release “Eight” with BTS member Suga this year), but she still sold 83.8k album units.
2. Solar
Solar also debuted with MAMAMOO in June of 2014, and made her solo debut this year on April 23 with the single album Spit It Out and a song of the same name. It earned her her first music show award on April 28 on SBS MTV‘s The Show! In 2020, she has sold 84.6k album units as a solo artist.
1. Moonbyul
And finally, MAMAMOO’s rapper is on the top of this list! She debuted at the same time as her other members in the group, and her solo career started in May 2018 with the single “Selfish” (which featured Seulgi of Red Velvet). 2020 was the year she released her first EP, Dark Side of the Moon, with the title track “Eclipse”, on February 14, and she released a reissued version of the album called 門OON on May 29. In total, she sold 116.2k album units just in 2020.
