The 20th Anniversary of BoA’s Debut Begins With ‘Our Beloved BoA’

The year is 2020, and there is at least one good reason to celebrate amid an otherwise relentless onslaught of misery: it’s the 20th anniversary of the debut of BoA, the Queen of K-Pop™ herself.

On August 25, 2000, at the absurdly young age of 13, Kwon Bo-ah debuted on the South Korean and, immediately after, Japanese scene with ID; Peace B, led by the Yoo Young Jin-produced title track, which was recorded in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English – a hint of what was to come, as the multilingual superstar-to-be would go on to tackle multiple international markets over the next several years.

Two decades and dozens of albums, singles, music videos, tours, reality TV appearances, TV dramas and movie roles later (let us not forget 2014’s Make Your Move with Derek Hough), BoA is now a well established veteran at SM Entertainment. Now, the entertainment agency is honoring BoA’s historic debut with a 5-track cover collection called Our Beloved BoA, featuring five different takes on a handful of the many exquisite cuts from her extensive catalog.

The project will feature a cover of Girls on Top‘s “Garden in the Air” by EXO’s Baekhyun, “Only One” by Gallant, and three Atlantis Princess moments: “Atlantis Princess” by BOL4, “Milky Way” by Red Velvet (it’s nice to see Irene and Seulgi had a moment to step away from being naughty monsters) and “Tree” by SM Classics, the label’s charming new orchestral offshoot. It’s admittedly a sort of strange array of songs (no “Girls on Top,” “My Name” or “No. 1”?), but no less exciting to that something’s even in the works.

With any luck, this is only the beginning of activities planned to celebrate the legacy of the boundary-breaking blueprint for South Korean crossover success. It’s what she deserves…she’s still our number one, after all.

Photo credit: Avex Trax / @BoaKwon