The Grace (group)


The Grace, an acronym for Cheon Sang Ji Hui Deo Geureiseu, also known in Japan as Tenjochiki, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2005, with four members: Lina, Dana, Sunday and Stephanie. They debuted with the single Too Good on April 29, 2005. Throughout the group's career, they released and performed music in Korean and Japanese with a total of three studio albums and many more singles.
The group continued to release music until their second Japanese album Dear..., in January 2009. After Stephanie's injury in 2010, the group's activities were to be halted. In July 2011, the group returned with the duo unit Dana&Sunday, with the duo continuing to release some digital singles before also going into hiatus. All of The Grace's members currently maintain solo careers in fields including music, theater, and television, while member Stephanie signed with another music label for her solo music and maintaining her contract with SM Entertainment until it expired in 2016. Dana also parted SM Entertainment on June 23, 2020.

History

2005: Debut with ''Too Good'' and ''Boomerang''

The Grace made their first live performance in China on April 29, 2005. They performed their debut songs "Too Good" and "Boomerang", and the performance was broadcast weeks later by the Chinese channel CCTV. The verses in "Boomerang" were also sung in Chinese. The quartet made their first live performance in South Korea with "Too Good" on SBS's music program Inkigayo on May 1, 2005. They promoted the song for a few months before switching to "Boomerang".
After 7 months of promoting their first singles in Korea, the group headed off to promote in China. The Chinese version of the single was officially released in March 2006. The single included three new tracks: the Chinese versions of "Too Good" and "Boomerang" and the pre-group track "Fight To The End". After promotional activities concluded, The Grace headed to Japan.

2006: Japanese debut and ''My Everything''

They debut Japanese single Boomerang was released January 25, 2006. Later, the song was re-recorded and released with Japanese lyrics and an altered instrumental track, and a B-side called Do You Know?, a solo song by member Sunday. Boomerang ranked #110 in the Japanese Singles Top 200 chart.
On March 8, they released second Japanese single The Club, along with a solo song by Stephanie called What U Want was released. It reached #131 on the Japanese Oricon Charts. The single was also promoted briefly in South Korea. After quick promotional activities in Korea, the group went back to Japan for their third Japanese single, Sweet Flower which was used as the theme for the month of April on the TBS Radio & Communications music show Count Down TV. "Sweet Flower" entered the charts at #151. The single was also released in Korea by SM, but it was left unchanged from its Japanese version.
They released Chinese version of their Japanese single Boomerang was released in China on June 19 by Avex Trax's official Chinese distributor CRSC. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, also included the Korean version of The Club was released and contained a Chinese version of The Club plus a DVD with the Korean music video.
Even with the first few singles having low sales, another single was scheduled to be released. Juicy Love was in stark contrast with The Grace's previous singles, as it had a reggae beat. Japanese reggae singer Corn Head was featured in this song. The B-side was Sayonara no Mukō ni, The Grace's first Japanese ballad written and sung by Dana. Like the previous single, Juicy Love was released in Korea, left unchanged.
They returned to Korea with releasing single My Everything on November 3, 2006 and starting promotion as CSJH The Grace. The song is a ballad track unlike their previous singles. The B-side track included a cappella version of George Michael's Faith, The Final Sentence and Iris . However, the changes did not greatly increase sales; the single entered at #30 on the Music Industry Association of Korea's monthly sales charts.

2007: ''One More Time, OK?'' and ''Graceful4''

The group's first album, 한번 더, OK? was released on May 4, 2007. The title song One More Time, OK? was The Grace's most successful song to date, topping Mnet M! Countdown and SBS Inkigayo charts. The album reached sixth place for the month. On June 15, the album was released in Taiwan, The Grace's first major release overseas. "One More Time, OK?" won the Best Dance Music award at the 2007 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
Their fifth Japanese single, Piranha was released in August consists of Piranha and Japanese versions of My Everything and Just For One Day, featuring TVXQ's Jaejoong. The single debuted at #26 on the Oricon daily charts and ended at #50 on weekly charts.
In November, their first Japanese album Graceful 4 was released, consisted of nine previously released songs and new material, including the Japanese version of One More Time, OK? from their first Korean album's title song.

2008: ''Stand Up People'' and ''Here''

During the first months of 2008, The Grace performed at various events in support of their first Japanese album. They held three concerts in April and May named 'Graceful Party Vol. 1'. The last one, at Daikanyama UNIT in Tokyo, featured their upcoming release Here, a collaboration with hip-hop group Cliff Edge.
Their sixth Japanese single called Stand Up People, was released on July 23. It was consists of Dear Friend, remixes of Stand Up People and remices of One More Time, OK. Their seventh single, Here was released on October 22, but after the song leaked, it was offered for free download for a limited time. "Here" was the theme song of both the drama and movie of Homeless School Student, based on a Japanese best-seller book. A second song and music video were released, titled "Near". "Here" reached #16 at the Oricon Charts with sales of over 16,000.

2009–2011: ''Dear...'' and sub-unit

The group's second Japanese album Dear... was released on January 7, 2009. The album debuted on #14 on the Oricon Chart.
The Grace appeared on the soundtrack of the Japanese movie Subaru with the songs "Sukoshi De Ii Kara / A Bit of Good" and "Coming To You". "Sukoshi De Ii Kara / A Bit of Good" was part of The Grace's second Japanese Album Dear.... Stephanie also appeared in the movie as a ballet trainer.
In early 2010, Stephanie were confirmed to sustaining a major back injury and went to US for her recovery. On May 21, 2010, The Grace remained with three-members performance My Everything and One More Time, Ok? at the SM Town Live' 10 World Tour in Seoul.
In 2011, Dana and Sunday formed the first sub-unit of the group called The Grace - Dana & Sunday. Since then, the group has been on while all members have continued to focus on solo activities.
On May 15, 2016, it was confirmed that Stephanie's contract with SM Entertainment had expired on May 15, 2016. She decided to not renew her contract with the company and continue to promote as soloist with Mafia Records. On June 23, 2020, Dana left SM Entertainment following her contract expired after 19 year.

Subunits

Dana & Sunday

On July 5, 2011, S.M. Entertainment announced the formation of its first official sub-group unit of The Grace. Breaking their 4-year hiatus, the duo is composed of Dana and Sunday. Their debut single, "One More Chance ", was released digitally along with the accompanying music video on July 11. Dana & Sunday's debut performance was on July 8 on KBS Music Bank.
On September 23, Dana & Sunday featured on part four of the soundtrack for the drama Hooray for Love with the track "Now You". Dana and Sunday's "With Coffee Project Part 1" was released on December 20 together with the music video of the song.
The duo also participated in the eighth SM Town winter compilation album, 2011 Winter SMTown – The Warmest Gift. The two performed the song "Amazing", which was released as a physical album only on December 13, 2011.
Though performing as solo artists, Dana and Sunday performed in SM Town Live 2019 in Tokyo on August 3–5, 2019.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Other appearances

DVDs

Concerts

Headlining

YearsAwards
2005
  • 12th Annual Korea Entertainment Arts Awards : Best Female Group
  • 3rd South-East Music Ceremony : Best Foreign Singer Group
2006
  • 13th Annual Korea Entertainment Arts Awards : Hallyu All Star Award
    • 2007
  • 14th Annual Korea Entertainment Arts Awards : Best Female Group
  • M.net Asian Music Awards : Best Dance Music