JYP’s Oldest Girl Group Almost Didn’t Happen Because People Didn’t Believe It Would Succeed

Singer and CEO of JYP Entertainment, Park Jin Young (also known as JYP or J.Y. Park), shared behind-the-scenes stories about producing his oldest girl group project.

J.Y. Park | @asiansoul_jyp/Instagram

On November 20, J.Y. Park appeared as a guest on the MBC FM4U‘s radio show Kim Shin Young’s Noon Song of Hope, where singer Sunmi was hosting as the special DJ.

J.Y. Park (left) and Sunmi (right) | MBC Radio/YouTube

He talked about his experience producing the KBS show Golden Girls, a girl group formation project consisting of four of Korea’s top vocalists: Insooni, Park Mi Kyung, Shin Hyo Beom, and Lee Eun Mi.

Poster for “Golden Girls” | KBS

When asked about the inspiration for bringing together the Golden Girls members, J.Y. Park shared an anecdote about hearing Park Mi Kyung singing in the car.

Musically, I wanted to hear those vocalists from the 1980s sing. Every night, I listen to 1980s music in the shower. As Sunmi knows, I always play 1980s music everywhere I go, even when I eat or have a cocktail… Anyway, my thirst was growing, and I had a meal with Park Mi Kyung. While dropping her off at home, I played 1980s music, and Park Mi Kyung suddenly started singing along quietly…  I thought, ‘This is it!’ I went home and thought about what it would be like to hear four powerful voices like hers combined.

— J.Y. Park

Monica, Soyou, Shin Hyo Beom, Park Mi Kyung, Lee Eun Mi, Insooni, JYP, and Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany (left to right) | KBS Golden Girls/YouTube

However, his dream of combining four of Korea’s diva vocalists to form a girl group did not happen as easily as he thought. People didn’t believe that the project would do well—in fact, one of the members, Shin Hyo Beom, also exclaimed that his idea was “crazy” upon first hearing his offer.

JYP Already Facing Difficulties With His Latest Girl Group Project

Therefore, in the early stages of Golden Girls, the project almost collapsed after just two episodes due to difficulties in securing investments.

I can share this now that the show is doing well, but in the beginning, KBS approved the project but we needed an outsourcing production investment. Nobody invested because they didn’t think it would do well. So we almost shut the thing down after filming two episodes.

— J.Y. Park

Insooni, Park Mi Kyung, Shin Hyo Beom, Lee Eun Mi, and JYP (left to right) | @MyloveKBS/Twitter

In the end, the show managed to secure funding and the show was able to continue filming. Now, Golden Girls is a hit show, with clips of Insooni singing a jazz version of NewJeans‘ “Hype Boy” and Shin Hyo Beom singing her rendition of TWICE‘s “Feel Special” going viral.

The members of Golden Girls have also collaborated with various K-Pop singers, such as Park Mi Kyung singing with ZEROBASEONE‘s Kim Taerae.

#KIMTAERAE from #ZEROBASEONE singing “Distant Memories Of You” by Park Hyoshin on “Golden Girls Live” today pic.twitter.com/h9kZXk9gkW

— BOY GROUPS CHARTS (@kbgcharts) November 20, 2023

Despite Golden Girls having trouble getting investments in the beginning, it is currently ranked first in Thursday overall advertisements. J.Y. Park jokingly stated that if people don’t have anything to watch now that My Dearest, a K-Drama that aired in the same time slot as his show, was over, they should go and watch Golden Girls.