Name: BoA
Full Name: Kwon Boa
DOB: November 5, 1986
Height: 160cm
Weight: 42kg
Blood type: AB
Religion: Catholic
Education: Korean Kent Foreign School
Hobbies: singing, hip-hop dancing, listening to music

BoA grew up in South Korea with two older brothers. At the age of eleven, her brother was auditioning in a talent search for the next international icon held by Korean musical conglomerate SM Entertainment. BoA was brought along and eventually chosen. After her reluctant parents agreed to letting her pursue a career in singing rather than focus on school, BoA was trained in singing, dancing, and foreign language before finally making her Korean album debut.

She was signed to South Korean record label SM Entertainment in her early teens. She came to the attention of Japanese label Avex, after her debut album ID: PEACE B made the Top 10 in Korea, and in 2001 signed a recording deal with the label. Since then, all of her singles charted in Oricon ranking (Japanese equivalent of Billboard). Her single, THE MEANING OF PEACE, a duet with Kumi Koda (see below), is a September 11 benefit CD produced by Tetsuya Komuro, one of Japan's most prolific and successful producer.

In March 2002, after releasing her first Japanese album LISTEN TO MY HEART, she has become the firstnon-Japanese Asian artist to top the album charts in Japan (charted No.1 in Oricon album ranking on 3/25/2002).

LISTEN TO MY HEART has been co-produced by Max Matsuura (Avex) and Soo Man Lee (SM Entertainment) and it contains a remix by Hex Hector. BoA sings in Korean, Japanese, and English.

After stellar album sales in both South Korea and Japan, BoA continued releasing singles in anticipation for her second Japanese album, including Don't Start Now (#17), a Japanese rendition of a song from her Korean mini-album, and her biggest hit single Valenti. It peaked at #2 on the charts, her highest showing on the singles chart at the time, and would go on to sell over 200,000 copies. Valenti was quickly followed by two more hit singles: ?? (Kiseki)/ NO.1 (#3), JEWEL SONG / BESIDE YOU-?????(boku wo yobu koe)- (#3). On January 29, 2003, her second full studio album Valenti was released. This album compounded the success of her previous Japanese album and hit #1 on the charts (with 700,000 preorders and 280,000 copies sold on the day of release). It became BoA's highest selling Japanese album, selling over 1,250,000 copies domestically (making her the highest and fastest selling foreigner in Japanese history) and 1,300,000 copies worldwide. Valenti put BoA in the spotlight of the Japanese music scene with other big players such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Utada Hikaru. The album's live tour was sold out in Osaka and Nagoya within 15 minutes and in Tokyo within a day. The album would go on to become one of the top 5 selling albums of the year in Japan.

2004 also brought the release of BoA's fourth full Korean album, My Name. This album aroused much controversy because it showcased a complete style shift from young and cute to a much more mature look (BoA was turning 19 [Note: 19 in Korean age reckoning; 18 in non-Korean reckoning). It would again top the charts in Korea and go on to sell over 200,000 copies. These sales, though slightly lower than that of her debut's, were very strong considering the heavy recession in the music industry of South Korea. Some people point to this album as the beginning of BoA's decrease in Korean popularity and the album was consequently followed by more focus on the Japanese market

In 2005 BoA released her highly anticipated fifth album, Girls on Top. It reached #3 on the monthly charts, and so far has sold approximately 115,000 copies. Although the sales were disappointing to many, one should note that Korean album sales have dropped by over 50% from 2004 alone, so sales of over 100,000 copies are very respectable. The album also hit #1 in Taiwan, showcasing BoA's popularity outside of South Korea and Japan.