"Star" is a song released by the South Korean girl group

Loona Loona (commonly stylized in all caps or as LOOΠΔ; ; ja, 今月の少女, Kongetsu no Shōjo, Girl of the Month) is a South Korean girl group formed by Blockberry Creative. The group was introduced to the public through a pre-debut project ...

. It was sent to US radios on December 21, 2020, as the second single from their third mini-album '' 2:00'. The song was released as a response to the support the group received globally. It is the first English single released by the whole group (sub-unit

Loona Odd Eye Circle Loona Odd Eye Circle (commonly stylized as LOONA ODD EYE CIRCLE or LOOΠΔ ODD EYE CIRCLE, often shortened as OEC), is the second sub-unit of South Korean girl group Loona, formed through a pre-debut project titled ''"Girl of the Month"''. The ...

previously released an English version of their song, "Loonatic") and is the English version of the song "Voice", from the same album.

Release

Loona unveiled the official music video on November 18 to mark the start of promotions for the song which according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' seemed to indicate larger intentions in the US market. According to ''Forbes'' the

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

production on the song was similar to those utilized by chart-toppers like

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

and

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco-pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Grammy ...

, and the song also sonically aligns itself well alongside some of groups's most beloved tracks like their 2019 single "

Butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

". On December 21 of the same year the song was also sent to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

s across the US.

Composition and lyrics

"Star" is a

song composed in F♯ minor and has a tempo of 158 bpm. The song is charged with "cosmic energy" until the very last chorus explodes with perfectly blended vocal colors and dazzling choreographic synchronization. The lyrics captures the precarious and once-in-a-lifetime nature of the group's global fame and their understanding of how much they owe their unprecedented nugu stardom to the rapidly growing community of their fans that gravitates toward them. The song has also been described as

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the " nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

, having a low addictive repeated beat that captures the uncontainable excitement of being in love.

Commercial performance

In January 2021 the song entered media base top 50 US radio chart becoming the group's first song to do so. In February the song officially entered the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

chart becoming their first song to enter the chart. With 671 spins, "Star" landed at number 39 on the list, which is tracked by Mediabase. This made Loona the first solo Korean girl group and only the second overall Korean girl group in history to reach the milestone alongside

Blackpink Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album ''Square O ...

who entered the chart in 2020 with their

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

collaboration "

Ice Cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

". The song peaked at number 31 becoming one of the highest peaking K-pop songs on the chart and spent nine weeks on the chart becoming the longest running song on the chart by a Korean female artist. The song was one of the only two songs by any Korean female artists to enter the Billboard Pop Airplay chart in 2021, the other being

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), ...

's "

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

" which peaked at number 35.

Music video

The video for the song was directed by MOSWANTD and directed by Bravo Peak. Inspired by the midnight festival,

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess ...

and the

cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

, the

ethereal Ethereal may refer to: *Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 *Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music *Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pack ...

music video follows the members of the group as they wake up within a dream and chase their goals and aspirations after discovering themselves in a mysterious space. The group members put on a dreamlike performance in a private midnight festival, paying homage to the light of stars which give them strength and confidence. The stars that appear throughout the music video represent the group's fans called "Orbits". It implies that as the members of the group chase their dreams, they are illuminated by their fans all over the world.

Accolades

Year end lists

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

{{Loona 2020 songs 2020 singles Loona (group) songs Blockberry Creative singles English-language South Korean songs Songs written by Jesse Saint John Songs written by Georgia Ku