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

Loona Loona (stylized in all caps or as LOOΠΔ; ; , ) is a South Korean girl group created by Blockberry Creative. The group is composed of eleven members: Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul, Vivi, Yeojin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul, Choerry, Yves (singer), Yves, Go Won ...

. 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 Odd Eye Circle (; commonly stylized in all caps, or abbreviated as OEC) is a South Korean girl group, consisting of three members: Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Choerry. The trio originally formed as the second sub-unit of girl group Loona through 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 founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' 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 music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

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. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

and

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

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

Butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

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

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

s across the US.

Composition and lyrics

"Star" is a

song composed in F♯ minor and has a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 158 beats per minute. The song is charged with "cosmic energy" until the very last chorus explodes with perfectly blended vocal colors and dazzling choreographic

synchronization Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the Conductor (music), conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are sa ...

. 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 the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

, 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/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

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 (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...

who entered the chart in 2020 with their

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

collaboration "

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". 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

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'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 are: m ...

" 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" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

and the

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, the

ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 * Ethereal (musician), American rapper and record producer * Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music * W ...

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