Nobody (Wonder Girls song)

Did You Know?

• In 2014, "Nobody" was used in the DreamWorks animated movie Penguins of Madagascar.
• In 2013, the song was featured in the sixth episode of the South Korean drama Master's Sun.
• JYP Entertainment and Sony/ATV Music Publishing took legal action in March 2009 against Asian groups who had adopted or covered "Nobody" illegally.

Background and release

The song first appeared on the mini-album The Wonder Years: Trilogy (2008), which included a remix and instrumental versions. An English version served as the group's debut single in the United States, released to iTunes on June 26, 2009, and to Amazon MP3 the following day. A physical single was released on October 11, 2009, through a cross-promotion with Justice stores, accompanied by two meet-and-greet events. The English version was also included on the EP 2 Different Tears (2010). Various remixes were produced for award shows and end-of-year specials, including a remix by Jason Nevins and a downtempo remix by Rainstone in both Korean and English. A Chinese version appeared on the compilation Wonder Girls (2010) for the Chinese market. A Japanese version, titled "Nobody ～あなたしか見えない～", was released on the EP Nobody for Everybody on July 25, 2012.

Commercial performance

In the United States, the physical single sold 17,000 copies in its first week. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated October 31, 2009, "Nobody" debuted at number 76, becoming the first K-pop song to enter that chart. By November 20, the single had sold 32,000 physical copies and over 30,000 digital downloads according to Nielsen Soundscan. It became the best-selling physical single of the year in the United States, topping the year-end Billboard Hot Single Sales chart for 2009. By February 2012, the single had sold 78,000 downloads and 42,000 physical copies in the US. In Canada, the song debuted and peaked at number 4 on the Canadian Singles Chart in February 2010, and re-entered at the same position in March 2011. At the 2011 China Mobile Wireless Music Awards, the Wonder Girls received the "Top Gross Selling Digital Downloads" award in the foreign group category for 5,371,903 downloads of "Nobody", "Tell Me", and "2 Different Tears".

Music video

The music video begins with Park Jin-young performing a Motown-style concert with the Wonder Girls as his backup singers. After the show, record executives give Park sheet lyrics to "Nobody", which he plans to debut on his next show during the 1960s. Minutes before the show, Park is in a restroom stall with no toilet paper and calls for help; the executives motion the Wonder Girls to take center stage. At the end of their performance, Park appears to congratulate them. The video then becomes a montage of the group's career progressing to superstardom, and ends with Park entering another stall where he pulls the last sheet of toilet paper and again calls for help. The Japanese version of the music video begins with Sohee holding a newspaper with the headline "Nobody, the worldwide hit". The Wonder Girls are shown in an airplane, then walk out to a stage greeted by paparazzi. During the song, the video cuts to a black-and-white TV showing the "Nobody" music video, with a family and two ladies dancing along. The TV zooms in to show the girls in golden dresses on a stage with a live band, and the video ends with Yoobin's rap and a pose with microphones.

Live performances and promotion

The Wonder Girls returned to the stage on the last weekend of September 2008, appearing on Music Bank, Show! Music Core, and Inkigayo. Late that October, they temporarily switched to the "Rainstone Remix" for performances. A clip from their October 9 M Countdown show, uploaded to Mnet's YouTube channel on November 18, quickly became the platform's most-watched K-pop video and, by 2011, the first to hit 50 million views. At the 2008 Mnet KM Music Festival on November 15, they offered up both a tango and a disco rendition. Additional remixes were unveiled at the 23rd Golden Disc Awards on December 10, where each member performed a short, unique version. Their first American TV appearance came on The Wendy Williams Show on July 20, 2009, followed by a spot on So You Think You Can Dance that December. The Japanese version made its live debut at Tokyo's Girls Award 2012 Spring/Summer fashion event.