Adora (singer)

Adora started singing and writing songs at an early age.[3] One of her first compositions includes a fan song she made for Highlight in 2011 at 13 years old.[4]

She joined Stardom Entertainment as a 14-year-old trainee in 2012.[5] She trained with Topp Dogg and co-composed their song "Playground" from their debut EP Dogg's Out released in 2013.[6] She left the company for unknown reasons, then joined Music K Entertainment in 2014 and trained with the members of The Ark, but did not make it into the final lineup of the group.[7]

In 2016, she applied to Big Hit Music's 'Next New Creator' audition project and was selected to join the company that same year.[8] Her professional songwriting credit under the name Adora started with the song "Interlude: Wings" on BTS' album Wings (2016) and the singles "Spring Day" and "Not Today" on their repackage You Never Walk Alone (2017).[9] As an in-house producer for Big Hit Music, she also co-wrote songs for TXT and GFriend.[10][11] Despite having a good relationship with the company, she parted ways with them in 2020 due to her feeling like she wasn't contributing enough creatively to the artist's work at the time.[12][13]

On October 25, 2021, media outlets announced that Adora had signed an exclusive contract with Aura Entertainment.[14][15] She officially debuted as a singer on November 5 with the release of the single "Make U Dance", in collaboration with Dingo Music.[16] Initially unplanned, Adora decided to feature Eunha of Viviz on the single because she wanted a different tone of voice included in the song.[17] In December, the Recording Academy spotlighted Adora as one of five K-pop songwriters and producers who "defined 2021" by making their mark worldwide.[18] She was also named by NME,[19] Tone Deaf,[20] and Bandwagon[21] as one of several new artists to watch in 2022.

Adora released the single "The Little Name", inspired by her childhood memories and certain people from that time whom she missed,[22] on March 7, 2022, accompanied by an animated music video loosely based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince.[23][24] This was followed by the single "Trouble? Travel!" on June 1.[25][26] Adora made an appearance on KBS2's Music Bank in promotion of the single, marking her first performance on a weekly domestic music shows.[27] In July, she was confirmed as a cast member of the U+Idol Live music variety show, Sing in the Green, which premiered on July 27.[28] She released three songs during her time on the show: "Together Forever" featuring Kim Dong-hyun on August 24;[29] a solo song titled "The End of Eternity" on September 14;[30] and "Sing in the Green" featuring the entire cast on September 28.[31][32] Adora's debut extended play (EP) Adorable Rebirth was released on September 26. The nine-track EP comprised her three previously-released singles and six new songs, including an instrumental version of the lead single "Magical Symphony".[33] She held a showcase for the release at Ilji Art Hall in Gangnam, Seoul.[34] In early October, Adora participated in the Mnet survival show Artistock Game,[35] but was eliminated in the eighth episode right before the semi-final round.[36]