PANDØRA 판도라
Pandora during Tokyo Dome performance in 2023
Background Information
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	Pop, K-Pop, Retro, Jazz, Rock, R&B, Alternative, Hip-Hop, Ballad, EDM
Years Active	2016 – Present
Labels	Nova Lux Corp, Cygnus, Republic Records
Associated Acts	X.MPIRE, ReNu, PRIZM, Nova Rookies
Members	Bella S:AE Cherry Megumi Dream — — — —
Past Members	Areum Drei Ivy Bloom — —

PANDØRA (Hangul: 판도라, pronounced as PANDORA) is a South Korean K-Pop girl group formed under the Cygnus label of Nova Lux Corporation. They debuted on April 30, 2016, with the studio album 'Unleashed'. The group currently consists of members Bella, S:AE, Megumi, Dream and Cherry. Their fandom is called CHARIØTE (pronounced as Chariote). The official colors are Silver (#C6C4C5) and Amythest (#9870B2). Their introduction phrase is "Open up! Unbox the unexpected! We're Pandora!"

The group has won many awards including Rookie of the Year (Korean Music Awards 2016, Golden Disc Awards 2016), Album of the Year (MAMA 2019, MMA 2019), Worldwide Icon of the Year (MAMA 2021), Top Hot 100 Artist (Billboard Music Awards 2021 & 2022), and Top K-Pop Album (Billboard Music Awards 2023).

Lore and Concept

The lore of the group connects them with their labelmates. The name and concept of the group are derived from the Greek mythology of Pandora. The first human woman was given gifts from the gods, including a Pithos in Greek or a jar. In the jar dwelled all the "evil" in the world, and upon her marriage, Pandora scattered the contents onto the land and sea.

Each group member represents a "vice" or "evil" that was released from Pandora's Pithos. However, their goal is to show that they are not in fact evil, but simply human nature and part of the natural order and balance of the world.

History

Pre-Debut

Each member was previously revealed to the public through Nova Rookies and had varying degrees of exposure to the public. Member Areum was highly anticipated for her debut due to her career as a child model and actress. Bella's debut was met with controversy due to her relation to Nova Lux co-CEO Park Eunwon, who turned out to be her eldest sister.

On December 10, 2015, X.MPIRE released a special track called 'Pandora's Box' while Nova Lux's official social media posted a photo of a vase silhouette. Many fans originally believed it connected to the release until they noticed that several female trainees were missing from the Nova Rookies site.

Excited that a new group would be debuting soon, it was with mixed reactions that the digital single 'PANDORA' would be released on January 15, 2016, which would serve as the group's first pre-debut single. The video featured animated versions of the members, which can be seen inconsistently throughout their discography.

2016-2017: Debut & first subunit

Starting January 22, 2016, a single, with an accompanying music video was released every Friday. Each single showcased a member of the group, accumulating in the group's debut album on April 30, 2016, titled Unleashed.

Ivy left the group for undisclosed personal reasons after the release and was replaced by — for promotions for the EP Summertime, though Ivy's vocals could still be heard on the album. The group propelled to worldwide stardom with the track Ddu-du Ddu-du from their EP Slay. The music video broke records, reaching 100.4 million views on YouTube in its first month.

2018-2020: Dystopia series starts, Areum hiatus, Bloom departure & World Tour

October 6, 2018, marked the start of a new era for the group, which started what would be a series of albums with a dystopian theme. The EP Charmed would serve as Areum's last promotion as a member of the group, having gone on hiatus for health reasons following injury from a filming accident for a movie. Her vocals could still be heard on the second studio album Games and she was still featured in parts of the music video for The Boys and The Feels. The group would embark on their first world tour, Open Up, which would unfortunately get cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seoyeon, also known as Bloom, ends up departing from PANDØRA towards the end of their first world tour around January 2020 due to an injury from a bad fall. Concerned about her health, she chose to focus on recovery rather than running the risk of the nerve damage getting worse, leading to her graduation from the group. A goodbye concert was live-streamed on YouTube, with special performances by the members performing various solo and unit songs. 

2021-2023: Areum & Drei departure, subunit promotions, second world tour

After the announcement of new member May, who would take over Bloom's position, fans were quick to notice that pictures of Areum hadn't been updated to reflect the tour and soon all solo pictures of her had been removed from social media and the official site. Fans demanded an explanation, which was finally given the same day fans noticed Areum's solo profile had been removed from PANDØRA's site. To focus on her health, Areum had decided to leave the group, becoming the next member to graduate from the group. She planned to return to the industry once she was healthy enough, eventually making a much-awaited solo comeback and returning to acting. Member — would be added to the group to take over the vacant position.

official logo.

With pandemic restrictions over, the group would embark on their second world tour, honoring their Dystopia series. The tour was a success, with several encore shows added to the end of the tour after petitions from fans who missed their earlier performances.

They continued to release both group and subunit performances, with little or no promotion on music shows due to the tour. A pause in the tour was added, as the group headlined Coachella 2022 and came back to perform in 2023. During the Coachella 2023 performance, it was announced that member Drei would become the third member to graduate from the group following their Dystopia tour.

2024—Present: Dystopia series ends, New Dance, 8th EP

The group wrapped up their tour successfully, releasing their third album and effectively ending their Dystopia series. Drei could still be heard on some tracks, most of them being recorded either during or after the tour. The full group started the year with a double single, Set Me Free, in both Korean and English, and released a summer single New Dance, and have been keeping active on social media while preparing for their next release towards the end of the year. It was also revealed that members — and — would be the next ones to graduate from the group. It was quickly confirmed by the company along with news that Nova Rookie's Dream and — would be joining the group.

Subunits

It was revealed that PANDØRA would debut their first subunits. Each unit is rotational, with lineups changing based on how who fits the concept and public voting. The group currently has 4 subunits, CH4RM, EVLU7N, MUS3, and GEMIINI, with the number in the name representing how many members are in each unit.

Current Members

Past Members

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Discography (scrolls)