Girls' Generation (Hangul: 소녀 시대; Japanese: 少女時代, also known as SNSD or So Nyeo Shi Dae) is a South Korean girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. Originally a nine-member group, it now consists of Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun. Jessica, a former member, was officially dismissed on September 30, 2014.
The group gained attention at the beginning of their career with songs such as "Into the New World" and "Kissing You" but it was not until 2009 when they gained significant popularity with their hit single "Gee", which was classified by the online music store MelOn as the most popular song of the decade in South Korea (ranking based on chart performance). The group solidified their place in the South Korean music industry with follow-up singles "Tell Me Your Wish", "Run Devil Run", and "Oh!" from late 2009 to early 2010. In 2011, after a series of activities in Japan, the group returned to the South Korean music scene with "The Boys", which was released in three languages: Korean, Japanese, and for the first time, English. In 2010 alone, the group sold more than 11,730,000 digital albums and singles collectively. The group's immense popularity in their native South Korea has earned them titles "The Nation's Singers" and "The Nation's Girl Group". The Sisa Journal named the group as the most influential entertainers for the years 2011 and 2012, making them the first female idol group in history to make the list. They have also been listed as #1 on the Top Female Singer's list for four consecutive years on the Leespiar Popularity Survey in Korea. Asia Today placed the group at forty-four on the 50 Korean Power Leaders list in 2011. The group also topped Forbes's Korea Power Celebrity 40 list for the years of 2010, 2011 and 2013.