Momo Hirai (Hangul: 히라이 모모, Japanese: 平井 もも／ひらい もも Hirai Momo, born November 9, 1996 in Kyotanabe, Kyoto, Japan), better known as Momo, is a Japanese singer. She is a member of the K-pop girl group, Twice.
Early life and career Beginnings
Momo was born in November 9, 1996 in Kyotanabe, Kyoto, Japan. Her family consists of her parents and older sister by two years, Hana Hirai.
Momo started dancing at a very young age and decided to become a singer because of Amuro Namie and got into K-pop after watching Rain and Lee Hyori. Throughout her young life, she trained at the Step Out Dance Studio and was scouted by JYP Entertainment after they saw a dance video of her and her older sister. Momo and her sister were invited to the 2011 JYP Japan Audition which were held in Osaka (19/11/2011) and Tokyo (25/11/2011). Momo passed the audition, her sister did not. Subsequently, she moved to South Korea to start her JYP traineeship on April 13 2012 together with TWICE's Sana.
In 2014, she appeared in the music video of Got7's "Stop Stop It" and the Japanese MV of Junho's "Feel". In the following year, s "R.O.S.E" and miss A's "Only You."
In 2015, Momo became a contestant on the reality girl group survival show, Sixteen. Originally, eliminated in the sixth episode of the series, she was brought back by JYP in the show's finale, due to him believing that her skills in dance and performance would complete his girl group, which was named Twice.
Career
Momo was given the roles of a supporting vocalist, sub-rapper and a main dancer in Twice. In November 2015, Twice made their debut with the single "Ooh-Aah", and rose to the title of 'The Nation's Girl Group'.
In the fall of 2016, Kim Hee-chul and Min Kyung-hoon released a digital single, "Sweet Dream", under SM Entertainment, with the music video starring Momo and the rest of the Knowing Bros cast.
Filmography
Televison Shows
- Sixteen (Mnet) - 2015
Music video appearances
- GOT7 - "Stop Stop It" (2014)
- Junho - "Feel" (2014)
- miss A - "Only You" (2015)
- Wooyoung - "R.O.S.E." (2015)
- Park Jin Young - "Fire" (feat. Conan O'Brien, Steven Yeun, & Jimin Park) (2016)
- Heechul X Min Kyung Hoon - "Sweet Dream" (2016)
Discography
Soundtrack
- Participated in JYP Nation concert theme song - ENCORE. (2016)
Credits
◯ = Participates as writing/composer/producer, ✖ = Not participated as writing/composer/producer
Twice Discography
| Album | Song | Writing | Composer | Producer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Nights | Shot Thru The Heart | ◯ | ✖ | ✖ | |
| Fancy You | Hot | ◯ | ✖ | ✖ |
Dances
Video Gallery
