Often described as the “concept queens,” Red Velvet has offered some of the most diverse music and visuals of the third generation of K-pop at SM Entertainment. It isn’t easy to describe the group in a few words because they’ve done a little of everything with great success. The group debuted sooner than JYP Entertainment’s Twice and YG Entertainment’s Blackpink, their (friendly) major competition, so they’ve had plenty of time to release memorable music. Here, we will talk about where it all began. Here is when exactly did Red Velvet debut in K-pop and with what song (plus when it was that fifth member Yeri officially joined the group).

Red Velvet Debuted on August 4, 2014 with the Song “Happiness”

Red Velvet debuted on August 4, 2014 with the single “Happiness” as a four-member group, comprising Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy. “Happiness” was composed and arranged by Will Simms, Chad Hugo, Anne Judith Wik, Chris Holsten, with lyrics by Yoo Young-jin. The “Happiness” music video was initially released on August 1, and even though Yeri was not a member of the group yet, she appears briefly at the beginning of the video as an SM trainee. However, the “Happiness” music video incurred a brief controversy, in that it mistakenly contained imagery referencing the nuclear bombing of Japan in World War II and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. An edited version of the video removing these bizarre references was uploaded online on August 4, 2014.

Red Velvet performed “Happiness” for the first time on August 1, 2014 on Music Bank, which was the date the original version of the music video was released.

After “Happiness,” Red Velvet’s next release would be a cover of the 2000 S.E.S. single, “Be Natural,” released on October 13, 2014. Following that, Yeri would officially join Red Velvet for the release of their first mini-album, Ice Cream Cake, which was released on March 17, 2015. Its lead single would be the eponymous “Ice Cream Cake,” but the song “Automatic” also received a music video slightly prior. On March 19, 2015, Red Velvet performed “Automatic” and “Ice Cream Cake” for the first time on M Countdown.

That’s everything you need to know about when Red Velvet made their debut at SM Entertainment, both as a four-member group and as five members with Yeri. They have had many successful comebacks since then.

For more, check out how old the Red Velvet members are now and how old they were at debut, or brush up on the leader of the group. We also have up-to-date info on the MBTI for each Red Velvet member. Or for another hotly anticipated SM girl group debut, check out when it was that Aespa made their debut.