Why did I-dle peak after Soojin left?

Maybe people like the group as a whole and with the longer hiatus than normal, people were happy to have them back?

I also thought it would be difficult to regain their former success, but I was wrong

The right song at the right time maybe.

To be honest, even though having stan attractors in groups makes a difference to their popularity as a whole, when it comes to specific songs I don't think the general public take notice of which members have the most lines or parts.

Even though Soojin was one of the most popular members, I think the general public literally just buy a song if they like it. It's that simple. Her absence will be most felt by their fanbase, who will still buy and support them anyway.

Haven't we have a similar discussion like yesterday or the day before?

Even though Soojin was a huge stan attractor, the group's popularity couldn't be reduced to her alone. I think what the current situation shows is that the fans (and gp?) weren't ready to let IDLE go, and the momentum they built from Queendom to HWAA didn't vanish during the hiatus year. People were waiting for them. Obviously it helped that the members kept busy during 2021, with Soyeon's solo album and multiple featurings, Miyeon and her MC gigs for Mnet and Naver Now, Yuqi collecting schedules left and right in China and her single album, etc.

I think that despite the inactivity, IDLE stayed in people's minds as a group that defies expectations, that pushes the envelope and overall delivers. Plus, the fact TOMBOY is a banger also explains their current success.

Now as for Soojin, there are just too many ifs. If Soojin stayed in the group despite the controversy, it's very unlikely they would have achieved so much. But if there never was a controversy, or had the controversy been handled differently, it's possible the album I Never Die would have never existed the way it does now. Therefore who can say what would have happened?

I think they have been on the rise since their Queendom gig, Soojin's departure didn't stop that momentum, espèce that they came back with such a bop.

Soyeon has definitely improved herself as a producer. They also put their emotions and soul into the album in a way that breaks the impact on their exact situation. That's why I'm not surprised that they succeeded. Also When I saw the CB teasers and the Mv teasers, I really loved it this time.

I think it has less to do with Soojin leaving and more to do with the fact that they were gone for so long. This built alot of anticipation for their comeback and people were interested to see what they would comeback with. Evidently, people really like the song so it's doing well

Gidle has been having strong momentum since queendom. Their subsequent releases OMG - Dumdi dumdi - Hwaa were outdoing the previous ones. Hwaa longevity was hurt by scandal but otherwise, its peak is their best ever. Tomboy basically carried that momentum from there. It is like the scandal never happened.

Maybe soojin leaving the group really helps the group after all. But, as a fan of them, i still miss Soojin. She was always the 2nd best in term of performance execution, after Soyeon

Quote from gerrard174

Gidle has been having strong momentum since queendom. Their subsequent releases OMG - Dumdi dumdi - Hwaa were outdoing the previous ones. Hwaa longevity was hurt by scandal but otherwise, its peak is their best ever. Tomboy basically carried that momentum from there. It is like the scandal never happened.

Maybe soojin leaving the group really helps the group after all. But, as a fan of them, i still miss Soojin. She was always the 2nd best in term of performance execution, after Soyeon

this, it hurts to have her gone and i miss her. but i'm glad they're doing amazing.

well it's hard to tell if a group is peaking unless they disband right?

hindsight is 20/20 and like alex said we never know if but for the scandal would gidle be the same...would they have cb sooner with better or worse results???