fromis_9's 'White Memories' Earns Two Music Show Wins — A Classic Remake That Hits Its Mark

fromis_9 released "White Memories" on December 2, 2025 . A remake of Kim Min Jong's 2001 classic "White Longing" that went on to earn two music show victories and chart in the Circle Chart Top 10 through the month of December. For a five-member group operating without two founding members and deep into their seventh year, the song represented both a strategic choice and an artistic one.

The original "White Longing" is a piece of Korean music history: a melancholic winter ballad that defined a particular mode of seasonal feeling in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Choosing to remake it now, and in the specific way fromis_9 executed it, says something about where the group positions itself relative to the generational K-pop marketplace it inhabits.

What the Remake Does Differently

fromis_9's "White Memories" preserves the melodic identity of Kim Min Jong's original while updating its production architecture significantly. The strings are still present but lighter, giving way to a more contemporary pop texture — what one critic described as "candy floss production" layered over the song's inherently melancholic emotional core. The lyrics, translated from Korean, speak of snowfall bringing painful memories, of walking a lonely path while others appear happy: content that the original version rendered with orchestral weight, and that fromis_9's version delivers through precisely controlled vocal coloring.

The execution matters here because fromis_9's vocal identity — particularly following the departure of members Jisun and Jiheon in 2024, leaving the group with five active members — has had to redistribute its tonal range. "White Memories" showcases how that redistribution has settled: the five remaining members (Hayoung, Jiwon, Nakyung, Chaeyoung, and the other active members) share the melodic load in a way that emphasizes blend over individual showcase. For a winter ballad about shared loneliness, that approach is structurally appropriate.

The K-Pop Winter Single as Strategic Tool

December releases occupy a specific commercial function in the K-pop calendar. With the industry's major award ceremonies concentrated between late November and late January, winter singles serve multiple purposes simultaneously: they keep an artist active in chart calculations during the scoring window; they provide music show performance opportunities that maintain broadcast presence; and they give fanbases seasonal content to engage with during what is otherwise a relatively quiet comeback period.

fromis_9's choice of a remake, rather than an original composition, adds another layer to this strategy. Remakes carry built-in cultural resonance — particularly when the source material is as well-known in South Korea as "White Longing" — that can attract listener attention beyond the group's existing fanbase. The gamble succeeded: "White Memories" attracted Music Bank chart scoring from listeners who may not have engaged with fromis_9's recent original releases, contributing to the group's December 26 Music Bank first win with 4,875 total points.

Reading the Music Show Performance

The 4,875-point Music Bank win is worth reading carefully. Music Bank's K-Chart scoring formula incorporates digital performance (streaming and downloads), physical album sales, broadcast score (how often the song plays on KBS programming), and audience preference. For "White Memories" — a digital single without a physical album release — the digital performance and audience preference components carried the win. The margin over ILLIT's "Not Cute Anymore" (3,725 points) and Hwasa's "Good Goodbye" (3,472 points) was comfortable rather than narrow, suggesting genuine listener traction rather than a mobilized fan-voting surge.

The second win came on January 10 on Music Core, with 6,822 total points — a higher absolute score than the Music Bank win, reflecting a track that was building momentum rather than fading after its peak. For a winter single typically expected to perform well in December and then recede, that January persistence was unusual and indicated crossover appeal beyond the immediate fan audience.

The Quiet Resilience of Long-Running Groups

fromis_9's longevity carries context that makes "White Memories" more meaningful than a straightforward single release. The group debuted in 2017 through Mnet's "Idol School" survival program, placing its members in a career framework that has since become complicated: the program's producer was later convicted in connection with the broader "vote manipulation" scandal that affected multiple Mnet competition shows. The cloud over fromis_9's origin story has persisted alongside the group's actual music output, creating a dynamic where commercial and critical achievements exist in parallel with institutional difficulty.

Within that context, a winter single that earns two music show wins and charts consistently through December and January reads as another entry in a seven-year record of resilience. The group that Hayoung, Jiwon, Nakyung, and Chaeyoung are now leading — one built on reputation for vocal reliability and warm, seasonal content — has outlasted the industry turbulence surrounding its debut. "White Memories" is, in that reading, more than a seasonal single. It is clear evidence that the group continues to navigate that history on its own terms.