I.O.I Disbanded Nine Years Ago. Now They're Up for Artist of the Year at MMA 2026

Featured photo: The nine members of I.O.I at Incheon Airport on June 4, 2026. Photo: K-POPit TV10, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

I.O.I takes the stage at the Melon Music Awards (MMA 2026) at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome on November 14. The nine members, back together nine years after disbanding, are nominated in three categories at once: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Best Song of the Year. Only seven acts made all three lists: BTS, AKMU, IVE, ILLIT, KiiiKiii, CORTIS and I.O.I (Segye Ilbo).

Honestly, when I saw the name “I.O.I” on the day-one lineup released November 4, my heart jumped before anything else (Top Star News). For fans who remember the eleven girls of 2016, the most overwhelming part is that they’re coming back not as a “nostalgia special stage” but as a nominee for this year.

I.O.I was a project group of 11 members chosen by viewer votes on Mnet’s 2016 audition show “Produce 101,” formed to be active for a fixed period only. They finished that promised run in January 2017, and in May of this year, their 10th anniversary, nine of them got back together (Sports Donga).

A song that started at No. 100 hit No. 1 in ten days

The reunion song “Suddenly” didn’t explode right away. When it came out on May 19 it entered Melon’s TOP100 at No. 100. Word of mouth from music shows, variety shows and dance challenges with fellow singers pushed it up one step at a time, and ten days after release it reached No. 1. In June it topped the monthly chart too (Sports Donga).

The music show trophies came pouring in after promotions had already ended. Three wins on MBC’s “Show! Music Core” and two straight weeks on SBS’s “Inkigayo” made five, and all five came after their official promotions wrapped (Sports Donga). Jeon Somi’s one line on Instagram sums up I.O.I’s summer most lovably: “We’ve got so many trophies I think we need to build a cabinet” (TenAsia).

The music video has passed 26.96 million views as of November 5 (Stone Music and Swing Entertainment official channel). The reunion brought together Lim Na-young, Chungha, Kim Se-jeong, Jung Chae-yeon, Kim So-hye, Yoo Yeon-jung, Choi Yoo-jung, Kim Do-yeon and Jeon Somi, while Kang Mi-na and Zhou Jieqiong couldn’t join because of their own schedules (Sports Kyunghyang, Top Star News). The nine held three days of solo concerts in Seoul, then took the stage to Bangkok and Hong Kong (Sports Donga).

Also read: K-pop News Today (Nov 3, 2026): BIGBANG Make History in Sydney, TWS Return With 'TO US', RESCENE's Comeback Day

A nomination nostalgia can’t buy

MMA winners are decided, in principle, by 60 percent streaming performance, 20 percent judges and 20 percent fan votes (Segye Ilbo). That means the main-award nominee list is essentially a year’s worth of Melon report cards. The reason I.O.I is up for Artist of the Year is written on that report card: “Suddenly” reached the top of both the TOP100 and the HOT100 (Segye Ilbo).

I.O.I isn’t a guest dropping by for a celebratory stage. They’re on the list of competing nominees, in the same row as the reigning top groups like BTS and IVE.

Ten years ago, in the same dome, they were up for Best New Artist

On November 19, 2016, at the 2016 Melon Music Awards in the same Gocheok Sky Dome, I.O.I was a Best New Artist nominee, half a year after debut (MBN Star). “Very Very Very,” released that October, is still the song that defines I.O.I.

That music video still stands at more than 64.23 million views (as of November 5). Over ten winters, the members held on along their own paths, as actors, solo singers and members of other groups, and the fans waited for “someday” the whole time. That “someday” came in the same dome, under a name one step higher.

Tteokbokki in the practice room, and November 14

Early on October 27, Kim Do-yeon, Choi Yoo-jung, Yoo Yeon-jung and Jeon Somi posted photos and videos from the practice room one after another. Under a photo of tteokbokki eaten sitting in a circle on the floor, Yoo Yeon-jung wrote, “School-gate-style tteokbokki that Yoodaeng (Yoo-jung) brought. Fueling up before practice,” and Kim Do-yeon left a comment for the two members who weren’t there that day: “Chaeyeon, Sohye, see you tomorrow” (TenAsia). On November 4, a photo of Yoo Yeon-jung, Jeon Somi and Chungha standing side by side in front of the practice room mirror went up (Sports Kyunghyang). Friends who first met in an audition practice room ten years ago are standing in front of the same mirror again.

Day one of MMA 2026 starts at 6 p.m. Korea time on November 14 (4 a.m. the same day on the U.S. East Coast). In Korea, Melon and Wavve stream it live. Outside Korea, you can watch on the 1theK YouTube channel (some countries excluded), U-NEXT in Japan and TVBS in Taiwan. Voting in each category is open on the Melon website and app until November 13 (Top Star News).

To the dome where they once stood as rookies, the nine are returning as Artist of the Year nominees. I’ll be waiting that night for the first line of “Suddenly.”

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I.O.I Disbanded Nine Years Ago. Now They’re Up for Artist of the Year