The third song in BoA’s 20th anniversary project has been released!
SM STATION teamed up with R&B solo artist Gallant to perform his own rendition of BoA’s “Only One” for the ‘Our Beloved BoA’ 20th anniversary project. The English cover remains faithful to the original melody but expresses the sweet and bitter lyrics in a new light.
When BoA released her “Only One” in 2012, it was an instant hit, maintaining its spot in the K-Pop Billboard Hot 100 and Gaon music charts for weeks and accumulating over two million sales within two months of its release. The title track was by BoA herself and incorporated a mellow piano melody paired with her mournful vocals to express the pain of heartbreak.
In an interview with SM STATION, Gallant shared how he put his own unique color to the song, “I put a little more groove,” he started. “If the original song is an emotional breakup story that evokes tears, then my version is the sad feelings of a breakup. But at the same time, something better could happen. It’s a bittersweet feeling.”
Gallant revealed that he had been a fan of BoA for years. “BoA’s album was the first foreign language album I listened to when I was young. When I was a kid, I downloaded songs to my gift card and I remember putting [BoA’s songs] on my iPod.”
When asked about his thoughts on the collaboration and BoA herself he shared, “When I first heard BoA’s song, it didn’t matter what it was about.” he started. “Her expressiveness throughout the song was so excellent, that I could immediately understand the narrative of the song from the beginning, middle, and end. If BoA wasn’t my first K-Pop artist, my appreciation and understanding of K-Pop might have been very different from now.”
Gallant’s rendition of “Only One” is the third release from SM Entertainment’s special album Our Beloved BoA,” which is dedicated to the singer’s 20th anniversary. Other covers included in the album include Bolbbalgan4’s cover of “Atlantis” and EXO’s Baekhun’s cover of “Garden in The Air.”