Rosé is on top of the world right now.
Her hit with Bruno Mars, APT., is the earworm millions are bopping along to all day every day, with the “electric” soprano also recently posing for Kim Kardashian‘s Skims – the notorious It Girl tastemaker – and inking a global ambassadorship for Yves Saint Laurent Beauté.
Behind closed doors, however, it’s not as glamorous for the Blackpink rose known by many other names.
READ MORE: ’I don’t want to vilify anyone’: Star snubbed on biggest stage in the world
It was on her father’s suggestion that Rosé flew to Sydney, Australia, for an open casting call that would ultimately change her life – but she actually thought he was joking when he spoke with her about it.
Born Roseanne Park – also known as Rosie, Park Chae-young and The Golden Voice – in Auckland, New Zealand, to South Korean parents, but raised in Melbourne, Australia, alongside her older sister Alice Park, Rosé grew up singing and playing piano and guitar, often performing in local church choirs.
In 2012, Rosé’s father Mason Park saw record label YG Entertainment was hosting an audition for the next big K-pop star in the Emerald City, and told his 15-year-old daughter she should go for it.
For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.
Australia’s music habits revealed in 2024’s Spotify Wrapped
“I always played music for more as a hobby,” Rosé later told the Sydney Morning Herald, noting she didn’t take her father seriously at first, largely due to the fact that, on the slim chance she was successful, she’d have to go to Seoul, South Korea, to pursue it fully.
“In Australia, I didn’t think that there was much of a chance for me to become a singer – especially to become a K-pop star … I was living so far from the country that it never really occurred to me as a possibility.”
That slim chance became Rosé’s reality when she impressed YG Entertainment so much that, two months after coming first among 700 hopefuls, the then-16-year-old had dropped out of Year 11 at Victoria’s Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College and was on a plane to the Republic of Korea’s capital.
READ MORE: Uncomfortable topic plagues teen prodigy wherever she goes
“[It] was one of the most challenging yet most life-changing periods of my life,” she told the publication of her time as a trainee.
What followed was a skyrocket to stardom as one fourth of Blackpink, one of the most successful girl groups in the world.
Debuting in 2016 with Square One, Rosé – who had spent the last four years training with YG Entertainment – spent the next seven years touring the globe.
READ MORE: K-pop superstar had been famous for years but no one had ever seen her like this
By 2023, Blackpink’s members – Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé – were ready for a break. YG Entertainment confirmed the stars had renewed their contracts for group activities, but had decided to pursue other options when it came to their solo ventures.
After a two-day concert extravaganza at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome that September, Blackpink had closed out their year-long world Born Pink tour with a bang – and gone on a hiatus, of sorts.
It was the beginning of the unknown for a suddenly vulnerable Rosé, who had signed with Atlantic Records as a solo artist and was now actively working on an album all by herself.
The 10 ‘greatest pop stars’ of the 21st century revealed
“[The studio] was the only place I felt sane. That’s why I did it for a year. I felt like I was being held by mum, or something,” she told i-D over dinner in New York City in November of the post-Born Pink World Tour comedown, which saw her seek solace in creating her own music in Los Angeles, California.
“There [were] bad days when I felt like I needed that [security] back, because I know what it feels like when I’m being, like, hugged and cradled.”
Rosie – Rosé’s first studio album as a solo artist – was released in December 2024, but it was a lonely process for the artist to get to that stage.
READ MORE: She’s one of the few Aussie artists to burst the Taylor Swift bubble
“I was going back and forth from hotel to Airbnb, and that was really lonely. It’s so funny how I’ve chosen to forget the negative times – the many, many nights of me crying myself to sleep,” Rosé told the publication of making her album.
”It’s like I’m forming this – not toxic – but toxic relationship with [music], because I’m obsessed with it, and sometimes it doesn’t work, but I need it in my life.”
For the first time in a long time, Rosé was feeling vulnerable. Used to being part of a group, this time she didn’t have Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa to lean on and help absorb any scrutiny.
Grim issue for Australian artists exposed by innocent list
This newfound insecurity was the inspiration for her single Number One Girl, which was written the morning after Rosé had been up until 6am doomscrolling on social media.
“I couldn’t sleep because I was so obsessed with what these people were gonna say about me and what I wanted them to say about me,” Rosé told i-D.
“I was so disgusted at myself for it – I never wanted to admit it to anyone, I didn’t even want to admit it to myself. But I had to be fully honest in the studio,” the 28-year-old said.
READ MORE: A bikini flung her into controversy. Now she’s famous for something else
”I felt very empty that night,” she explained to NPR.
“And I found myself back at the hotel room. I ended up scrolling through the internet, just hurting myself.”
Rosé further opened up about the pressures of becoming a solo artist after breaking out with a girl group to the New York Times in November, noting how, in a way, the act completely went against her extensive training.
Inside the biggest girl band feuds and breakups of all time
”We were trained to always present ourselves in the most perfect, perfect way,” she told the publication.
“And so even when we were interacting with fans online, it was when I was ready to give perfect answers and give them what they wanted. And making sure that I’m a perfect girl for everyone.
“I had moments where I was like: ‘Wait, can we say this? Wait, maybe we shouldn’t put that word in there. Maybe this is too much. Should we not?'”
READ MORE: One place Hollywood hero’s daughter is more famous than him
“At the end of the day, I want people to understand me and stop misunderstanding me as a person as well,” she told Paper in November of her new album, noting it’s her most raw and personal work yet about navigating her “terrible 20s”.
“I’m ready to be a bit more vulnerable and open and honest in order for people to not misunderstand, and take me for what I am.”
One person who helped Rosé with her new chapter was Taylor Swift, who gave Rosé her number at an industry event and told the budding solo artist to call her with any questions.
Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour in numbers
Rosé told i-D Swift’s act is something she’s “really grateful” for as it came when she felt like she was “drowning”.
“She is literally the coolest, and she’s such a girl’s girl. She was telling me – make sure to take care of this, this and this – like, logistics,” Rosé said, noting Swift was trying to protect her.
“Me becoming solo, being independent, it’s not an easy thing. There are a lot of things I should be careful with, and she gave me a rundown on all the things I have to look out for.”
READ MORE: One thing one of music’s biggest names won’t show her fans
Her relationship with Swift became the centre of a firestorm long before she actually spoke about it – and it’s all to do with a photo taken in New York City in 2022.
The Rosé ‘curse’ fans can’t stop talking about
Rosé may have broken into the public consciousness thanks to her work with Blackpink, but there’s something else she’s become famous for.
According to fan lore, she breaks up celebrity relationships… let us explain.
From Bennifer to Isla Fisher: Major celebrity splits of 2024
It all started in September 2021, when photos of Rosé and model Gigi Hadid at the Met Gala together that May were shared on social media.
Nobody thought anything of it, and Hadid announced weeks later she and One Direction’s Zayn Malik, the father of her child, had split.
Then, in June 2022, Rosé posed with Florence Pugh at an event. Days later, Pugh’s split from Zach Braff was confirmed.
READ MORE: It was the photo fans itched for – now it leaves a bad taste in their mouths
Do you see where we’re going with this?
Next on the list was TikTok star Bella Poarch, who went on to divorce the husband she secretly had been married to for four years shortly after being pictured with Rosé.
Rosé was snapped with Kendall Jenner, then Jenner and Devin Booker split. And then, in 2022, she was photographed with Swift, then in April 2023, Swift and Joe Alwyn shockingly split after six years of dating.
READ MORE: Four letters revealed their ‘feud’ had ended – but it was too late
The Rosé “curse” – which, to be clear, is an online joke only among fans – is something Rosé has never publicly commented on, though we know she’s been asked about it.
In a Reddit Q&A after his profile with the singer was published, i-D contributor Shaad D’Souza was asked if he omitted any topics from their almost three-hour-long discussion, and he confirmed there was a “huge amount left on the cutting room floor”.
Some of that was due to length, but the actual topics were a consideration as well.
Inside the biggest band feuds of all time
“We talked a tiny bit about the ’Rosé curse’ haha but she really doesn’t like that whole narrative,” D’Souza said.
“So she didn’t have heaps to say about it lol.”
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.