Korea Girl was a forgotten ’90s band until Gen Zers found their song and played it 92 million times

Many artists subscribe to the philosophy “art for art’s sake.” Coined by 19th-century French philosopher Victor Cousin, “l’art pour l’art” means that art need not be justified and centers on self-expression and the creative act itself. It’s something Elizabeth Yi and her indie rock band from San Jose, California, Korea Girl, followed back in 1997, when they recorded their song “Reunion.” At the time, the song was far from a “hit.” It sat for nearly 30 years until Gen Z resurrected it through TikTok. Today, it has over 92 million streams on Spotify. The start of Korea Girl Korea Girl was formed in 1996. It included members Elizabeth Yi, Tobin Mori, Summer Farnese, and Mark Duarte. They recorded their first songs in March 1996 and released their first album in 1997. The band’s self-titled CD, Korea Girl, wasn’t a total flop. It earned a “Bammie” nomination from the Bay Area Music Awards, founded by BAM magazine in 1977. A high honor, other nominees for a “Bammie” that year included Metallica, Journey, Cake, Chris Isaak & Silvertone, and the Counting Crows. But a second album never came, and the band broke up in 1999. “Reunion” has a second life Yi wrote “Reunion” in 1996 after she was invited to her 10-year high school reunion at Edmonds-Woodway High School in Edmonds, Washington. It was an invitation she would refuse, and she put her feelings about it to paper. “Liz really wasn’t like an indie rock person; she’s just extremely honest,” bandmate Tobin Mori said of lead singer Yi in an excerpt from the recently released book Elvis is Dead, I’m Still Alive, by author and musician Mike Huguenor, as reported by Metro Silicon Valley. “In a good way. She had a great sensibility. It comes through in her songs.” “Reunion” is described in Elvis is Dead as “jangly and mid-tempo,” and it features Yi’s honest lyrics. In the chorus, she sings, “Why would I spend more time with people that I hate, couldn’t wait to leave behind?” Gen Z recently found the track through TikTok. The audio for “Reunion” began going viral on the social media app in the fall of 2025. It was Yi’s niece, Jamie, who told her aunt the song was “blowing up” there after one of her friends showed it to her. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the friend apparently had no idea Jamie was related to the lead singer. “I just froze; ‘That’s my aunt’s band’,” Jamie told the newspaper. Korea Girl’s story is proof that art never dies. “Elizabeth didn’t spend 30 years trying to make this song go viral. She didn’t have this incredible rollout or marketing plan or label behind her,” producer Kato shared in an Instagram post on the song’s resurgence. “The song didn’t change. The audience did. And I think this is a lesson every single artist and musician needs to understand today.” He adds that today “instant results” mean success—that if something doesn’t “blow up in 30 or 60 days, we feel like it was a complete failure.” But for Korea Girl’s song “Reunion,” there is clearly no expiration date for good music.