Gallup Korea recently released their list of the top stars in Korea in 2015. On a similar vein, they polled 4,200 people between the ages of 13 to 59 around the country (excluding Jeju) in July, September, and November on their favorite K-pop stars of the year.

BIGBANG took home the first place spot with 15.5 percent of the votes for the first time. BIGBANG made their debut in 2006 with their first album “Always,” taking Korea by storm with their popular title song “Lies.” This year’s album “MADE” was their first comeback as a group since 2013, following two years of solo promotions amongst the members. Additionally, BIGBANG took home Gallup Korea’s Song of the Year with “Bang Bang Bang” earning 7.2 percent of the votes.

Following BIGBANG in a very narrow second place was IU with 15.4 percent of the votes. Her most recent album “Chatshire” has sparked numerous controversies, but despite that IU has seen great success this year, even without doing promotion activities.

Taking third place on the list was Girls’ Generation with 11.9 percent of the votes. Trot queen Jang Yoon Jung took fourth place with 8.9 percent of the votes, followed by SISTAR in fifth place with 6.9 percent of the votes. Lim Chang Jung took sixth place with 6.6 percent of the votes.

Tied for seventh place with 5.7 percent of the votes was EXO and ballad singer Lee Sun Hee. AOA came in ninth with 5 percent of the votes, and Lee Seung Chul rounded off the list with 4.9 percent of votes for tenth place.

Sources (1) (2)