In December 2012, Girls' Generation released "Dancing Queen"—a remake of British singer Duffy's "Mercy" (2008) as the lead single from their then-upcoming 2013 Korean studio album. On New Year's Day of 2013, the group released their fourth Korean studio album titled I Got a Boy. On the same day, the group held a special television program, Girls' Generation's Romantic Fantasy. The album peaked atop the Gaon Album Chart and Billboard 's World Albums Chart. The title track, "I Got a Boy" claimed the number-one position on the Billboard 's Korea K-Pop Hot 100 and the Gaon Digital Chart. It sold 1,354,672 downloads in 2013, becoming the 11th best-selling digital single of 2013 in South Korea. Its accompanying music video received the award for Video of the Year at the inaugural YouTube Music Awards in 2013, which was subject to major attention from U.S. media.
Girls' Generation performing "I Got a Boy" at the 2014 Seoul Music Awards
Girls' Generation performing "Mr.Mr." at M Countdown, 2014
In February 2013, Girls' Generation embarked on the Girls & Peace: 2nd Japan Tour, which started in Kobe on February 9. The DVD release was published in September 2013 and topped the Oricon DVD Chart, selling 53,256 copies within its first week of release. From June 2013 to February 2014, the group held their first world tour, Girls' Generation World Tour Girls & Peace, performing ten concerts in seven Asian countries.
Girls' Generation released their first remix album, Best Selection Non Stop Mix, in March, and a live album, 2011 Girls' Generation Tour, in April. The former charted at number six on the Oricon Albums Chart, while the latter peaked atop the Gaon Album Chart. In December, Girls' Generation released their third Japanese studio album, Love & Peace. The album debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart, selling more than 129,000 copies. It was certified Gold by the RIAJ for shipments of over 100,000 copies. The album spawned two singles: "Love & Girls" and "Galaxy Supernova". The former charted at number four, while the latter charted at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart.
In February 2014, Girls' Generation released their fourth EP, Mr.Mr. It debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart. The EP was the fifth highest-selling album of 2014 in South Korea, with 163,209 copies sold as of the end of the year. The album debuted at number 110 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, selling over 3,000 copies. The title track, "Mr.Mr.", charted atop the Gaon Digital Chart and sold 906,962 in 2014, becoming the year's 46th best-selling digital single in South Korea.
In July 2014, the group released their first Japanese greatest hits album, The Best. The album is composed of the group's previous singles as well as a few new tracks: "Indestructible", "Divine", and "Chain Reaction". The release topped the Oricon Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks and has sold over 175,000 copies in Japan. With The Best claiming the top spot of the Oricon Albums Chart, Girls' Generation became the first non-Japanese female group in Asia to have three number-one albums on the chart. During the same month, they also completed their third concert tour in Japan, Love & Peace. Commencing in Fukuoka in April 2014, the group performed 17 times in seven Japanese cities including Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo. With three Japanese concert tours since 2011, Girls' Generation attracted a cumulative total of 550,000 spectators, setting the record for a K-pop girl group.
On September 30, 2014, member Jessica announced that she had been dismissed from the group. S.M. Entertainment confirmed this and stated that Jessica was no longer a member of Girls' Generation due to constant conflicts between the group's and Jessica's schedules. Girls' Generation continues to promote as an eight-member group while Jessica remains under S.M. Entertainment as a solo artist. The remaining eight members proceeded with the group's activities and held The Best Live concert at Tokyo Dome on December 9, 2014, which sold out and attracted 50,000 spectators. The concert disc was released in April 2015, topping both Oricon's DVD and Blu-ray weekly chart simultaneously
In March 2015, Girls' Generation announced their first release as an eight-member group—a Japanese single titled "Catch Me If You Can". The Korean version was released worldwide on April 10 while the Japanese version was released in Japan on April 22, 2015. It peaked at number 8 on the Oricon Singles Chart and number 19 on the Gaon Digital Chart.
