Morning Musume (モーニング娘。; Morning Girls), currently known as Morning Musume '17 (モーニング娘。'17, read as Morning Musume One-Seven), is the lead group of Hello! Project. The group was formed in 1997 on a talent show called ASAYAN. It quickly became, and currently is, one of Japan's top all-girl groups with a number of hit records and albums.
'Musume' means daughter or girl, hence the name 'Morning Girls'.