Seunghan of Riize will return and the band will reorganize as a seven-member act from November, said label SM Entertainment Friday. The management company broached the subject with a lengthy statement, telling fans how the band was originally planned as a septet and how deeply repentant he has been. Seunghan suspended activities about a year ago after a series of scandals followed him from debut. After the announcement, he uploaded a handwritten letter apologizing again for letting fans and ba

K-pop Oct. 11, 2024

Ateez will expand the European leg of its tour to 14 concerts, with two more performances in London and Berlin, according to agency KQ Entertainment Thursday. The band of eight originally planned to visit nine countries in the continent for 12 shows, for the Towards the Light: Will to Power tour. The tour took them to 10 cities in the US and Canada this summer and will resume January next year in France. Ateez also dropped its fourth Japanese single album “Birthday” on Oct. 2, claimi

K-pop Oct. 10, 2024

NCT Dream will return to Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for a three-date concert that will close its world tour, label SM Entertainment announced Tuesday. The seven-member NCT subunit will host the encore concert "Finale in Seoul" from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. The group will be hitting the same stage where it launched its tour “The Dream Show 3: Dreamscape” in May. The band has visited eight cities in Asia, 11 in North and Latin America, and it will begin touring five across Europe fr

K-pop Oct. 8, 2024

Tomorrow X Together will make a comeback on Nov. 4 with seventh EP, Big Hit Music announced Monday. EP “The Star Chapter: Sanctuary” will be the first of its fourth series, which follows “chapters” of dream, chaos and name. The mini album comes about seven months since the band put out previous EP “minisode 3: Tomorrow,” which sold over a million copies on the day of release and swept music charts at home. The sixth EP debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 3 and

K-pop Oct. 7, 2024

A series of teaser content for aespa’s upcoming fifth EP has been uploadedto promote the new mini album. Short-form clips for “Whiplash,” including snippets of the six tracks and a website dedicated to the mini album, allowed fans to mix and download parts of the titular track. The EP will be fully unveiled on Oct. 21. The album release comes amid the group’s ongoing second international tour “Synk: Parallel Line” which expanded to include North and Latin Am

K-pop Oct. 4, 2024

Stray Kids are set to roll out their second full-length album in Japan “Giant” on Nov. 13, label JYP Entertainment said Tuesday. The eight-member act debuted in Japan in March 2020 with the best-of album “SKZ2020” and has put out three mini albums, two physical singles and a full-length album. Their latest EP, “Social Path (feat. LiSA)/ Super Bowl - Japanese ver.,” from September last year swept all Oricon charts -- daily, weekly, weekly combined and monthly a

K-pop Oct. 2, 2024

Lisa of Blackpink surprised fans by unveiling her upcoming solo single onstage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sunday. She hit the stage at Central Park to headline the charity event with Post Malone and Doja Cat, performing her solo repertoire from "Lalisa" and "Money" to "Rockstar" and "New Woman." Also included in the list was “Moonlit Floor,” which will be rolled out Oct. 4, sampling Sixpence None the Richer’s 1997 hit

K-pop Sept. 30, 2024

Rose of Blackpink signed with Atlantic Records for her upcoming solo music, her agency The Black Label said Friday. The Warner Music affiliate is home to several artists including Bruno Mars, Cold Play and Ed Sheeran. To celebrate her deal, the American label sent her a huge bouquet of red roses with a note saying: “Welcome to the family!” She rolled out the solo single “R” in March 2021 as the second member of the group to have a solo album. The album sold over 280,000

K-pop Sept. 27, 2024

Jaehyun of NCT will enlist on Nov. 4 and serve his mandatory military duty, according to a local media report Thursday. He will do so as a member of the Army band until his discharge in May 2026. Label SM Entertainment confirmed the news adding that he applied for the military band and was accepted. The idol debuted as a member of NCT and will be the second to enlist after Taeyong who has been enlisted as part of the naval band since April. He released his first solo album “J” last

K-pop Sept. 26, 2024

Lisa of Blackpink will visit fans in Asia for the first time on her own in November, according to a local media report Wednesday. She will be hosting fan meetups in the region with plans to visit Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kaohsiung and Hong Kong in mid-November, the report said. The artist, as a solo act, won the Best K-Pop Award from the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards with “Rockstar” earlier this month and is set to headline the Global Citizen Festival in New York this weekend. &l

K-pop Sept. 25, 2024

Blackpink reached 1.7 billion views on YouTube with the performance video for “How You Like That,” label YG Entertainment said Tuesday. It is the group’s first dance video to achieve the feat and fourth video overall, following music videos for “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” “Kill This Love” and “Boombayah.” The video is the first of its kind from a K-pop musician to do so. The music video for the 2020 summer anthem surpassed 1.3 billion views on the pla

K-pop Sept. 24, 2024

(Credit: KOZ Entertainment)Rookie band Boynextdoor shared plans for its first international tour via agency KOZ Entertainment Monday. It will embark on tour “Knock On Vol. 1” with a two-day concert in Incheon Dec. 14-15. From Jan. 30 to April 12, it is set to visit 12 more cities across Asia: Singapore, Manila, Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong and Jakarta as well as six cities in Japan. The Japan itinerary reflects the popularity of the band in the country where it drew a large crowd at Su

K-pop Sept. 23, 2024

Illit generated 400 million streams on Spotify with its debut song “Magnetic,” agency Belift Lab said Thursday citing the platform. The rookie group achieved the feat in 176 days, the shortest time for a debut single from a K-pop band. Illit has already set Spotify records for a K-pop girl group when reaching the 100, 200 and 300 million play milestones. “Magnetic” fronted the group's first EP “Super Real Me” and swept music charts at home and abroad, m

K-pop Sept. 19, 2024

Hyunjin of Stray Kids has been chosen as brand ambassador for jeweler Cartier. He graced the cover of men’s magazine Esquire Korea’s October issue, draped in the accessories from the French jewelry house, which had previously appointed Jisoo of Blackpink and V of BTS to represent its campaigns. The dancer and rapper has shown affinity for Cartier, wearing its jewelry on a number of occasions and attending an event hosted by the jeweler. The news set the idol’s fans abuzz, cel

K-pop Sept. 13, 2024

Jeonghan of Seventeen will begin serving his mandatory military duty on Sept. 26, his agency Pledis Entertainment announced Thursday. He will be the first member of the 13-piece act to enlist. He will serve as an alternative social agent, as he had ankle surgery about nine months ago. He, at 29, is one of the three oldest members along with S.Coups and Joshua, but S.Coups was exempted from the duty after knee surgery and Joshua is a US citizen. As previously notified, he will be absent from prom

K-pop Sept. 12, 2024