K-pop Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

ARTMS have announced the dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘Moonshot’ world tour, featuring concerts in the US, Asia and more.Today (April 19), ARTMS revealed the first batch of dates for their newly announced 2024 ‘Moonshot’ world tour, which will kick off in July with three concerts across South Korea and Japan.Thereafter, the girl group will embark on the tour’s US leg, featuring 12 dates over August and September 2024. It’ll kick off on August 16 in New York, followed by shows in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona and more.According to the poster for ARTMS’ 2024 ‘Moonshot’ world tour, more dates will be announced soon.

Cashero, starring 2PM singer Junho.Today (April 18), Netflix revealed the cast of its upcoming original K-drama series Cashero on its official Netflix K-Content account on X (formerly Twitter), describing the show as “superheroes with a realistic twist”.The series will be led by 2PM singer Junho as Sang-woong, who has superpowers that will be related to money and wealth.

Super Junior have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Super Show Spin-off: Halftime’ tour, with concerts in Thailand, Singapore and more.Today (April 18), Super Junior announced the dates and venues of their upcoming 2024 ‘Super Show Spin-off: Halftime’ tour. It comes about three months after the boyband first teased the tour in a statement to news outlet News1.The K-pop boyband will kick off their 12-date tour with a two-date performance on June 22 and 23 at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea.

Zico and BLACKPINK member Jennie have teased their upcoming collaboration, titled ‘Spot!’.Today (April 18), Zico posted a video of him and BLACKPINK’s Jennie in a recording studio dancing along to a preview of their upcoming single on Instagram. The snippet features vocals from the girl group member singing: “Up and down, round and round, hit the spot, spot, spot, spot”.A post shared by 우지호/ZICO (@woozico0914)Soon after, Zico revealed that the new collaboration is titled ‘Spot!’ and will be out on April 26 at 6pm KST.

ILLIT have dropped a brand-new music video for ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’, a cut from their debut mini-album ‘Super Real Me’.In the ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ video, the five members of ILLIT are seen going about daily life except with a mysterious series of coincidences that cause them to miss potential mishaps by mere seconds, and even open them up to opportunities, including a romantic interest.“I don’t need, I don’t need, I don’t need any golden ticket / All I need, all I need, all I need is to believe in myself / Finally, finally, finally / Everything will come true / Recite the spell every day,” they croon on the pre-chorus.‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’ is a second track from ‘Super Real Me’ to receive a video treatment, following title track ‘Magnetic’. The latter has since gone viral and subsequently made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at Number 91, making it the only debut song by a K-pop act to achieve such a feat.The girl group – comprising Wonhee, Minju, Iroha, Moka and Yunah – were formed through the JTBC reality TV series R U Next?. Prior to their official debut, ILLIT had starred in luxury fashion house Acne Studios SS24 global campaign.In other K-pop news, boyband ZEROBASEONE have released a preview of their upcoming single, ‘Sweat’.

Tomorrow X Together has partnered with General Mills to produce special edition collectible cereal boxes for its brands, such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms and more.The collaboration was announced by General Mills yesterday (April 16) via its social media channels, featuring a pictorial of the five idols with the various TXT-themed cereal boxes to be released in May.According to a press release from General Mills, each of the five members will be featured individually alongside brand mascots of the company’s various cereals, namely Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Cookie Crisp, Trix and Honey Nut Cheerios. Huening Kai, Beomgyu, Yeonjun, Soobin and Taehyun will be featured on boxes of these cereal brands, respectively.On top of the collectible cereal boxes, exclusive versions of Reeses’ Puffs with all five members of TXT will also be made available, exclusive to Walmart stores.

ZEROBASEONE have released a preview of their upcoming single, ‘Sweat’.ZEROBASEONE unveiled a snippet of ‘Sweat’ on their official TikTok account. The preview of ‘Sweat’, billed as the ‘Shorts version’ of the song, runs for 44 seconds and presumably highlights the hook of the boyband’s upcoming single.‘Sweat’, due out on April 24 at 6pm KST, will serve as a pre-release single for ZEROBASEONE’s upcoming mini-album ‘You Had Me at Hello’.

SHINee singer Key has announced dates for his upcoming 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour, featuring concerts in Thailand, Indonesia and more.Today (April 17), SHINee’s Key revealed four new dates for his 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour. They come about three months after the singer originally kicked off the series of concerts with a two-night performance at the Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.Key will bring his ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour to the cities of Bangkok, Jakarta and Macau in July 2024, all of which will take place on either a Saturday or Sunday.

Stray Kids have announced that they will collaborate with Charlie Puth on a brand-new single called ‘Lose My Breath’.Stray Kids announced the song today (April 17) through their social media platforms. According to a press statement, per Sports Kyunghang, ‘Lose My Breath’ is described as a “warm-up” for an upcoming Korean album slated for release sometime this summer.‘Lose My Breath’ will feature American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, marking the first collaboration project between the two artists.

ILLIT have scored their first Billboard Hot 100 hit with their viral debut single, ‘Magnetic’.According to a new X (formerly Twitter) post by Billboard, ILLIT’s ‘Magnetic’ will make its debut on the Hot 100 at the Number 91 spot. It’s the girl group’s first-ever entry on the weekly ranking, as well as the only debut song by a K-pop act to chart on the Hot 100.Aside from the Billboard Hot 100, ILLIT’s ‘Magnetic’ has also been gaining traction on Spotify’s Weekly Music Charts.

LE SSERAFIM member Sakura has opened up about her thoughts on the girl group’s recent Coachella performance over the weekend.In a statement on the fan community platform Weverse, LE SSERAFIM’s Sakura touched on the girl group’s recent debut at Coachella, the reception and the process they prepared for the performance, per Korea JoongAng Daily.The Japanese K-pop idol opened her message with questions about what it means to perform, writing: “What does it truly mean to stand on stage? Is it to present a flawlessly polished image? To bring joy to the audience? Or is it to execute the performance flawlessly, without a single hitch?”“Standards may vary depending on the person,” she added. “But as for me, I wanted to create a performance that, regardless of whether the audience knew us or our songs, they could think, ‘This was fun.

ONF have announced the North American leg of their upcoming 2024 ‘Spotlight’ tour, featuring concerts in Canada and the US.Over the weekend on April 13, ONF and tour organiser J&B Entertainment announced the North American leg of the boyband’s brand-new ‘Spotlight’ tour, which will take place from August to September 2024.ONF will kick-off their 2024 tour with a concert in the city of Toronto on August 16, before headed to Montreal for the second and last Canadian stop. Thereafter, the boyband will play a show in New York City.The US leg of the group’s tour will also include shows in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver in August 2024, before the boyband wrap-up their trek with a concert in Los Angeles, California on September 1.The venues and ticketing information of ONF’s 2024 ‘Spotlight’ tour have yet to be announced.

K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM have performed a new song live for the first time at Coachella 2024 – watch footage of the performance below.During their performance at the Sahara tent on day two (April 13), the group played their first-ever Coachella set, and brought a new track with them. The song is titled ‘Hot And Fun’ and comes after tracks like ‘FEARLESS’, ‘ANTIFRAGILE’ and ‘The Great Mermaid’.The band sing through the chorus: “I like to dance when I party / I like to kiss everybody“.

aespa singer Winter recently underwent what is being described as a “preventive” surgery for a collapsed lung.In a statement today (April 12), the Winter’s label SM Entertainment confirmed reports that the aespa singer recently underwent surgery for a pneumothorax, which is also commonly known as collapsed lung.Speaking to South Korean news outlet Newsen, the K-pop agency said that because the condition is “prone to recurrence”, the surgery was “carried out as a preventive measure in accordance with her doctor’s opinion, and the decision was made after plenty of discussion”, per Soompi.SM Entertainment added said that Winter is “currently recovering”, adding that the aespa singer’s recovery is their “top priority moving forward” when touching on how the surgery would affect the group’s scheduled activities.aespa are expected to drop new music in the second quarter of 2024, according to a preview of upcoming music release SM Entertainment released in February. It is currently unclear how Winter’s surgery will affect these plans.The K-pop group have also announced their upcoming 2024 ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Australia and more.

Goodbye Earth, starring Ahn Eun-jin and more. Read on for everything you need to know about the show.Goodbye Earth is an adaptation of a Kotaro Isaka novel, called The Fool At The End Of The World.

BLACKPINK singer Lisa has signed a new deal with RCA Records for her future solo releases.BLACKPINK’s Lisa and her company LLOUND announced the new partnership with RCA Records today, alongside the launch of her new official website. The move comes two months after the singer founded LLOUD, which she previously described as a “platform to showcase my vision in music and entertainment”.Speaking about the new deal, Lisa said that she is “super excited to be joining the RCA family and I am confident they are the best team to create a bigger movement in my solo career”, per Variety.

Super Rich in Korea, hosted by GOT7‘s BamBam and more. Read on for everything you need to know about the show.According to a previous press release by Netflix, the reality series will follow “the ultra-luxurious lives of the world’s wealthiest in the heart of Korea”.

THE BOYZ have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, the US, Europe and more.Today (April 8), THE BOYZ announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour. The trek will follow their 2023 ‘Zeneration’ world tour, which had featured 24 dates in Asia.‘Zeneration II’ will kick-off in July with a three-date show in South, South Korea, before the boyband head to the US for a solo tour the first time since 2022.

Minho and Key of K-pop boyband SHINee have renewed their contracts with long-time label SM Entertainment.SM Entertainment announced the contract renewals of both Minho and Key in a statement to South Korean news outlet Sports Chosun, saying that the SHINee duo had re-signed due to a “strong foundation of trust” with the K-pop agency, via Soompi.“We are happy to continue our valuable relationship with Minho and Key,” SM Entertainment added. “We will provide our full support in various ways for Minho and Key to shine not only as members of SHINee but also as solo artists.”In the same statement, Minho and Key also touched on their decision to re-sign with SM Entertainment, saying that the K-pop boyband have “spent every moment together [with the agency] from our beginning until now”.“I think we are who we are today because of the agency staff that we have worked together with for a long time,” the SHINee members added.

Goodbye Earth.Today (April 9), the streamer revealed though its Netflix K-Content account on X (formerly Twitter) that Goodbye Earth will premiere April 26. The announcement was accompanied by 10 stills from the upcoming K-drama, which will star Ahn Eun-jin, Jeon Sung-woo and more.Notably, none of the stills feature actor Yoo Ah-in, who has been embroiled in controversy regarding his alleged drug use since early-2023.

MAMAMOO singer Solar will be releasing her second solo mini-album, titled ‘Colours’, later this month.Solar released a teaser for ‘Colours’ earlier today (April 8) through the official MAMAMOO X (formerly Twitter) account. The clip features a cryptic, animated graphic of Solar’s name that slowly morphs to spell ‘Colours’.The singer’s new mini-album will be released on April 30.

EXO singer D.O has announced a new solo mini-album called ‘Blossom’, due out next month.D.O announced ‘Blososm’ today (April 8) through his label Company Soosoo‘s social media, which included the first visual for the upcoming record. The teaser image features a humanoid figurine made of various mechanical keyboard components, with a keycap spelling out ‘D.O’ for a head.‘Blossom’ will feature six new songs and will be led by a title track called ‘Mars’, according to a notice posted to the label’s website.

XG have announced a new single called ‘Undefeated’ for Valorant VCT Pacific 2024.XG’s new song ‘Undefeated’ has been described in a press release as a song with “a heavy bassline, minimalistic drum composition and dreamy synthesizers” with a message of “fearlessly seizing victory at all times”.XG will release ‘Undefeated’ on April 12 globally through streaming platforms, with a music video set to be released on the same day through the official VCT Pacific YouTube channel.XG & VALORANTCollaboration Single ‘UNDEFEATED’(VCT PACIFIC 2024) @vctpacific @VALORANT2024.04.12 FRI Streaming/Download 12AM within each timezoneMusic VideoET 5AMJST/KST 6PM

BoA has seemingly hinted at plans to retire from the music industry in a cryptic Instagram post.Over the weekend on April 6, BoA stirred discussion about her potential retirement when she posted Instagram Stories that talked about the upcoming end of her current contract with SM Entertainment. “Now that my contract is ending, I can retire, right?” she wrote, as translated by Koreaboo.BoA via Instagram story:— “Once the contract ends, it’s okay for me to retire, right?” pic.twitter.com/IySaDxuN5C— Kpop Charts (@kchartsmaster) April 6, 2024The day after the original post went up, BoA seemingly responded to the speculations about her retirement, revealing that her current contract with long-time label SM Entertainment will only expire in late-2025.“My contract ends on December 31, 2025! Until then, I will do my best as a singer happily,” she wrote.

Kep1er have been confirmed to be gearing up for their final album as a group, and are also currently in talks to extend their contracts.The K-pop girl group’s contracts as a temporary project are due to officially expire this year on July 3. This was a condition set by the survival show that formed Kep1er, Girls Planet 999, which stipulated that the winning line-up would embark on a two-and-a-half-year contract when the show concluded in October 2021.

EXO‘s Lay will be releasing a new album sometime this month, which will be released alongside a Korean-language version.The Chinese idol’s label, n.cH Entertainment, made the announcement earlier today (April 5), per Korea JoongAng Daily. According to the company’s statement, Lay is set to drop the album sometime in mid-April, although a specific date has yet to be specified.It also announced that a Korean version of the album will be released concurrently, and that he will be promoting the album on Korean music broadcast shows.

K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM as “Friends of the NBA” in Asia as part of a new multi-year collaboration.The “Friends of the NBA” programme is described by the association as “the league’s celebrity and influencer programme in Asia to engage fans in new and creative ways”, per a press statement released today (April 5).Billed as a “celebration of the intersection of sports and music”, the programme will see LE SSERAFIM attend NBA games and events, collaborate with the association on “a variety of exclusive content” to be featured on both parties’ social media channels, participate in promotional activities for the league and more.In the same press release, LE SSERAFIM spoke of the newly established collaboration in a joint statement: “We are so excited to collaborate with the NBA through its ‘Friends of the NBA’ program. We had a great time watching an NBA game in person last year in LA! We look forward to working together with the league to experience so much more with NBA fans around the world.”Meanwhile, NBA chief marketing officer Tammy Henault also said, “We’re thrilled to team up with breakout K-pop sensation LE SSERAFIM, a young and dynamic group of NBA fans.

BtoB has revealed that contrary to popular belief, the group do not contact each other often, saying this is the secret behind their longevity as a team.The singer-actor recently made a guest appearance on singer Jung Jae-hyung’s YouTube series, Fairy Table on its March 31 episode. Over the course of the hour-long episode, Jung asks Sungjae about his years-long experience in the K-pop industry.“You’ve been in the K-pop scene for quite a while. Right, Sungjae? It seems like many K-pop idols burn out after about 10 years.

TWICE member Chaeyoung is dating rapper Zion.T, her label JYP Entertainment has confirmed.In the early hours of today (April 5), South Korean news outlet SWAY claimed in a report that TWICE’s Chaeyoung and rapper Zion.T have been dating for 6 months after first meeting through an acquaintance.The publication also alleged that the duo have no intentions of hiding their relationship, claiming that the pair have often gone on dates publically in the Hannam-dong neighbourhood of Seoul, South Korea.In a statement to TenAsia, Chaeyoung’s agency JYP Entertainment confirmed that the pair are in a relationship. “The two of them are currently dating with positive feelings for one another.

Physical: 100 has teased the possibility of having international contestants and returnees for season three of the series.Season two of Physical: 100 wrapped up its run earlier this week on Tuesday (April 2), ending with a title card that teased a third season titled Physical: 100 – Asia. The producer of the popular Netflix series has since opened up more about that teaser, as well as his hopes for the future of the series.Producer Jang Ho-gi revealed that the third season Physical: 100 has not officially been confirmed for production in an interview with The Korea Herald.

NCT singer Doyoung has announced the upcoming release of his debut solo album, titled ‘Youth’.Doyoung revealed that he would be making his solo debut earlier today (April 4) through posts on NCT’s social media accounts, where he announced ‘Youth’. The record is set to be released on April 22 at 6pm KST, with more information about the album expected in the coming days.According to SM Entertainment, per The Korea Herald, Doyoung’s upcoming debut solo album will feature 10 songs and will be “full of [the singer’s] honest feelings and emotions” as well as “reflect the emotions that youngsters experience”.DOYOUNG ‘청춘의 포말 (YOUTH)’【청춘의 포말 (YOUTH) – The 1st Album】➫ 2024.04.22 6PM (KST)#DOYOUNG #도영 #청춘의포말#DOYOUNG_청춘의포말#DOYOUNG_청춘의포말_YOUTH#NCT #NCT127 pic.twitter.com/QoXtVgHRis— NCT (@NCTsmtown) April 3, 2024Doyoung will be the first member of NCT go embark on a solo career.

aespa have teamed up with Korean-American DJ TOKiMONSTA on a new song titled ‘Die Trying’.aespa and TOKiMONSTA’s new song ‘Die Trying’ is for the soundtrack of Netflix’s upcoming original movie Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, due out on April 19. The film is the sequel to 2023’s Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child Of Fire, written and directed by Zack Snyder.“See me goin’ psycho / Someone tell me what’s it gonna take / Coming out the gate, I’m a rockstar / I eliminate the imposters / We the last ones on the roster / Never wave a white flag out die trying,” aespa sing on the chorus of the new song, which was produced by TOKiMONSTA.Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child Of Fire was released on Netflix in December 2023.

RIIZE have announced their debut mini-album ‘RIIZING’, slated for release in June, with several singles to be dropped in the lead-up.The boyband officially announced ‘RIIZING’ on social media yesterday (April 3), with a schedule of their activities in the months leading up to the mini-album’s release in June. Promotions for ‘RIIZING’ begin today (April 3), with the digital release of a full version of pre-debut teaser ‘Siren’ – listen to it here:According to the post, the K-pop boyband will drop four more songs prior to the release of ‘RIIZING’.

IVE have announced their upcoming second EP, titled ‘IVE SWITCH’.IVE have released a cryptic teaser for ‘IVE SWITCH’ on social media, which features jewels coming together to form a a magic wand that opens a spell book. Later, the same wand is used is a key to open a house-shaped lock, which turns the book into a metal box.‘IVE SWITCH’ will be released on April 29.

Tomorrow X Together (TXT) singer Hueningkai recently performed a cover of John Mayer‘s ‘Gravity’ during his appearance on Lee Mu-jin Service. TXT’s Hueningkai made a guest appearance on the April 2 episode of popular music talk show Lee Mu-jin Service. He came on the show to promote the boyband’s newest single ‘Deja Vu’, and also performed several covers of popular songs as a showcase of his vocals.The K-pop idol most notably took on John Mayer’s ‘Gravity’, originally released in 2006 from his album ‘Continuum’.

Big Bang star G-Dragon will be releasing new music sometime in the second half of the year, his label has confirmed.His label Galaxy Corporation announced that G-Dragon would be making his long-awaited comeback “in the second half of this year”, in a statement to South Korean news outlet News1 earlier today (April 3).“After making his comeback, he will be carrying out global activities, and activities in Japan are also planned as part of them,” Galaxy Corporation added in its statement, via Soompi. G-dragon’s forthcoming comeback will be his first solo release in about seven years, since he released his self-titled EP ‘Kwon Ji-yong’ in 2017.