BTS is holding a digital concert on Oct. 24, the band announced Wednesday.

Titled “BTS Permission to Dance on Stage,” the show will broadcast live.

It has been about a year since the group’s previous concert, “BTS Map of the Soul ON:E,” which was livestreamed across the world and attracted 993,000 fans from 191 countries.

Meanwhile, the septet is leaving for New York on Saturday to attend the 76th United Nations General Assembly alongside South Korea President Moon Jae-in as his special envoys.

BTS will deliver a speech and present a video performance at a UN Sustainable Development Goals session. This is the third time the group will be appearing at the UN General Assembly. In 2018, RM gave a speech and last year the band reached out to youth around the world with a video message.

Mamamoo looks back with best-of album


The bandmates of Mamamoo talked about their compilation album “I Say Mamamoo: The Best” that released Wednesday, through their agency RBW Entertainment.

“This album lets us look back at the past seven years. I was happy and proud preparing for this album, reliving the memories with Moomoo,” said Wheein, referring to the girl group’s official fandom.

The album consists of 23 songs, including new tune “Mumumumuch,” and Solar picked the new jam as her recommendation for fans before adding that her favorite would be whatever their fans love. Moonbyeol chose “Paintme,” since she really likes the new arrangement.

“And listening to the song reminds me of concerts and I go all pitter-patter and nostalgic,” she explained.

The new album is a gift to themselves as well, maybe an early Christmas present, said Hwasa with a laugh.

“Hopefully many would feel the joy and giddiness unwrapping the ribbon of the present, and may the memory last long,” she added.

Blackpink’s “Kill This Love” surpasses 500m streams on Spotify


Blackpink cemented its international dominance as “Kill This Love” logged 500 million streams on Spotify, YG Entertainment announced Wednesday.

The focus track from its 2019 same-titled EP became its second song to reach the milestone. “How You Like That” was the first to pass the threshold just two days prior. The group is the only K-pop girl group to have a song top 500 million streams on the platform, and its other megahit “Ddu-du Ddu-du” is closing in on the number as well. The quartet has 17 songs with more than 100 million streams on Spotify.

“Kill This Love” was the first song by a K-pop girl group to claim the No. 1 spot on the iTunes top songs chart in the US. It ranked No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and No. 41 on Billboard’s Hot 100, as well as No. 33 on the Official single chart in the UK, scoring a record for Korean female musicians. The music video for the song has almost 1.4 billion views on YouTube as of Wednesday.

IZ*ONE’s Jo Yuri announces collaboration


Jo Yuri of now-disbanded IZ*ONE announced on Wednesday that she will be teaming up with Lee Seokhoon of SG Wannabe.

She uploaded a black poster that simply stated “Jo Yuri With Lee Seok Hoon” in white letters.

The former main vocalist for the girl group hinted that she is readying for her solo debut, opening accounts on a range of social media sites and sharing profile photos late last month. She participated in the original soundtrack of a JTBC drama series in June.

Most of her former bandmates are actively pursuing their individual careers, in music and in acting. Kwon Eunbi was the first to strike out as a solo musician, coming out with her first EP last month, while Kang Hyewon is to appear in a web drama. Jang Wonyoung and Ahn Yujin will form another girl group under Starship Entertainment, as will Kim Chaewon and Miyawaki Sakura under Source Music, a Hybe label.

By Hwang You-mee
(glamazon@heraldcorp.com)