SHINee member Key will be staging his first solo concert in South Korea, “The Agit Key Land – Key,” in February in Seoul.According to S.M. Entertainment on Tuesday, the concert will run for six days, February 2-3 and 7-10, at the SMTown Theatre in SMTown’s Coex Artium.  (S.M. Entertainment)Since he made his solo debut in November with the album “Face,” the singer has successfully reached out to Japan with his first J-pop solo album, “Hologram.” Released in December, the five-track album was well

Chungha’s latest song “Gotta Go,” released Jan. 2, was sitting atop global iTunes K-pop charts as of Tuesday.According to the MNH Entertainment, which represents Chungha, the singer’s new digital single “Gotta Go” ranked No. 1 on the iTunes K-pop chart of Thailand and Qatar, ranked second on Singapore’s KKBOX K-pop chart and was No. 8 on Apple Music.  (MNH Entertainment)The track appears to have been well received by global fans, popping up on charts of global music streaming service Spotify in

Kumho Art Hall will be up-and-coming pianist Park Jong-hai’s “playground,” where he will meet the Korean audience throughout the year and showcase his musical color. The 30-year-old pianist was selected as the art hall’s artist in residence for this year. Each year, the art hall, run by the Kumho Art Cultural Foundation, selects an under-30 classical musician starting to build up a career. The annual program, titled “Playground” this year, provides opportunities for musicians to further develop

K-pop boy band BTS finished the year 2018 as the second-highest album seller in the United States, behind Eminem, US data showed Tuesday.The 2018 report on US Music Industry Consumption by Buzz Angle Music showed BTS sold 603,307 albums last year, coming after the top seller Eminem's 755,027. (Yonhap)The BTS sales figure was far more than those by two English-speaking music idols, Justin Timberlake and Ed Sheeran, who sold 432,913 and 409,291 albums, respectively, to rank 10th and 11th.BTS relea

Lee Minhyuk of BTOB on Monday revealed the schedule leading up to his solo debut slated for Jan. 15.The leader and rapper of BTOB will release his first solo album, “Hutazone,” next week.  (Cube Entertainment)Lee will drop teasers, including the track list, on Tuesday, followed by a concept image, trailer clip, audio teaser and a music video teaser. The rapper previously dropped a single as part of BTOB members’ solo single project series “Piece of BTOB” in 2017. Through the project, Lee not onl

Having grabbed bagful of gongs at the MMAs and Asia Artist Awards, BTS once again won big at the 33rd Golden Disc Awards in Seoul on Sunday As soon as BTS was called out to receive the Daesang, or the grand prize, members stood up bowing their heads repeatedly toward all the singers and their fans to show their gratitude. (Yonhap)“We turn the honor of the awards to our official fanclub Army for supporting us throughout 2018,” said leader RM. “We had a hard time at the start of the year, getting

Lee Hyori and Lee Sang-soon appeared at IU’s concert in Jeju on Saturday. The couple surprised fans by making an appearance during IU’s 10th anniversary concert “dlwlrma-Jeju ‘Curtain Call’” held at the International Convention Center Jeju on Jeju Island. “Thank you so much for coming to my concert. I’m so nervous right now,” said the 26-year-old as she greeted the two. (IU’s Twitter)Lee Hyori and IU sang a duet song, “She’s Different From Me,” with Lee Sang-soon’s guitar accompaniment. The song

Apink has dropped a music video teaser for its song “%%” slated for release at 6 p.m. Monday.Representing the girl group, Plan A Entertainment unveiled the first music video teaser for “%%,” the title track of the upcoming EP “Percent,” at midnight Friday via Apink’s official fan page and social media channels. (Plan A Entertainment)The 52-second clip features member Son Na-eun whispering some words while other members appear to be in the middle of a ritual: They are gathered around looking at a

Black Pink was named the most popular K-pop girl group in January, followed by Twice and Red Velvet, according to the Korea Brand Reputation Center. The center analyzed over 135 million pieces of big data on K-pop girl groups from Dec. 4, 2018 to Jan. 5 and examined their brand reputation in the categories of participation, media, communication and community.  (YG Entertainment)The brand reputation measures positive and negative perception rates, interest from the media and attention and communi

The people of Seoul will be invited to take part in a musical performance in honor of freedom fighter Yu Gwan-sun to be held on March 2, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement and the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and the Seoul Metropolitan Chorus will jointly hold “Yu Gwan-sun Opera Cantata.” The performance tells the life story of the emblematic female activist of the March 1st

“Mostly, I am a family man,” said violinist Christian Tetzlaff in a phone interview ahead of his upcoming debut concert as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s artist-in-residence this year. 　“Family, of course, is the most important thing in life,” the father of six continued. “But the support in really difficult and desperate times -- yes, playing and listening to music can really give a lot to most people -- to know that we are sharing grief and that sharing joy in concerts. This is the reason

S.M. Entertainment will hold its “SMTown Special Stage in Santiago” concerts at Estadio Nacional sports complex in the Chilean city on Jan. 18-19, the first time the agency’s flagship event will take place in South America.Many of the marquee names in the agency including BoA, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation’s Yuri and Hyoyeon, SHINee’s Key and Taemin, EXO, f(x)’s Amber, Red Velvet and NCT are to participate in the event to perform colorful stages for two days.(S.M. Entertainment)Estadio Naciona

The first self-composed song from Jimin of boy band BTS, “Promise” was streamed over 13 million times in its first two days and 20 hours since release, the quickest pace among any solo efforts from the bandmates.When the song was released Monday via global music platform SoundCloud, the site was momentarily paralyzed with users rushing to stream the track.  (BTS official blog)“Promise” not only topped the New Hot chart and Top 50 chart of SoundCloud, but regional music charts including for the U

Yoon Ji-sung, leader of the recently disbanded Wanna One, will star in the musical “The Days,” which will be staged in Seoul from Feb. 22.According to Insight Entertainment representing the musical on Wednesday, Yoon will take the role of Kang Moo-young, a witty, free-spirited soul who works for the secret service. “I’m grateful to get such an opportunity after my activities end as a member of Wanna One,” said Yoon. “I’ve always had a desire to appear in a musical. I’ll show a new side of myself

Maestro Chung Myung-whun kicked off 2019 by conducting “New Year’s Concert 2019” in Venice, Italy. The annual concert, in its 16th edition, was performed four times from Saturday to Tuesday at the historic Teatro La Fenice, also known as the La Fenice opera house. Chung led the venue’s previous New Year’s concert, too.  Maestro Chung Myung-whun (Teatro La Fenice)The first part of the concert was exclusively orchestral, with the performance of Beethoven Symphony No. 7. The second half was dedicat