The local boys of FTIsland and CNBlue are joining an all-star music line-up for this year’s Summer Sonic rock festival in Japan. The annual rock fest will be held simultaneously in Toyko and Osaka on Aug. 10 and 11 and will also include renowned headlining acts such as Metallica, Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pet Shop Boys and more. Summer Sonic is Japan’s largest summer international music festival and attracts around 200,000 fans during its two-day run.  FTIsland is composed of

It has been less than a year since the young 16-year-old K-pop starlet Lee Hi made her official debut as a solo singer under YG Entertainment’s wing, after gaining fame as the runner-up of the survival audition TV program “K-pop Star” season one. With the young star having released her first full studio album “First Love” earlier in the year, the only remaining feat for Lee to tackle was putting on her first solo concert performance; she can now scratch that off the list.  Lee’s first solo conce

Local band strives to transcend indie image

Chesney surprises with ‘Life on a Rock’“Life on a Rock”Kenny Chesney(Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville)Kenny Chesney opens his new album ``Life On A Rock‘’ with the hit ``Pirate Flag,‘’ a rowdy beach-bum anthem reminiscent of his many fun-in-the-sun party songs of the last dozen years. While most of the rest of ``Life on a Rock‘’ references island life, instead of rocking out, the songs are about unplugging from the chaos of the daily grind and reflecting on quieter pleasures. Writing four songs by

Lee Hyori’s agency B2M Entertainment revealed the title of her upcoming album and the jacket image Thursday morning.“Monochrome,” the title of the album, explains why the singer maintained a black-and-white look throughout her music video for “Miss Korea,” the first single from the album.The agency posted the jacket image on Twitter with the words, “The long-awaited 5th album ‘Monochrome’ will be released on May 21! It will be available in two versions, special limited edition and regular! Pre-s

Cho Young-pil and his band will perform at the Super! Sonic 2013 music festival in August, according to the festival’s PR company. This will be the 63-year-old veteran singer’s first-ever performance at a rock festival.Fortune Entertainment unveiled the first lineup of this year Super! Sonic on Tuesday which includes Cho as well as British pop duo Pet Shop Boys and the electronic band Two Door Cinema Club, and Korean artists 10cm and the semifinalist of “Superstar K4” DICKPUNKS.  The annual even

Veteran four-member Korean rock band Delispice and Japanese group HY will be performing in Seoul at a special joint Seoul-Okinawa concert showcase on May 31. The concert will be held in the Live Hall at the KT&G SangsangMadang Center in Mapo-gu at 7:30 p.m. Making their start playing in various clubs in Hongdae, Delispice released its first studio debut in 1997 with the lead single “Chau Chau,” from its first, self-titled album.  Now more than 15 years later, Delispice is one of the nation’s big

Super Junior member Ye Sung, 28, left the spotlight temporarily to fulfill his two-year mandatory military service. Ye Sung enlisted with the 35th division in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on Monday for four-week basic military training. After basic training he will serve 23 months in a public service position.  The night of his enlistment, Ye Sung wrote a message to his fans on his Twitter account: “I will miss it all. Stages, songs... I look forward to the day we meet again, ELF. No worries,

Singer Jang Yoon-jeong’s pre-interview for SBS talk show “Healing Camp” was leaked last week, exposing her family’s private matters. The news was that the trot queen was heavily in debt due to her mother and brother. During the pre-interview, Jang cleared up rumors about her fiance approaching her for her money. “One day I checked my bank account and all I saw was a negative balance of 1 billion won. At this news, my father suffered a stroke,” she said. Since then her parents have filed for divo

Traditional, fusion and indie music from Korea will be performed at leading venues in London

K-pop diva Lee Hyori has made her way back to the stage after a three-year hiatus from the music scene with her newest single “Miss Korea,” which was unveiled on Monday. “Miss Korea,” a pre-release single from her soon-to-be-released fifth studio album, achieved an “all-kill” almost immediately upon its release by topping all the major Korean music charts including Melon, Daum, Bugs and Mnet. “Miss Korea” was both written and composed by the diva herself and arranged by her jazz guitarist boyfri