K-pop girl band BLACKPINK’s US tour marks meteoric rise to global success

“Our North American tour is finally happening,” said an excited Jennie, one of the four members of the K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, while appearing on the American television show Good Morning America in February to huge cheers from the audience.

Jennie, 23, whose real name is Jennie Kim, and her fellow members. Jisoo, Rosé and Lisa, have enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame since the release of their hit debut single, Boombayah, in August 2016.

The success they have achieved up to now was unimaginable at the time.

Last Friday the band, which just released its latest single, Kill This Love, made history as the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella 2019, the annual arts and music festival in Indio, California.

On Wednesday the group started their “In Your Area” North American tour with a concert in Los Angeles, before they return to perform at Coachella 2019 during the event’s final weekend. The group will then play a further five concerts in Chicago, Hamilton, Newark, Atlanta and Fort Worth.

The four stars were originally signed up by the record label and talent agency, YG Entertainment, in the early 2010s and spent several years training in dance and singing before the group was launched.

BLACKPINK experienced immediate popularity and success. Thanks to the catchy lyrics of their songs, such as the debut release Boombayah (Click-clack-Badda-bing-badda-boom) and the chart-topping follow-up single Whistle (Whistle like a missile, boom boom) – both written by YG producer Teddy Park – their beauty and polished choreography, the group had the makings of a top-tier group right from the start.

BLACKPINK would go on to be named “rookie of the year” at nearly all of the Korean music awards shows.

Instantaneous success saw the band ranked among the nation’s most popular K-pop groups in only five months and gain millions of BLACKPINK fans around the world, called “Blinks”.