Seoul — After a four-year hiatus, South Korean boy band Big Bang is scheduled to make their return this spring.
However, YG Entertainment had more news to spill. The agency revealed that T.O.P would be leaving them after 16 years.
“T.O.P’s exclusive contract with YG has ended, and he will be taking on a wide variety of new challenges as both an artist and an entrepreneur,” said YG Entertainment.
“We respected T.O.P’s desire to broaden the scope of his individual activities aside from just his promotions with BIG BANG, and he successfully came to an agreement about this with the other members.”
As long as the conditions are right, T.O.P will always participate in the band’s activities whenever he is able, the agency added.
“[BIGBANG] has already completed recording their new song, and they are currently preparing to shoot the music video,” said YG Entertainment, as reported by soompi.com.
The band’s much-awaited comeback will be their first music release since Flower Road in March 2018.
Dubbed as the OG kings of K-pop, Big Bang gained international recognition for their stage presence and trendsetting experiments in the music industry, helping spread the “Korean wave” globally and sparking the golden age of K-pop.
The group debuted in 2006, with five members: G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung and Seungri.
Big Bang has reportedly sold over 150 million records, placing them in the ranks of the best-selling boy bands in the world.
They were also the first Korean artists to make it to Forbes Celebrity 100.
Seungri left the group and retired from the entertainment industry on Mar 11, 2019, following the drug, prostitution, overseas gambling and other financial criminal charges linked to the ex-idol. /TISG
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