South Korean media has wrongfully reported that BTS postponed their comeback from 2025 to 2026, the band’s fanbase says. The misleading news emerged after a HYBE earnings call where CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Lee Kyung Joon revealed that the septet is planning to restart group activities the year after next.
“We are discussing activities for 2026 with BTS members,” Lee stated, explaining that the label, which became a global player in the music industry thanks to the success of the Grammy-nominated boy band, would no longer be as dependent on BTS-related sales moving forward “due to the growth of other artists,” per No Cut News.
The BTS Army is now setting the record straight regarding the part of the reports that inaccurately stated that RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook had previously agreed to have their group “comeback” (a term used in the K-Pop world to describe putting out new music) next year.
“I genuinely thought everyone understood what they meant by ‘BTS full group in 2025′ is that they’re all reunited & working as a team but not LITERALLY coming back with a brand new album,” one fan explained. “I thought we all knew this? The only thing I was waiting for was the HYYH [acronym for BTS’ 2015 album series titled Hwa Yong Yeon Hwa, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life in English] anniversary project which we don’t even know if it’s music related,” another added.
What we actually know, at this point, about BTS’ future group activities
Shortly before the last five members of BTS were scheduled to begin their military service, in September 2023, the group’s leader, RM, made sure to let fans know the group had big plans for the future. As reports emerged that all seven members had renewed their contracts with BigHit Music for a second time, nearly three years ahead of their expiration date, the rapper took to his social media to confirm the news with a photo of the binding document reading “Pop culture artist exclusive contract.”
This development ensures BTS’ longevity until, at least, 2030 — a welcome reassurance given the members’ forced 18-month departure from public life to carry out South Korea’s mandatory military service. Jin and j-hope, the first to enlist, were also the first to return, with the former in the process of releasing his first solo album, Happy. Left are RM, SUGA, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, all of whom will be discharged in June of 2025. That would have given them just six months to work on and release new music, so a 2025 “comeback” was never realistic, the fans pointed out.
“It will take time and preparations for them to comeback as BTS. And guess what, they’re seven human beings…. Have you heard the word rest?,” one Army remarked. “If anyone expected them to produce and promote a whole album in the span of 6 months (bc they write and produce their own songs btw), right after they got out of forced conscription, ur nothing but a heartless consumer btw,” another emphasized.
As previously mentioned, however, one group project is expected in 2025. The band’s seminal 2015 double album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, their first stratospheric success in their home country and ticket towards worldwide fame, turns 10 next year. HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si Hyuk confirmed in late 2023 that there would be a celebratory “10th-anniversary album and event” to mark the occasion. This may very well become BTS’ first outing as a septet since 2023, but it will not count as a “comeback” with new music or concerts — for that, fans will wait, in a mix of patience and anticipation, for those who wait 18 months can surely make it a little longer out of respect for the artists’ health, integrity, and creative process. So, ’till 2026!
Published: Nov 6, 2024 02:22 pm