SHINee

Taemin of SHINee has severed ties with agency Big Planet Made Entertainment, according to the company on Tuesday. Although the agency only said that their exclusive contract had come to an end, a local media outlet reported earlier in the day that the musician strongly demanded the revocation of the contract. He signed with the company less than two years ago, having parted ways with SM Entertainment after 16 years. Another local news outlet said that Taemin has been partially paying the salarie

Minho of SHINee is publishing two solo singles in Japanese on Wednesday, SM Entertainment said Tuesday. He is set to drop “Flawless” and “Sunkissed” as digital singles, both conveying warmth to listeners. Minho gave fans at two meetups in Japan last month an early chance to listen to the songs. The two fan meetings held in Yokohama were his first such event in three years. Earlier this month, he participated in the label’s SM Town Live group concerts in Fukuoka, Japan and Bangkok. His latest sol

The Vienna Symphony joined forces with SM Entertainment for a K-pop concert in the Austrian capital, the label’s affiliate SM Classics Thursday. For the concert dubbed “Wiener Symphoniker X K-Pop,” the orchestra “traveled acoustically to South Korea and fused the colorful and dazzling world of K-pop with the European orchestral tradition.” The program arranged a string of hit songs from the label’s artists: from EXO’s “Growl,” Shinee’s “Sherlock” and Red Velvet’s “Red Flavor” to Aespa’s “Black M

Jin of BTS has taken first place in a playful online poll asking which celebrity would most easily win approval at a first family meeting ahead of Korea’s Lunar New Year holiday — a result that quickly drew amused reactions from fans online. According to Idol Chart, Jin ranked No. 1 in the survey titled “With Lunar New Year approaching, who would get a free pass at a hometown family gathering?” The poll ran from Feb. 2 to 8 and saw Jin collect 9,683 votes, far outpacing the rest of the field. Trot singer Young Tak finished second with 1,199 votes, followed by actor Hong Ji-yoon with 1,029. Singer-actor IU placed fourth with 718 votes, while idols Minho from SHINee and Suho from EXO rounded out the list. In South Korea, Lunar New Year — known as Seollal — is traditionally a time for family gatherings, and “meeting the family” carries strong cultural weight. The phrase “family gathering free pass” has become a lighthearted meme on social media, referring to people whose looks, manners or public image seem universally parent-approved. Jin’s reputation for polite behav

Onew of Shinee is gearing up for a solo return on March 9, agency Griffin Entertainment announced Tuesday. The singer's fifth solo EP, “Tough Love,” comes about eight months after his second album, “Percent.” The 11-track set topped the iTunes Top Albums chart in nine regions. Onew gave fans a taste of what is to come, unveiling a teaser video at his encore concert held in Seoul on Sunday as part of “Onew The Live: Percent.” Sunday's show was the finale of the monthslong tour, which was also the