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BLACKPINK for Beginners: Four Members, Ten Years and a Tour Called DEADLINE

  • Category: Starter guide
  • Artist: BLACKPINK

KPOP NO1 Editorial · Sources checked October 25, 2026

In August 2025, BLACKPINK walked onto the stage at London’s Wembley Stadium, where Queen played Live Aid in 1985. According to YG Entertainment, they were the first K-pop girl group to headline there, and 110,000 people came over two nights. It was nine years almost to the day since their debut.

If you’re new, that’s a lot of history to catch up on. This guide gives you the four members, the story from 2016 to the 2026 mini album DEADLINE, and three ways to start listening.

Who are BLACKPINK?

BLACKPINK are a four-member girl group from YG Entertainment. They debuted on August 8, 2016, with the single album SQUARE ONE. YG: SQUARE ONE

YG’s own introduction explains what it was going for. The members went through long training and worked with other YG artists. Their debut, produced by YG’s top producer TEDDY, who spent two years on it, was meant to combine “the BLACK sentiment of YG and the new PINK charm.” YG called it “the signal flare” for a new girl group.

Our take: That line is the best short explanation of the name you’ll find from an official source. Black and pink, tough and sweet: you’ll hear both sides in almost every era.

Their fans are called BLINK. YG used the name when it quoted the members thanking fans after Wembley. YG: Wembley

Meet the four members

YG’s official profile lists the members with their birth dates: YG: profile

Member Korean Born
JISOO 지수 January 3, 1995
JENNIE 제니 January 16, 1996
ROSÉ 로제 February 11, 1997
LISA 리사 March 27, 1997

All four have had solo careers alongside the group. YG’s own record list includes two solo videos that passed a billion YouTube views: JENNIE’s “SOLO” and a performance video for LISA’s “MONEY.” YG: Pink Venom 1 billion

At the 2025 DEADLINE shows, YG described each member’s solo stage: JISOO dreamy and lyrical, LISA a commanding performer, JENNIE confident with a hip-hop vibe, and ROSÉ with delicate vocals and playful energy. YG: Los Angeles

The story so far

The SQUARE years (2016–2019)

The debut came with two songs at once: WHISTLE and BOOMBAYAH. YG says they topped charts and caused a sensation that “belied their rookie status.”

SQUARE TWO followed in November 2016 with PLAYING WITH FIRE and STAY. YG introduced it as a return with a gentle melody suited to autumn. YG: SQUARE TWO In June 2017, the digital single AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST brought a summer mood. YG called it their fastest, most exhilarating song yet. YG: AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST

The first mini album, SQUARE UP (June 2018), finished the SQUARE series with DDU-DU DDU-DU. YG says the title means both “let’s stick together” and “let’s fight,” with a message of facing things confidently. YG: SQUARE UP Then came KILL THIS LOVE (April 2019), the second mini album. YG presented it as a step up in quality, with “charismatic raps and vocals” and a more emotional range of songs. YG: KILL THIS LOVE

THE ALBUM (2020): the first full-length

BLACKPINK released their first full-length album, THE ALBUM, on October 2, 2020. Two pre-release singles led the way. How You Like That (June) is a hip-hop song that opens with a grand orchestral sound and then flips the mood with an explosive drop. YG says its message is to keep moving forward without giving in to dark times. YG: How You Like That Ice Cream (August) is a light dance-pop collaboration with Selena Gomez, produced by TEDDY with Tommy Brown, Mr. Franks and 24. YG: Ice Cream The title track, Lovesick Girls, mixes country-style guitar with a retro mood. It asks why people keep looking for love even though it hurts. YG notes that on this album, JISOO and JENNIE took part in songwriting for the first time. YG: THE ALBUM The eight tracks also include Bet You Wanna, featuring Cardi B.

BORN PINK (2022–2023): the biggest tour yet

The second full-length album, BORN PINK (September 16, 2022), was led by the pre-release Pink Venom, which YG says mixes hip-hop with the sound of Korean traditional instruments, and the title track Shut Down. The name, according to YG, expresses a confidence BLACKPINK were born with. YG: BORN PINK Its eight tracks run from Pink Venom and Shut Down through Typa Girl, Yeah Yeah Yeah, Hard to Love, The Happiest Girl and Tally to Ready For Love. YG says the contrast between “Pink” and “Venom” is the point of the pre-release: captivating, even while it’s dark. YG: Pink Venom

The tour that followed ran from October 2022 for about a year: 66 shows in 34 cities and about 1.8 million people, a record for a K-pop girl group, according to YG. YG: 2025 tour teaser

JUMP and DEADLINE (2025–2026): back together

In February 2025, about a year and five months after the BORN PINK tour, YG announced a new world tour. It also set up a separate internal team just to support the group’s activities. The tour was named DEADLINE, which YG explained as both a source of extreme focus and “the final moment you can’t take back.” YG: tour title

On the ninth anniversary, August 8, 2025, a landmark Ferris wheel in Shanghai, where BLACKPINK had pop-up stores that month, lit up with the group’s logo in pink, YG said. YG: China pop-ups

The first new group song in two years and eight months, JUMP (뛰어), premiered on stage at the tour’s opening shows in Goyang on July 5 and 6, 2025. It was released on July 11. The tour grew to 33 shows in 16 cities, ending in Hong Kong in January 2026. Then, on February 27, 2026, came the third mini album, DEADLINE, with the title track GO.

For the full story of that era, read our DEADLINE guide.

BLACKPINK - ‘뛰어(JUMP)’ M/V

Official video · BLACKPINK / YouTube

Watch the original on YouTube ↗

On stage, era by era

YG’s concert history lists five tours and shows: YG: concerts

Years Tour
2018 BLACKPINK ARENA TOUR
2018–2020 BLACKPINK [IN YOUR AREA] WORLD TOUR
2021 BLACKPINK LIVESTREAM CONCERT : THE SHOW
2022–2023 BLACKPINK WORLD TOUR [BORN PINK]
2025–2026 BLACKPINK WORLD TOUR

Five things to notice

  1. Firsts at home and abroad. YG says the Goyang shows were the first by a K-pop girl group at Goyang Stadium’s main arena, and Wembley was a first for a K-pop female act. YG: 2025 tour plan
  2. A YouTube giant. By August 2025, YG counted nine BLACKPINK-related videos over one billion views. The channel had more than 98.2 million subscribers, which YG says is the most of any artist in the world. YG: Pink Venom 1 billion The biggest, by YG’s count at the time:
Video Views (August 2025, per YG)
DDU-DU DDU-DU 2.3 billion
Kill This Love 2.1 billion
BOOMBAYAH 1.8 billion
How You Like That (dance performance video) 1.8 billion
AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST 1.4 billion
How You Like That 1.3 billion
Pink Venom 1 billion

Pink Venom also set a record on day one: 90.4 million views in 24 hours, the most for a female artist, according to YG.
3. Three Spotify No. 1s. Pink Venom, Shut Down and JUMP each reached No. 1 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs Global chart. YG says that made BLACKPINK the first K-pop group with three. YG: Spotify
4. Korean sounds in a global hit. Pink Venom opens with Korean traditional instruments over a hip-hop beat, according to YG.
5. The same names keep coming back. TEDDY produced the debut and was still writing on JUMP nine years later, per YG’s credits. YG: JUMP

Three ways to start

Quick answers

How many members are there? Four: JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ and LISA.

When did they debut? August 8, 2016, with SQUARE ONE (WHISTLE and BOOMBAYAH).

What’s their latest release? The third mini album DEADLINE, released February 27, 2026, at 2 p.m. KST, with the title track GO. YG: DEADLINE

What’s the fan name? BLINK.

Which awards does YG list? The profile’s list runs from the 27th Seoul Music Awards (2018) to the 40th Golden Disc Awards in January 2026, where they won Best Digital Song. It also includes TIME’s Entertainer of the Year in 2022.

Where to go next

Sources