KATSEYE for Beginners: The Global Girl Group, Six Songs to Start With and the Road to Seoul
Published:
- Category: Starter guide
- Artist: KATSEYE
KPOP NO1 Editorial · Sources checked October 31, 2026
KATSEYE are a girl group built by a K-pop company and an American label together. They were picked on a TV audition show and debuted in 2024. Two years later they have two Grammy nominations and a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, and on February 4, 2027, they play Seoul’s KSPO DOME.
If you keep seeing the name and don’t know where to start, this guide is for you. It covers who the members are, the three EPs, the songs to try first and the official videos worth your time.
Who are KATSEYE?
KATSEYE (캣츠아이) are a global girl group from HYBE x Geffen Records, a joint project between Korea’s HYBE and the American label Geffen. Universal Music Japan’s official biography says the group was formed through the audition show The Debut: Dream Academy, and that their story is told in the Netflix documentary series Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE. Universal Music Japan: KATSEYE biography
The members come from the United States, Europe and Asia. The same biography says that gives pop culture “a truly international perspective” (our translation).
Their first single was called, fittingly, Debut. The MV went up on HYBE LABELS on June 28, 2024 (Korea time).
.jpg?width=1200)
Archival photo: KATSEYE at the WAMU Theater, Seattle, on THE BEAUTIFUL CHAOS TOUR, December 9, 2025. Credit: David Lee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Linked from Wikimedia Commons at a smaller size; no other edits by KPOP NO.1.
.jpg){kind=link}
Meet the six members
KATSEYE have six members. Universal Music Japan’s current biography lists five, DANIELA, LARA, MEGAN, SOPHIA and YOONCHAE; the sixth is MANON, who is on a temporary hiatus. Two members are currently on a break:
- MANON: HYBE x Geffen announced on February 20, 2026 that she would take “a temporary hiatus from group activities to focus on her health and wellbeing.”
- SOPHIA: on August 7, 2026, the label said she would be “temporarily unable to participate in upcoming promotional activities.”
In both statements the label says it looks forward to them being back with the group, which continues its schedule in the meantime. Soompi: MANON statement, Soompi: SOPHIA statement
Each card opens the member’s own episode of THE BEAUTIFUL CHAOS TOUR Diaries, a series on the official KATSEYE channel from December 2025.
DANIELA
Card video: her BEAUTIFUL CHAOS TOUR diary, about six minutes.
Watch DANIELA’s tour diary on YouTube ↗
LARA
She co-wrote Unloveu, a bonus track from WILD released digitally in October. Card video: her tour diary.
Watch LARA’s tour diary on YouTube ↗
MANON
On a temporary hiatus since February 2026. Card video: her tour diary, filmed in 2025.
Watch MANON’s tour diary on YouTube ↗
MEGAN
Card video: her tour diary, the longest of the six at about eight and a half minutes.
Watch MEGAN’s tour diary on YouTube ↗
SOPHIA
On a temporary break since August 2026. Card video: her tour diary, filmed in 2025.
Watch SOPHIA’s tour diary on YouTube ↗
The official pages we used don’t list positions, birth dates or each member’s home country, so we haven’t added them.
2024 to now
2024: the debut. After Debut, the second single Touch followed four weeks later. Its MV has the most views of any video in this guide: more than 309 million when we checked.
Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗2025: BEAUTIFUL CHAOS. The second EP was the breakthrough. Universal Music Japan says it debuted in the top five of the Billboard 200 and includes Gnarly, a worldwide hit that the label calls one of the most highly acclaimed songs of 2025. The Gnarly MV is the large video at the top of this page. Two more MVs, Gabriela and Gameboy, followed in June 2025.
The Grammys. The label’s biography lists two Grammy nominations: Best New Artist, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Gabriela. It also lists three American Music Awards and TikTok’s Global Artist of the Year.
Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗Our take: If K-pop’s polish is what draws you in, start with Touch. If you want the version of KATSEYE everyone argued about, start with Gnarly.
WILD: the third EP
WILD came out on August 14, 2026. Universal Music Japan says it entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 on the August 29 chart.
- PINKY UP came first, in April 2026. KATSEYE premiered it live at their first Coachella, which the biography says opened the WILD era.
- Animal is, in the label’s words, a bold pop anthem about embracing and unleashing your wild side. Ed Sheeran is a co-writer.
- Hootie Frutti is the EP’s lead song. Its MV went up on release day.
- Unloveu, written by LARA with Ross Golan and Amy Allen, started as a bonus track on a limited edition and was released digitally on October 14.
Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗On stage
- THE BEAUTIFUL CHAOS TOUR (2025): the tour in the member-card diaries and the photo above.
- THE WILDWORLD TOUR (2026–2027): their first arena tour. The label says every UK, European and North American date sold out within 48 hours, and extra shows in London, New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City sold out too.
- Asia, Australia and New Zealand: the next leg runs from Yokohama on January 27 to Auckland on March 5, 2027, with Seoul’s KSPO DOME on February 4. Seoul general sale starts November 12. KATSEYE.world
Our Seoul tour news has the presale steps and times.
Official videos
All on HYBE LABELS. Dates are upload dates in Korea time.
| Date (KST) | Video | Release |
|---|---|---|
| June 28, 2024 | Debut MV | Debut single |
| July 26, 2024 | Touch MV | Single |
| April 30, 2025 | Gnarly MV | BEAUTIFUL CHAOS |
| June 20, 2025 | Gabriela MV | BEAUTIFUL CHAOS |
| June 27, 2025 | Gameboy MV | BEAUTIFUL CHAOS |
| April 10, 2026 | PINKY UP MV | WILD |
| July 24, 2026 | Animal MV | WILD |
| August 14, 2026 | Hootie Frutti MV | WILD |
| October 14, 2026 | Unloveu visualizer | WILD (bonus track) |
Three ways to start
- Ten minutes: Touch, Gnarly and Animal. Three years, three very different sounds.
- An hour: play WILD from the first track, then the Unloveu visualizer. That’s the newest music before the tour reaches Asia.
- The long way: watch the member diaries, then work down the video table from Debut.
Quick answers
- How is the name written in Korean? 캣츠아이.
- Are they K-pop? They were formed through an audition show run by Korea’s HYBE with the American label Geffen Records. Their label calls them a global girl group.
- How many members? Six: DANIELA, LARA, MANON, MEGAN, SOPHIA and YOONCHAE. MANON and SOPHIA are currently on temporary breaks.
- What’s the fandom called? EYEKONS.
- What’s next? THE WILDWORLD TOUR in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, including Seoul on February 4, 2027.
Where to go next
- Tickets for Seoul: KATSEYE bring THE WILDWORLD TOUR to Seoul
- Another global group: our ENHYPEN starter guide
- More KATSEYE: all KATSEYE articles
Sources
- Universal Music Japan: KATSEYE biography (formation, members’ origins, awards, Animal, tours), discography (release dates), Unloveu news (October 19, 2026) (writers, WILD chart debut)
- KATSEYE official site: KATSEYE.world (2027 tour dates and sales)
- HYBE x Geffen statements, as published by Soompi: MANON (February 20, 2026), SOPHIA (August 7, 2026)
- Official YouTube (HYBE LABELS and KATSEYE): the MVs in the table and the member-card tour diaries
- Photo: David Lee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- No lyrics are quoted.