Seventeen: The K-pop band making Glastonbury history

seventeen:-the-k-pop-band-making-glastonbury-history
Seventeen: The K-pop band making Glastonbury history

Glastonbury Festival, a staple event in the UK music calendar, has booked a K-Pop band as its headliners. Seventeen, a boy band with 13 members, is the first of its genre to play on the Pyramid Stage. While K-pop is successful worldwide, it has yet to make a significant impact in the UK. However, acts such as BTS, Blackpink, Stray Kids, and Aespa have already broken out and received success globally. Despite this, their most successful hits have come primarily from collaborative efforts with Western artists.

Seventeen is a different story. The band writes and produces its own material, a feat uncommon within the Korean pop industry. Last year, the band sold over 10 million albums, making them the second largest-selling group, only behind Taylor Swift.

The band’s success didn’t come quickly or easily. Members underwent a grueling four-to-five-year apprenticeship with South Korean entertainment firm Pledis before finally making their debut in 2016. The bandmembers developed their sound and style through collaboration and a shared interest in learning songwriting and lyric-making outside traditional roles.

The honor of headlining at Glastonbury is not lost on the group. “There’s a great sense of responsibility,” said Choi Seungcheol, band leader S Coups, in a recent interview. “We’ll keep coming back to that feeling and do our best to prepare so that we can blow everybody away… Not just our fans, but every other member of the audience.”

Seventeen will play the festival on Friday afternoon and are among other popular performers such as Dua Lipa, Burna Boy, and Ayra Starr. The band’s latest track, Maestro, features on their new 33-track compilation album, 17 Is Right Here

Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More