K-Pop group 2NE1 is officially back after eight years!

July is indeed the month of comebacks for classic K-pop girl groups, as not only is KARA back on the K-pop scene, 2NE1 will be too! Bandwagon reports that the girl group will be reuniting for a world tour for their 15th anniversary, making it a grand return since the last of their official activities as a quartet in 2016.

2NE1 is a Korean K-pop girl group under YG Entertainment’s management. The group is made up of four members, Bom, CL, Minzy, and Dara.

2NE1 debuted in 2009 when they released their extended EP, ‘2NE1’. However, Kuki News reports that the group’s first introduction to the K-entertainment world happened before that, when they released the song ‘Lolipop’ with heavyweight labelmate Big Bang, as part of promotions for LG.

Prior to 2NE1’s debut, the group had already been heavily anticipated to be the female ‘Big Bang’, according to Sports Dong-a. This proved true, as 2NE1 would later go on to become one of K-pop’s biggest girl groups with almost equal star power!

Classic K-pop fans would know of 2NE1’s classic hits, such as ‘I Am the Best’, ‘Can’t Nobody’, ‘FIRE’, and ‘It Hurts',’ among many others.

2NE1 had also collaborated with famous global artists, such as with Black Eyed Peas members will.i.am and apl.de.ap in the 2013 song ‘Gettin’ Dumb’, but also with Japanese hip-hop artist M-Flo for the song ‘She's So (Outta Control)’ in 2012.

Despite their huge popularity, 2NE1 eventually disbanded due to a string of events that started with Bom’s scandal that began in 2014, where she was investigated for drug smuggling and use, reports KBS.

This led to the rest of the members beginning to focus on their individual careers, with Minzy announcing first that she would be leaving 2NE1 in 2016, according to the K-pop Herald.

2NE1 then released ‘Goodbye’ in 2017 with remaining members CL, Bom and Dara. The song was intended to be a letter to Minzy and was written as a tribute to her, reports Star News. Interestingly, Billboard reports that Minzy was rather disappointed to not be included in the group’s final song release and only knew of it from the news.

Despite breaking up, Rolling Stone reports that 2NE1 reunited again in 2022 in a surprise appearance at the Coachella festival that year. However, not much came of the group after, until now in 2024, when Allkpop reported that it was confirmed that 2NE1 will be back with more activity in 2024, starting with an official world tour to celebrate the group’s 15th anniversary!