GFRIEND splits up after 7 years: shocked fans include rapper Lil Uzi Vert and singer Gallant

GFRIEND (also known as Girlfriend) is a K-pop girl group that consists of six members: Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB and Umji.

(Image: Source Music)

The K-pop girl group was formed and debuted in January 2015 under Source Music. The girl group’s concept was that of empowering women, which was especially prominent in their debut album, ‘Season of Glass’.

(Image: Source Music)

In their debut title song ‘Glass Bead’, GFRIEND has been compared to K-pop legendary girl group, Girls Generation’s ‘Into The New World’. GFRIEND has also come out to fans in mentioning that Girls Generation served as the group’s role models, according to Kpop Herald.

(Image: Source Music)

Some of GFRIEND’s biggest hits include ‘Me Gustas Tu’, ‘Rough’, ‘Fingertip’, and ‘Navillera’.

(Image: Source Music)

From Hello Kpop, GFRIEND managed to even surpass their role models by surpassing Girls Generation’s record of 22 music show wins, by achieving their 23rd win in 2016 on SBS Inkigayo.

(Image: Source Music)

GFRIEND also managed to reach international acclaim with their music and style, with winning many international music awards such as the prestigious MTV Europe Music Award for Best Korean Act in 2017, and with winning the Top 10 Popularity Award in China and Singapore for the Ten Asian Global Top 10 Awards in 2019.

(Image: Source Music)

In 2015, the performance of ‘Me Gustas Tu’ by GFRIEND went viral on the internet. In a report by Time, GFRIEND members Yuju and SinB were constantly slipping on stage due to what was assumed to be the wet weather during a performance for SBS. The girls fell down 9 times during the course of the entire performance.

(Image: Source Music)

Despite constantly slipping on stage, Yuju would always get back up to continue on with her performance with the other GFRIEND members. Her never-say-die attitude was applauded by many netizens who saw clips of it online, with many praising her and SinB’s dedication to professionalism on stage.

(Image: Source Music)

What many did not know was Yuju had sustained a rather bad injury from multiple falls on that viral performance of ‘Me Gustas Tu’. From Koreaboo, Yuju broke a finger from repeatedly falling on her hand. Thankfully, the finger has since recovered.

(Image: Source Music)

It is no wonder that with such dedication to their music and performances, GFRIEND rose to fame pretty quickly. Their star power has landed them many brand endorsement deals such as with Celebon Korea, SK Telecom, Shopee Indonesia, and Hyundai.

(Image: Source Music)

Did you know: GFRIEND has internationally famous people outside of Korea amongst their fans? American rapper Lil Uzi Vert and singer Gallant have been open about their love for the K-pop group, and count themselves as big fans of GFRIEND.

(Image: liluzivert, sogallant on Instagram)

Fans were thinking that business was as usual when GFRIEND’s contract with Source Music ended on 22 May this year. They thought that members of the group would renew their contract to continue performing as GFRIEND for many more years to come. However, GFRIEND surprised everyone by deciding not to renew their contracts and to disband.

(Image: Source Music)

According to South China Morning Post, it has not been long since GFRIEND last released their album in November 2020. Hence, this came as a huge shock to fans, that one of K-pop’s most beloved girl groups has decided to not continue in the industry, despite being still active and very popular in the K-pop world.

(Image: Source Music)

From Koreaboo, upon hearing the news, Lil Uzi Vert took to his social media to express his frustration towards GFRIEND’s disbandment. The rapper even took to changing his profile picture on Twitter to that of GFRIEND’s and went on Instagram Live to share his disappointment about the news to fans.

(Image: liluzivert on Instagram)

Another celebrity superfan of GFRIEND, Gallant, also took to his social media in reaction towards the disbandment of the K-pop girl group. Unlike Lil Uzi Vert, Gallant had no words to say during a session on Instagram Live but he was visibly upset. In the Instagram Live broadcast, the singer played GFRIEND’s ‘Only 1’ in the background while partaking in what is allegedly an alcoholic beverage.

(Image: sogallant on Instagram)

Although some netizens are hopeful that GFRIEND might pull a comeback like GOT7 did after the boyband left JYP Entertainment, South China Sea reports that Source Music may have trademarked the GFRIEND brand and name. This makes it difficult for members of the now-defunct GFRIEND to reunite in the industry under the name of ‘GFRIEND’. If this is true, a GFRIEND reunion is very unlikely to happen, at least in the near future.

(Image: Source Music)

Read about the Instagram troubles of GOT7's JAY B here