TIME magazine has named Korean girl group BLACKPINK as the magazine’s 2022 Entertainer of the Year. This means they are the second K-pop artists to earn the title after BTS in 2020.
Introducing TIME's 2022 Entertainer of the Year: @BLACKPINK #TIMEPOY https://t.co/955X9Ha2ls pic.twitter.com/hzr5MiwMl9
— TIME (@TIME) December 6, 2022
Members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé were selected by YG Entertainment, a large South Korean record label that screens performers for star quality and trains them intensively. BLACKPINK rose to prominence quickly after their 2016 debut.
In less than a month, “The Album”, BLACKPINK’s first LP sold more than one million copies after its 2020 release.
BLACKPINK revisited their journey in a Time feature marking the Entertainer of the Year award. They recounted from playing at Coachella in 2019 to performing “Pink Venom” at the VMAs earlier this year.
“We put in a lot of work so we could look like superwomen,” rapper Jennie told Time. “We’re very normal girls, at the end of the day.”
Talking about their success – and the pressures that come with it – Jennie said the band perform from the heart.
“If we consider this in the business way, we wouldn’t be able to do this,” she said.
BLACKPINK’s success comes partly from their cosmopolitan backgrounds. Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, Rosé called it “a plus” in the studio that they’re all from “different cultures.”
Another member Jennie was born in South Korea but grew up in New Zealand, while dancer Lisa is from Thailand. Singer Jisoo is the only one of the group born and raised in South Korea.
The quartet is currently are performing across Europe until the end of the year as part of their “Born Pink” world tour, which kicked off in October.
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BLACKPINK became the first girl group in the world to be named Entertainer of the Year, as reported by Soompi.
“BLACKPINK is this generation’s icon that leads the trend, and the largest female band in the world,” TIME magazine remarks.
The article also praised the girl group’s success as the K-pop group that performed the best on global music charts this year, breaking several records through the group’s latest second full-length album.
Despite humbly calling themselves “very normal girls” per Jennie’s words, TIME Magazine celebrates their feats in 2022 from appearing at the VMAs to going on their blockbuster world tour, having “Born Pink” be the best-selling album by a Korean girl group, and occupying the title as the biggest musical act on YouTube.
In regard to this, BLACKPINK responded to TIME Magazine, “We’re the happiest when we do music. Good results followed because we’re always happily enjoying every moment.” The four stars also didn’t forget to express their gratitude to their fan club BLINK, sharing, “I think the power of our fans who always love and support us constantly is the biggest reason [behind our achievements]. We will do our best in every moment with gratitude in our hearts.”
Previously, BLACKPINK was also selected as one of the artists for TIME 100 NEXT in 2019 and as a nominee for TIME’s Person of the Year for 2020, showing their steady influence and growing status in the industry.