RIYADH — K-pop stars of Blackpink are coming to Riyadh, as part of a world tour by one of the most popular female Korean bands. The four-member girl group, comprising Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa, have announced the first dates and cities for their Born Pink world tour — with the Saudi capital listed as a stop on January 20, 2023. Blackpink will also perform in Abu Dhabi the week after, on January 28. Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Board of Directors of General Entertainment Authority (GEA), commended the announcement of the group saying: "Blackpink concert in Riyadh will be one of the big surprises in the upcoming Riyadh Season." He said the details about the concert will be announced in the near future. Riyadh Season is one of Saudi Arabia's biggest entertainment festivals, which runs for months with a huge diversity of activities. Blackpink on Monday celebrated their sixth anniversary with members posting tributes on Instagram. Afterward, their agency YG Entertainment announced they would be releasing a new single called Pink Venom on August 19. Their coming album, Born Pink, is set to be released in September. Blackpink made their debut in August 2016 with the single Square One. Since stepping on to the music scene, the band have had the honor of being the highest-charting female Korean act on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 13 with 2020's Ice Cream. They also reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with smash-hit first album The Album, which was released in the same year. It is also the highest-selling album by a Korean girl group and the first to sell more than one million copies.
