Anticipated Events for Girl Groups in 2026

Photo: I.O.I Official X

2026 is already looking to turn out as a huge year for K-Pop, despite the mere days 2025 has been in the backseat. EXO will put out a full album later this month, BTS will come out with a 14-track album in March, and BIGBANG will reunite for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April. While most of the 2026 excitement understandably focuses on the biggest boy groups coming back, notable girl groups are also preparing major releases for this year. 

BLACKPINK’s Full Album Comeback

BLACKPINK completing their DEADLINE world tour on January 25 does not mean the end of fans’ excitement. YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyunsuk revealed last year that he hoped a BLACKPINK EP would come out “by November, at the latest,” which got postponed to this January. While BLACKPINK are no stranger to gaps between releases (prior to the single “JUMP” in July, the BORN PINK album came out in 2022), YG Entertainment provided an explanation that seems assuring.   

The comeback will now include a full album and the delay happened to “enhance its musical quality.” The album will likely serve as a start to BLACKPINK’s tenth anniversary, which happens on August 8. If “JUMP” provides any insight into the future, this next comeback will also prove a success. “JUMP” achieved worldwide acclaim and left a global audience hungry to hear more. 

I.O.I’s Tenth Anniversary Reunion

It’s not a new year without the slightest trimmings of an I.O.I reunion going around the K-Pop world. While it’s true that I.O.I, the first project group born from Mnet’s PRODUCE 101 series, attempted to come back many times since their disbandment in 2017, this time sounds the most promising. The group will return to performing this year after reuniting in the past for social media and livestreams. Multiple members said this tenth anniversary reunion will happen. 

10 out of 11 members will be participating in this reunion: Jeon Somi, Kim Sejeong, Chungha, Kim Sohye, Pinky (also known as Zhou Jieqiong or Kyulkyung), Jung Chaeyeon, Kim Doyeon, Choi Yoojung, Lim Nayoung and Yoo Yeonjung. Due to conflicts with her filming schedules as an actress, Kang Mina will not join this time. When the reunion happens in the spring, grab an ice cream-shaped I.O.I lightstick and relive 2016 all over again. 

MAMAMOO’s Full Album Comeback and World Tour

MAMAMOO is coming back for you in June 2026! Their management, RBW, confirmed in November that the quartet will release a full album in June 2026 and hold a 26-stop world tour. With the members signed to different companies (Solar and Moonbyul under RBW, Wheein under With Us Entertainment, and Hwasa under P NATION), a full-scale comeback takes more coordination. The comeback will mark MAMAMOO’s first music release since their MIC ON EP on October 11, 2022. 

Though the members have continued to release solo music and complete many individual solo tours, this group comeback will feel especially significant. The future tour also appears as an upgrade from previous ones, considering the explicit mention of “Korea, Asia, the Americas, and Europe” as locations. MAMAMOO have never toured in Europe as a group so it will give European fans the opportunity to see them for the first time. 

These three events will keep anticipation high into the first half of the year, but 2026 still has more to come. Considering that these were confirmed by January, more large announcements are slated to happen. The mystery of what the year holds has yet to fully reveal itself.

Edited by Clark Royandoyan