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All BLACKPINK Members Renew Contracts with Label YG

K-Pop band Blackpink's members, Lalisa "Lisa" Manoban, Roseanne "Rose" Park, Kim Ji-soo and Jennie Kim, pose with their medals following a special investiture ceremony to present them with Honorary MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire), at Buckingham Palace in London on November 22, 2023. (AFP)
K-Pop band Blackpink's members, Lalisa "Lisa" Manoban, Roseanne "Rose" Park, Kim Ji-soo and Jennie Kim, pose with their medals following a special investiture ceremony to present them with Honorary MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire), at Buckingham Palace in London on November 22, 2023. (AFP)
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All BLACKPINK Members Renew Contracts with Label YG

K-Pop band Blackpink's members, Lalisa "Lisa" Manoban, Roseanne "Rose" Park, Kim Ji-soo and Jennie Kim, pose with their medals following a special investiture ceremony to present them with Honorary MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire), at Buckingham Palace in London on November 22, 2023. (AFP)
K-Pop band Blackpink's members, Lalisa "Lisa" Manoban, Roseanne "Rose" Park, Kim Ji-soo and Jennie Kim, pose with their medals following a special investiture ceremony to present them with Honorary MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire), at Buckingham Palace in London on November 22, 2023. (AFP)

All members of the megastar girl group BLACKPINK renewed their contracts with YG Entertainment on Wednesday, the company said, ending speculation around their future and driving up shares in the leading K-pop label by over 20 percent.

Rumors surrounding BLACKPINK -- one of K-pop's most successful girl groups -- and their potential future plans have abounded since the quartet's original contracts expired in August, with local reports even claiming in September that member Lisa rejected YG's renewal offer.

But YG announced on Wednesday that all members -- Jenny, Lisa, Jisoo and Rose -- had renewed their contracts with the company for "group activities".

"After careful discussion with BLACKPINK, we signed an exclusive contract for group activities based on deep trust," the label said in a statement sent to AFP.

"With YG's full support, BLACKPINK plans to repay the love of fans around the world with activities commensurate with their global status, including the release of a new album and a large-scale world tour," it added.

BLACKPINK, who first emerged out of South Korea's wildly popular K-pop scene in 2016, has also been recognized for the group's efforts on climate advocacy.

Last month, the members were given one of Britain's most prestigious honors by King Charles III, for their work for the COP26 climate summit in 2021.

Their official YouTube channel has a staggering 92.3 million subscribers, making them one of the most subscribed artists in the world on the platform.

BLACKPINK's other achievements include being the first-ever K-pop girl group to reach the top of the US Billboard 200 chart, and the first Asian artists to headline prestigious music events such as Coachella.

YG, on the other hand, was at the center of the notorious "Burning Sun" entertainment and sex scandal -- which revolved around a Gangnam nightclub of the same name -- that rattled South Korea in 2018.

The label was hard hit when Seungri -- a former member of popular boyband BIGBANG and co-director of Burning Sun -- retired from show business in 2019 amid mounting criminal investigations.

He was later sentenced to 18 months in prison for offering women to potential investors for sexual services, among other charges.

YG Entertainment's shares were up 24.58 percent to 59,800 won in afternoon trading in Seoul.

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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)

John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.

At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.