K-Pop Star Suga Tests Positive for COVID-19 after BTS Return from US

Suga, songwriter and rapper for K-pop sensation BTS, has tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reuters)
Suga, songwriter and rapper for K-pop sensation BTS, has tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reuters)
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K-Pop Star Suga Tests Positive for COVID-19 after BTS Return from US

Suga, songwriter and rapper for K-pop sensation BTS, has tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reuters)
Suga, songwriter and rapper for K-pop sensation BTS, has tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reuters)

Suga, songwriter and rapper for K-pop sensation BTS, has tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from in-person concerts in the United States, the group's management said on Friday.

Suga, 28, whose real name is Min Yoon-gi, was confirmed to have contracted the virus on Friday during his self quarantine upon his return home on Thursday, according to Bit Hit Music .

He had received his second COVID-19 vaccination in August, had not come in contact with any other members recently and was not showing any symptoms, the company said.

"He is currently administering self-care at home," it said in a statement. "We see the artists' health as our top priority, and will do everything we can to aid SUGA in his speedy recovery."

The band has had "a number of personal engagements in the United States" after holding their first in-person concerts in Los Angeles since the start of the pandemic.

Big Hit has said BTS would take a break over year-end holidays and prepare for a new concert and album.

Since their 2013 debut, BTS has spearheaded a global K-Pop craze with catchy, upbeat music and dances, as well as lyrics and social campaigns aimed at empowering young people.

The group won the top prize of artist of the year at the American Music Awards for the first time in November, and best pop song for their summer hit "Butter," among other awards.

As the pandemic swept the world, BTS postponed and then called off what would have been their biggest global tour involving nearly 40 concerts last year, resorting to online shows.



Where's Marty McFly's Guitar? Search Is on for ‘Back to the Future’ Prop 4 Decades Later 

Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 
Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 
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Where's Marty McFly's Guitar? Search Is on for ‘Back to the Future’ Prop 4 Decades Later 

Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 
Michael J. Fox arrives at “A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's” in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP) 

Marty McFly grabbed a guitar in “Back to the Future” and rocked out with the band at a 1950s high school dance, helping him narrowly avoid blinking out of existence before time-traveling back to the 1980s.

The guitar, in real life, wasn't as lucky.

Filmmakers went looking for the instrument while making the movie's 1989 sequel, but even now it's nowhere to be found. Four decades after the blockbuster film debuted, the guitar's creator has launched a search for the iconic Cherry Red Gibson ES-345.

Gibson, which is based in Nashville, is asking the public for help tracking it down as the movie turns 40 and as the company produces a new documentary about the search and the film, “Lost to the Future.”

In a video by Gibson, with the movie's theme song playing in the background, “Back to the Future” stars such as Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Harry Waters Jr. make a cinematic plea. There's also a surprise appearance by Huey Lewis, whose band Huey Lewis and the News performed the soundtrack's headliner song, “The Power of Love.”

Lloyd, in the cadence of Doc Brown, says in the video that the guitar has been “lost to the future.”

“It's somewhere lost in the space-time continuum,” says Fox, who played McFly. “Or it's in some Teamster's garage.”

In the film, McFly steps in for an injured band member at the 1955 school dance with the theme “Enchantment under the Sea,” playing the guitar as students slow dance to “Earth Angel.” He then leads Marvin Barry and the Starlighters in a rendition of “Johnny B. Goode,” calling it an oldie where he comes from even though the 1958 song doesn't exist yet for his audience.

Fox said he wanted McFly to riff through his favorite guitarists' signature styles — Jimi Hendrix behind the head, Pete Townshend's windmill and the Eddie Van Halen hammer. After digging and dancing to “Johnny B. Goode,” the students at the dance fall into an awkward silence as McFly's riffs turn increasingly wild.

“I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet,” McFly says. “But your kids are gonna love it.”