Almost seven years after it was formed, K-pop's all-girl four-member band 2NE1 has been officially disbanded. Earlier in April, the band's star member Minzy left the group but YG Entertainment announced that the group would continue to perform without Minzy. But finally it has changed the decision.
According to YG, one of South Korea's top entertainment agencies, 2NE1 contract expired in May and the company has not renewed it. The band's remaining three members -- rapper CL, and vocalists Park Bom and Dara -- have reportedly agreed to the parting. Dara and CL will be retained by YG as soloists, and they have signed the new contracts too. The decision was announced through their website.
However, after the drug-smuggling scandal, Park Bom is determined to leave the agency. She was banned from performing for almost two years due to the scandal. Reportedly, YG's connection with Choi Soon-si, whose bond with President Park Geun-hye raised a political storm, was the main reason behind the decision.
2NE1's last album was released almost two years ago -- Crush, in 2014 and it last performed together as a three-member band at the 2015 Mnet Asia Music Awards (MAMA). The band shot to fame with their 2009 debut single 'Fire' but became a household name worldwide after releasing their boastful girl power anthem 'I'm the Best'.
So far, 2NE1 has given 19 hits on the World Digital Songs chart, with three albums appearing on the top 10 of the World Albums chart, and one album on the Billboard 200 chart.
In a handwritten letter posted on Manila Korean Time's Facebook page on Sunday, Dara apologized to his fans for the breakup and thanked all her fans for the love and support. She expressed her emotions through the lyrics from 2NE1's songs.
Meanwhile, Park Bom updated a video song for her fans on her social media page on the same day the announcement is made. "Practicing singing to show you all a singing video..!!!. It might be because it's the first time I'm singing this song... Repeated a lot... Ah...," she wrote.
However, the news of this breakup is never a surprise for the fans. Rumours regarding the disbanding have been floating around the net right from 2014 after Minzy removed 's team name from her social media account.
