NEWS
BTS singer and soloist Jimin has unveiled his new pre-release track ‘Smeraldo Garden Marching Band’.
The new visual features the idol performing to the song in a fairytale woodland stage, bringing couples closer as he dances past them. He is joined by rapper Loco in the second verse, and the duo later close out the video with a lively dance while flower petals rain down on them.
“Ooh, I love you babe / I’ll come closer to you / I love you, babe / Ooh, I want you, babe / I wanna hold your hand / I want you, babe,” Jimin sings in the chorus.
‘Smeraldo Garden Marching Band’ is the first song to be released from the BTS singer’s upcoming solo album ‘Muse’. It will also include the fan-dedicated song ‘Closer Than This’, which Jimin dropped shortly after enlisting in the military last December. The full seven-track record will arrive on Friday, July 19 at 1pm KST / 12am ET.
The new album will be Jimin’s second solo album, coming about a year-and-a-half after his debut record ‘Face’. It will also make him the latest BTS member to release an album while serving his mandatory military service, after leader and rapper RM unveiled his second album ‘Right Place, Wrong Person’ last month.
Earlier this month, vocalist Jin became the first BTS member to complete his military service. The idol celebrated the occasion – which coincided with the boyband’s 11th anniversary – by holding a special fan meeting in Seoul.
In other K-pop news, BLACKPINK’s Lisa has made a solo comeback with her new single ‘Rockstar’, her first music release since leaving longtime agency YG Entertainment last year.
Madonna revealed that she saw her late mother "on the other side" while she was in a medically induced coma in 2023.
In a conversation on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast on Monday, the Queen of Pop explained that she was treated in intensive care and remained in a coma for two days after doctors discovered a "serious bacterial infection" that developed after a mild fever.
Thinking back to the health scare, Madonna shared that she experienced a vision of her mother, also named Madonna Ciccone, who lost her life to breast cancer in December 1963.
"I was almost there on the other side, and I had a conscious moment," she said. "My mother appeared to me, and she said, 'Do you want to come with me?' And I said, 'No.'"
She added that her assistant was present in the room and heard her say the word, "No."
"And then, when I did eventually wake up, I realised that the 'no' was about me needing to forgive and make good with people that I still held grudges against," the 67-year-old explained.
One of the long-standing conflicts she chose to release was her troubled relationship with her brother Christopher Ciccone.
The artist passed away from pancreatic cancer at 63 in October 2024.
"For my brother, I didn't speak to him for, you know, for years, years, and years. And it was him being ill (and) reaching out to me and saying, 'I need your help.' And me having that moment like, 'Am I going to help my enemy?' You know, that's how it felt. And I just did," the Ray of Light singer said. "And I ended up (helping) and I felt so relieved. And it was such a load off my back, such a weight that was removed, baggage that I could put down to finally be able to be in a room with him and holding his hand, even if he was dying and saying, 'I love you and I forgive you.' That was really important."
