NEWS
Ex-Kep1er members Mashiro and Yeseo look likely to join LIMELIGHT, following the launch of their personal Instagram accounts.
Back in May, WAKEONE confirmed that seven out of nine Kep1er members had extended their contracts to continue group activities. The remaining two, Mashiro and Yeseo, did not extend their contracts, which ended earlier this week. The singers have now returned to their agency 143 Entertainment.
The two K-pop idols have since launched their personal Instagram accounts. Their posts have since been reshared onby the official LIMELIGHT account, a girl group under 143 Entertainment, hinting that the duo could be joining as members of the K-pop act.
In June, Kep1er released their first studio album ‘Kep1going On’ and its title track ‘Shooting Star’, which also marked their last release as a nine-member act. The group will continue their activities as a seven-member group with Yujin, Xiaoting, Chaehyun, Dayeon, Hikaru, Huening Bahiyyih and Youngeun.
Meanwhile, LIMELIGHT debuted as a three-member act last February with their debut EP ‘Love & Happiness’. At the time, the group comprised members MiU, Suhye and Gaeun. Notably, member MiU had been a contestant on Girls Planet 999, the show through which Kep1er was formed.
This January, the girl group released their EP ‘Last Dance’ and its lead single ‘Ta-Da!’, announcing that it would be their last release as a trio. At the time, their agency shared plans to reorganise the group with additional members.
In other K-pop news, ex-(G)I-DLE singer Soojin has announced a new date of her 2024 ‘Summer Daze’ fan concert tour in Singapore. Starting later this month, the idol will also perform in Tokyo, Taipei and Macau.
10cc drummer Paul Burgess has announced that he is leaving the band because the demands of touring have become too much for him.
The 75-year-old musician, who also spent time performing with Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works, has chosen to walk away from the legendary rock group after more than five decades.
He shared: “After so many wonderful years with 10cc, I must admit that the rigours of touring are no longer manageable for me as I get older, and I feel it’s time to let go of the long hours in airports and endless travel on buses.
“I’m not planning to stop playing altogether. I will still perform but at a pace that feels right, working alongside old friends and a new group of fellow musicians called The Guilty Men.”
Frontman Graham Gouldman confessed that it will feel unusual to perform without his “longest-running musical associate.”
He explained: “When Paul and I first joined forces in 10cc, we never could have imagined that we’d still be at it after 30 years, let alone 52.
“Paul has been my longest musical partner and it will feel different to turn around and see another drummer, but I completely understand why he no longer wants to sit on a plane for 14 hours or wake up in a new hotel every day for weeks at a time.”
Ben Stone, who has previously played with Mike and The Mechanics and Bonnie Tyler, will be taking over on drums.
Paul, who had several runs with 10cc after joining in 1973, performed his final show with the I’m Not In Love band in Alexandria, Virginia this past September.
The group is set to continue their And Another Bloody Greatest Hits Tour in the UK next year.
