K-pop boyband GOT7 have confirmed their long-awaited return in January 2025 with the mini-album ‘Winter Heptagon’.
On December 20, the seven-member act announced that they will be releasing a new mini-album titled ‘Winter Heptagon’ next year. Due out on January 20 at 6pm KST, the record will commemorate 11 years since GOT7’s debut.
“GOT7 plans to display their talents to the fullest while showing off its irreplaceability and the close-knit bond among the members,” said Kakao Entertainment in a press release.
“The members, who have been actively building their careers as solo artists, actors and entertainers both at home and abroad, will present top-notch music, performances and chemistry together this time, seeking to capture the hearts of their global fans,” it added.
GOT7 leader Jay B first teased their upcoming return at his ‘Tape: Reload’ concert earlier this month, which was also attended by several members of the group. It will be the boyband’s first group release since dropping their self-titled mini-album in May 2022, their first record since leaving longtime agency JYP Entertainment.
Comprising members Jay B, Jinyoung, Jackson Wang, Mark Tuan, BamBam, Youngjae and Yugyeom, GOT7 first debuted in January 2014 with their first mini-album ‘Got It?’. The group went on to release hits like ‘Just Right’, ‘If You Do’ and more. They left JYP Entertainment in 2021, following the expiration of their contracts with the agency.
In other K-pop news, HYBE label ADOR has issued a statement urging the members of girl group NewJeans to continue using their official social media accounts with the agency due to potential legal issues with advertisers. The five-member act launched an independent Instagram account earlier this week amid their contract dispute with the agency.
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."
