At the BTS concert in Tokyo on Friday (April 17), j-hope opened up to ARMY with heartbreaking news. His grandmother, who played a major role in raising him and had always been proud of his journey with the group, has passed away.
Speaking to the packed crowd at the Tokyo Dome, the K-pop star chose to be open with fans about what he was going through. “Honestly, this might be a bit of a heavy thing to share, but I really wanted to express how I’m feeling today,” he said, translated from Korean into English. “Right after we arrived in Japan, I got the news that my maternal grandmother, the one who raised me from when I was little, had passed away.”
“I felt completely stunned and did not really know how to process it at first, but being around the members, sitting down together for meals, and focusing on rehearsals helped me more than I thought it would,” j-hope went on. “My grandmother was always incredibly proud, not just of me but of all the members. She truly believed in what we do. So I feel like if she was watching from above today, she would have loved every second of it.”
He closed by thanking the audience for making his first performance after the loss feel meaningful and full of support.
BTS are currently touring in support of their new album ARIRANG, which has just earned a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Following three opening shows in Goyang, South Korea, the group is set to perform twice at the Tokyo Dome before heading abroad for the North American leg. Before the tour wraps in March next year, they will also visit Latin America, Europe, Australia, and several other regions across Asia.
On the same day as the first Tokyo concert, j-hope’s solo interview with Rolling Stone was released. During the conversation, he spoke about stepping into a leadership presence within the group. “I think that’s my role on the team,” he shared. “It just comes naturally. It feels strange to even call it a role, but I just try to handle things as they come and support the other members in any way I can.”
Additional reporting from Billboard Korea.
Smashing Pumpkins are hoping to bring their A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness production to the Las Vegas Sphere for a one of a kind performance centered around the legendary 1995 album.
Billy Corgan is stepping away from traditional rock venues and leaning into the world of opera with his large scale A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness tour, which transforms the band’s iconic record into a full orchestral and operatic experience.
Even though the group has not officially been invited to perform at the cutting edge venue in Las Vegas, Corgan admitted he would immediately embrace the opportunity.
Speaking with KROQ, he explained: “It’s a no-doubter for us. We just haven’t been asked yet.
“See, if the Sphere came to us and said, ‘We’d love you to do all of Mellon Collie with that production.’ Now, that makes sense to me to do something like that, to build the show around the album.
"Then you have a chance to recast the songs and the music in a different dynamic.”
The performance sees Corgan joined by acclaimed solo vocalists and complete orchestras, reshaping some of Smashing Pumpkins’ most beloved songs into expansive classical arrangements.
The project first premiered in Chicago and received overwhelming praise, with audiences and reviewers applauding the powerful reinterpretations of songs such as 1979 and Tonight, Tonight.
Corgan shared that the experience has become one of the most meaningful achievements of his artistic journey.
He said: “The success of translating Mellon Collie into operatic and classical form has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. Where on each of the 7 sold out nights in Chicago, we’d finish within the raucous wave of a standing ovation. So to now take it on the road, and to Europe, too says this magical dream doesn’t have to end.”
The production was developed by Corgan alongside Grammy nominated conductor James Lowe, who added: "It has been so gratifying to discover how the nuances and layers of Mellon Collie reveal themselves in fresh new ways in these symphonic, choral and operatic settings. To now have the opportunity to perform this work in Europe with world class musicians in such important venues is nothing short of thrilling."
The lineup features vocalists Ed Parks, Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The wardrobe for the production was created by House of Gilles designers Gilles Mendel and Chloé Mendel Corgan.
The upcoming run will include several September performances throughout the UK, Belgium, France and Spain, highlighted by two special evenings at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
