Blackpink Reclaims Crown with Deadline
By James Moreau | 26 Feb, 2026

The global icons return on February 27 with Deadline, their first collective project since the record-breaking Born Pink era.

Fans of K-Pop royalty Blackpink have been buzzing with anticipation for the group’s third mini album, Deadline, set to debut on February 27.  The project marks their first collective release in nearly four years.

Blackpink teased their return in July 2025 with the 90’s rave influenced pre-release single “Jump.”  It secured the number one spot on the Billboard Global 200 with over 100 million streams by the end of the week.

While on hiatus, the group’s global visibility remained at an all-time high, fueled by each member’s individual ventures – most notably Lisa made her acting debut by starring in the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus, which was filmed in her native Thailand.

They cemented their status in 2022 as “the biggest girl group in the world” with the release of Born Pink, their second full-length studio album.  The album peaked at number one in multiple countries including the U.S., U.K., and South Korea led by singles “Pink Venom” and “Shut Down.”

Their first full-length project 2020’s The Album, became the first by a Korean female act to sell over one million copies.  Their lead single “How You Like That” has 1.2 billion streams on Spotify – their most of any song.

Prior to their studio albums, Blackpink released EPs Square Up in 2018 and Kill This Love the following year, both of which reached the top 40 of the Billboard 200.  The latter included a song of the same name which is their second-most streamed track.

Blackpink debuted in August 2016 with the single album Square One followed by Square Two in November.  Both projects made the group an instant success climbing the charts in Korea and the US.

The group’s four members encompass a diverse, international background.  Jisoo and Jennie are Korean, Rosé was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, and Lisa is Thai.

Blackpink has amassed a staggering social media presence with over 100 million subscribers on YouTube alone – the most for any musical act globally.  More impressive than their 22 million monthly Spotify listeners is their Instagram following – each member with over 80 million.  Lisa has the 36th most followed Instagram account in the world with 106 million.