On November 6, Korean press reported that Blackpink's new album will be released in January 2026.
However, a representative of Blackpink's management company - YG Entertainment - told the media: "Album is in the final stages of music completion. We will share good news through the official promotion schedule, as soon as the preparation stage is completed.
Recently, there has been much speculation about when the girl group Blackpink will officially return with a full lineup.
Initially, there were rumors that Blackpink will release a new album at the end of the year, around November. But then there was news that the album's release date was postponed to mid-December, and now the album is said to have moved completely to the next year (2026).
On YG's side, facing consecutive rumors, the company has not announced a specific date for Blackpink's official comeback, but has only confirmed many times that " discs are being completed".
On October 20, YG announced: "Blackpink will start filming the MV for the new song this week. Both members and staff are trying their best to bring the best possible results.
The company added, "We would like to sincerely thank the fans for waiting patiently for Blackpink's comeback. The album is currently in the final stages of completion, focusing on improving the quality of music. When the work is ready to be completed, we will share more good news through the official announcement".
YG's move continues to be controversial. Many fans are upset about how YG arranged Blackpink's schedule.
Usually, global tours are usually held after artists release new albums and concerts in other countries are a form of promotion for the album.
But this time, Blackpink did not release a new song before the Deadline tour. At the opening show in July in Korea, the group released a new song "Jump".
In addition to this song, the entire list of performances in Blackpink's Deadline tour to date are all old songs of the group from the tour and previous albums.
Blackpink was also criticized by the Kpop fan community of other groups for this issue.
Currently, the deadline tour schedule is newly arranged until the end of January 2026, with the last 3 concert nights in Hong Kong (China). If Blackpink's album is released in January, fans will find it very difficult to have the opportunity to watch their idols perform their new album live on stage.
