Recently, Forbes Korea announced the list "Top 40 powerful celebrities of 2026". This ranking honors singers, actors and athletes who have not only achieved success in Korea but also have a strong influence in the global market.
The evaluation criteria include revenue, media appearance, social media influence, advertising, concerts and public interest. The top 3 positions in this list belong to BTS, G-Dragon, Blackpink.
In 2026, the group BTS made an impressive comeback to the global music market after all members completed their military service.
Last March, the group released their 5th studio album called "ARIRANG", marking their reunion with a full squad after 4 years.
As soon as it was released, the album quickly rose to the top of the prestigious Billboard 200 album chart in the US and the Official Albums Chart in the UK. Notably, on the Billboard 200, BTS became the first K-pop artist to maintain the No. 1 position for 3 consecutive weeks, continuing to affirm its strong global influence.
Currently, the group is conducting a world tour with the largest stadium scale in their career.
Starting at Goyang National Stadium (Korea) in April, BTS continues their journey through Tokyo Dome (Japan) and many major stadiums in North America such as Tampa and Stanford (USA).
This tour is staged with a 360-degree panoramic stage, including 79 performances in 34 cities around the world.
Recently, information that the group confirmed that they would perform at the Halftime Show of the FIFA North Central America World Cup 2026 final has attracted special attention from the media and the global entertainment industry.
G-Dragon
Last year, along with releasing the solo album Übermensch, G-Dragon launched the world tour "G-DRAGON 2025 WORLD TOUR", attracting about 825,000 spectators in 17 cities in 12 countries.
Many major US media outlets, including Forbes, have carefully analyzed his stage performances and praised the impressive return of the "K-pop king".
He continues to affirm his position as a global cultural and fashion icon when he is appointed as the Ambassador to promote the APEC Summit 2025, and is also the only Asian artist to be included in the "Most Dressed People of the 21st Century" list.
Recently, the event that has received special attention is the official reunion of BIGBANG on the occasion of their 20th anniversary of debut.
Since April, G-Dragon has participated in the group's comeback project, continuing to attract great attention from the global entertainment and business industry.
Blackpink
From July 2025, Blackpink launched their third world tour called "DEADLINE", passing through major stadiums such as SoFi (USA), Wembley (UK), Tokyo Dome (Japan) and successfully closing in January 2026 with a total of 33 performances in 16 cities.
In February 2026, the group unexpectedly returned with their third mini album of the same name with a tour.
Immediately after release, the album quickly topped the Billboard Global 200 chart, while breaking the group's own record, helping Blackpink continue to maintain their position as the K-pop girl group with the most impressive global achievements.
In addition, members of the BTS group also appeared in this list as individuals such as Jin (BTS) (6th place), V(BTS) (7th place), Jungkook (BTS) (8th place), J-Hope (BTS) (10th place), RM (BTS) (11th place), Jimin (BTS) (12th place), Suga (BTS) (18th place).
4 beauties from Blackpink are also successively named in the list of powerful celebrities in 2026 such as Jennie (position 16), Lisa (position 20), Rosé (position 23), Jisoo (position 24).
