KATSEYE

KATSEYE is a pop girl group with six members: Daniela, Lara, Manon, Megan, Sophia and Yoonchae.^[2] The line-up came out of Dream Academy, a 2023 reality competition run by the Korean company HYBE and Geffen Records, a Universal Music Group label.^[3][10] The group is based in Los Angeles and debuted in June 2024.^[1]

'Animal'

'Animal', released on 24 July 2026 and co-written by Ed Sheeran, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 24 on the chart dated 8 August and peaked at No. 12 in the UK.^[2][3][5][6] In late August it climbed from No. 13 to No. 1 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, the group's first No. 1 there.^[7] On the Hot 100 dated 3 October it was in its ninth week, and it reached No. 14 on Pop Airplay, a new high for the group on that radio chart.^[8] A mymy count of YouTube's weekly song charts on 20 September 2026 put it in the top 10 in 16 of 69 countries, South Korea not among them.^[19]

'Wild'

The five-track EP 'Wild', the group's third, came out on 14 August 2026.^[3][8][18] It opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated 29 August with 170,000 equivalent album units; no all-woman group had earned more units in one week since Billboard began measuring albums that way in December 2014.^[4] It reached No. 2 on the UK albums chart.^[6] Its track 'Hootie Frutti' debuted at No. 31 on the Hot 100 dated 29 August and peaked at No. 16 in the UK.^[5][6]

Awards

KATSEYE was nominated for Best New Artist and, with 'Gabriela', for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammy Awards on 1 February 2026, and won neither.^[9] At the American Music Awards on 25 May 2026, where it was nominated for the first time, it won New Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Pop Artist and Best Music Video for 'Gnarly'.^[11] At the MTV Video Music Awards on 27 September 2026 it had four nominations, among them Best K-Pop for 'Pinky Up' and Song of the Summer for 'Hootie Frutti', and won none; BTS took Best K-Pop.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Line-up in 2026

On 20 February 2026 the group said Manon would take a temporary hiatus.^[10] On 7 August a statement on its Weverse page said Sophia would step back from promotional activities for a while; she then missed the tour's European and UK dates.^[16][17] The other four made KATSEYE's Saturday Night Live debut on 26 September 2026, performing 'Animal' and 'Hootie Frutti', with both still on hiatus.^[3]

Wildworld Tour

The Wildworld Tour, the group's first arena tour, opened at the 3Arena in Dublin on 1 September 2026.^[17][18] Its 31 dates move to North America on 13 October in Miami and end in Mexico City in late November.^[3][17] The group is also booked for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Los Angeles on 18 October 2026.^[8]