In less than two years since their debut, KATSEYE has known nothing but success. They won a Vocal Music Award for Best Push Performance, were nominated for VMA’s Best Group and were nominated for two Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
KATSEYE is known for being a global girl group formed after a rigorous competition called Pop Star Academy. Soon after, Netflix released a docuseries titled Dream Academy. This 8 episode series goes through every high, low and mission the girls took on.
Even in the opening of the Netflix docuseries, it was shown that the focus of the program was to break the mold of K-pop. The show partnered South Korean music company, Hybe, known for their success with groups like BTS and Le Seraffim, with the American company, Geffen Records, known for artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Guns ‘n Roses.
These musical producing giants came together to combine the best parts of both industries. They partnered K-pop training methods of complex choreography with live singing to provide a stage experience like no other. Similarly, they borrowed the Western standard of diversity to scour through over 100,000 applicants from around the globe down to 20 lucky contestants. These girls came from as close as Los Angeles, where the program was stationed, to as far as Switzerland like for KATSEYE member Manon Bannerman.
After the events of Dream Academy, the newly formed girl group took a year to further prepare themselves for the release of their first EP S.I.S (Soft is Strong).
Since their debut, they’ve released hit songs “Touch,” “Gnarly,” “Gameboy” and “Gabriela.” These songs, as well as their others, have earned them several nominations and wins. Similarly, they performed to a crowd of 80,000 people at Chicago’s 2025 Lollapalooza and was a pre-show performance for the VMA’s.
This past fall, the girl group kicked off their first tour November 15th in Minneapolis. The Beautiful Chaos tour is named for their second EP. The set list included every song in their discography as well as a new song “Internet Girl” which grew in infamy very quickly online for its less-than-clear lyrics. Some fans expressed concern over the producers’ attempt to recapture the food themed, abnormally catchy success their song “Gnarly” brought.
The concert also included three costume changes, confetti pops during their most popular songs – green for “Gnarly,” red for “Gabriela” and white for “My Way” – and a new dance break choreography that entranced the audience. Despite the frigid conditions of Minnesota in mid-November, the line for general admission stretched for over eight blocks and had die-hard fans camping outside the venue for over 10 hours.
The group continued to tour across America with stops in New York City, Atlanta and Los Angeles. In the future, the group plans on headlining South American Lollapalooza’s in countries like Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Finally, in July 2026 the group will headline the first day of Iowa’s Hinterland along with musical icons like Lorde, Mumford and Sons and Kali Uchis.
With so much on their plate and their bright career only beginning to take off, there’s no telling where these eyekonic popstars will go next.
