Entertainment
South Korea’s SM Entertainment is bringing its powerhouse roster to London’s Allianz Stadium Twickenham, marking the company’s first European SM Town Live concert in 14 years. The massive K-pop showcase, dubbed “SM Town Live 2025 [The Culture, The Future],” will feature 14 acts as part of the entertainment giant’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
The stellar lineup includes K-pop veterans TVXQ! and Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon, alongside current chart-toppers Red Velvet, NCT 127, and Aespa. They’ll be joined by EXO members Suho and Chanyeol, NCT Dream, WayV, boy band Riize, and NCT Wish. The concert will also introduce upcoming girl group Hearts2Hearts and virtual idol Naevis, with additional talent billed as “SMTR25.”
Aespa enters the show riding high off their record-shattering 2024, which saw their single “Supernova” become the longest-running No.1 track in Korean music chart history. The group’s momentum continued with their debut full-length album “Armageddon” and their latest release “Whiplash.”
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For NCT 127, the event marks their return to British soil since their 2019 headline show at London’s OVO Arena Wembley. The group has consistently placed three albums in the Billboard 200’s Top 5 and boasts over 8 million albums sold globally.
The historic venue, which has hosted music icons like The Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga, will become the first to present a K-pop concert of this scale. The announcement follows SM Town Live 2025’s successful kickoff in Seoul last month, where 40,000 fans packed two sold-out shows.
The London show on June 28 is part of a global tour that includes stops in Mexico City (May 9), Los Angeles (May 11), and Tokyo (Aug. 9-10), commemorating SM Entertainment’s three decades as a pioneering force in the K-pop industry.
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Naman Ramachandran