K-pop girl group IZ*ONE will be disbanding when their contracts expire in April after being active for two and a half years.
IZ*ONE’s 12 members, composed of Korean and Japanese, were winners of the survival audition show “Produce 48,” which ran from June to August 2018.
The group debuted on Oct. 29, 2018 with the album “Color*Iz,” which sold 192,738 copies by year-end and was eventually certified platinum for selling 250,000 copies.
Mnet, the TV channel that aired “Produce 48,” announced IZ*ONE’s disbandment ahead of their online concert “One, The Story” that will be held on March 13 and 14.
“Mnet and Swing Entertainment/Off the Record have been listening to and discussing each agency's opinions for the best activities of the 12 members ahead of the end of the IZ*ONE project,” it said.
I added, “The activities of project group IZONE, which debuted with the album ‘ColorIz’ in 2018 and has grown into a girl group representing Asia that is greatly loved not only in Korea but also around the world, will end in April as scheduled.”
“Mnet and Swing Entertainment/Off the Record thank all the 12 members of IZ*ONE who have shown their best and we will continue to support their growth as an artist in the future so that their fantastic stories they have created can continue,” Mnet said.
By end of 2020, IZONE’s three albums sold 1.23 million copies. According to Hanteo Chart, “Oneiric Diary” garnered 439,994 copies in sales while “BLOOMIZ” had 415,827 copies and “ONE-REELER: Act 4” had 378,443.
IZ*ONE’s disbandment follows a similar pattern just like the project groups created under the “Produce 101” TV shows.
I.O.I, composed of the winners of the first “Produce 101,” debuted in May 2016 and disbanded in January 2017.
Wanna One, formed through the second season of “Produce 101,” debuted in August 2017 and disbanded in December 2018.
X1, composed of the winners of “Produce X 101,” made their debut in August 2019 but disbanded in January 2020 due to voting manipulation controversy.