Ahyeon, who was excluded from the debut lineup of girl group BABYMONSTER due to health reasons, will rejoin the team. Empowered by Ahyeon’s return, BABYMONSTER is gearing up for aggressive activities this year.
YG Entertainment (hereinafter YG) posted “BABYMONSTER | YG Surprise Announcement” through its official blog at midnight on Jan 25th, delivering the news of Ahyeon’s return.
Ahyeon gained popularity on BABYMONSTER’s debut survival show for her resemblance to BLACKPINK Jennie and her remarkable vocal, dance and rap skills. However, in November last year, just before the team’s debut, she had to withdraw due to health reasons. At that time, YG expressed regret, “We are sorry that we cannot introduce Ahyeon as a member of BABYMONSTER, but we made this decision for the artist’s health. We will spare no effort to support Ahyeon’s full recovery and return in good form.“
In the surprise announcement, YG’s executive producer Yang Hyun-suk officially confirmed Ahyeon’s return to BABYMONSTER.
Executive producer Yang stated, “Fortunately, Ahyeon has fully recovered her health, and as of today, Ahyeon is back at YG. She’s currently recording songs for the album.” To the question “What about the songs ‘BATTER UP’ and ‘Stuck In The Middle’ that were prepared as a six-member group?“, he replied, “The album will be re-recorded with all seven members including Ahyeon. From the mini-album onwards, you can look forward to BABYMONSTER’s activities as a perfect seven-member group.“
Regarding the long-term plans after the album, he mentioned, “We’ve significantly reinforced YG’s in-house producers. From about ten producers, we now have around forty to fifty. I promise the process will be much faster and quicker than before. We’ll release a mini-album on April 1st and my goal for this year is to release BABYMONSTER’s full album around autumn, following the mini-album.“
The return of Ahyeon, who had already gained popularity even before debut, is expected to boost BABYMONSTER’s activities this year. Meanwhile, BABYMONSTER will release the new song “Stuck In The Middle” on Feb 1st.
