Celebrating the 30th anniversary of SM Entertainment, a global concert tour titled “SMTown Live 2025: The Culture, The Future” began in Seoul, Korea in January 2025. Since then, SM Entertainment’s idol groups have been touring in Mexico City, Los Angeles, London, and in Tokyo later this year.
SMTown London was originally set to take place at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham and was later relocated to London’s prestigious O2 Arena. Despite the last-minute venue change, the performances for each of the idols and groups ran pretty smoothly. The concert brought together multiple K-pop fanbases under one roof.
Here’s a Complete Run-Through All of the SMTown London Acts:
TVXQ
Debuting in 2003 as a five-member boy group, TVXQ became a duo in 2009. Changmin and Yunho performed two of their most popular songs, Rising Sun and Mirotic.
HYOYEON of Girls’ Generation
Stemming from one of the most popular K-pop girl groups from the second generation, Girls Generation (SNSD). The ultra-popular group formed back in 2007, originally with nine members. At SMTown London, Hyoyeon performed Retro Romance and DESSERT.
MINHO of SHINee
Formed in 2007, SHINee is one of the most prominent K-pop groups of the second generation. SHINee member, MINHO performed CALL BACK and Something About U.
Members of EXO: SUHO, CHANYEOL, & KAI
Spanning from the third generation of K-pop is the nine-member boy group, EXO. The popular group debuted back in 2012 and a few of its members performed their solo tracks at SMTown London. SUHO performed his song, 1 to 3, CHANYEOL performed Hasta La Vista, and KAI performed Wait on Me.
Red Velvet
Formed in 2014, the quartet of Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy make up Red Velvet – who are considered one of the most popular girl groups of K-pop’s third generation. Three out of four of its members – Irene, Seulgi, and Joy performed their popular songs, Bad Boy and Red Flavor. Along with a cover performance of Girls’ Generation’s Run Devil Run.
NCT 127
NCT 127 were formed in 2016 with seven members – Haechan, Mark, Taeil, Yuta, Taeyong, Winwin, and Jaehyun, and are known for their popular songs like Kick It and Sticker. The super popular 3rd generation K-pop group performed Walk and Kick It. The popularity of NCT 127 has created multiple sub-unit groups including, NCT Dream, NCT Wish, and Wayv – all who also performed at SMTown London.
NCT DREAM
Debuting in 2016, the seven-member group are the third sub-unit of NCT 127. The group performed their big hits including When I’m With You and Smoothie on the O2 Arena stage.
WayV
Formed in 2019, Wayv are the fourth sub-unit of NCT 127. The talented sixth-member group consisting of Hendery, Ten, WINWIN, Yangyang, Kun, and Xiaojun performed Give Me That, Frequency, and one of their most popular songs, Love Talk.
aespa
Debuting in 2020, this four-piece girl group consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning performed their hit songs, Whiplash, Next Level, and Supernova.
RIIZE
Formed originally as a seven-piece group in 2023, the groups name is a combination of ‘Rise’ and ‘Realise’. The fifth-generation boy group performed the popular, Boom Boom Bass, Ember to Solar, and Fly Up.
NCT WISH
NCT Wish is the sixth sub-unit of NCT 127. It’s sixth-member group consists of Ryo, Jaehee, RIKU, Sakuya, SION, and Tokuno Yushi. The group performed WISH, Steady, and poppop.
naevis
naevis is a virtual artist created using AI. She is the first of her kind for SM Entertainment. The virtual idol was introduced in the Black Mamba music video for aespa’s debut single. At SMTown London, naevis performed Gone on the big screens.
dearALICE
dearALICE are a five-member British boy band formed on the BBC documentary series, Made In Korea: The K-pop Experience. The group consists of James Sharp, Dexter Greenwood, Olly Quinn, Reese Carter, and Blaise Noon. You can read all about this talented group on the Filmotomy blog here. dearALICE performed their debut single, Ariana, and their latest ballad, Save Us. As well as hosting a pop-up store featuring the latest merch for their new EP release, “bitterSWEETsummer”.
Follow Along Our dearALICE at SMTown London Vlog Here:
Hearts2Hearts
Debuting in February 2025, Hearts2Hearts is SM Entertainment’s latest girl group. The eight-member group performed their songs, The Chase, Butterflies, and STYLE.
SMTR25
Rookie group, SMTR25 consists of 25 male trainees. As they have yet to debut, they performed covers of popular songs including LUCIFER by SHINee and Growl by EXO. The group are predicted to debut sometime later this year.
SMTown Ending Ment:
The SMTown Ending Ment refers to a tradition that comes at the end of the concert where all the idols come together for a final send-off. This shows their appreciation and thanks to the fans as they also reflect on their SMTown performance.
Watch All the Must-See Highlights From SMTown London Here:
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