2024 was bittersweet for BRIIZE (RIIZE fandom) due to Seunghan’s departure. Despite RIIZE achieving several milestones, the year ended on a low note due to the controversy surrounding Seunghan’s exit and SM Entertainment’s poor handling of the situation.
This led to boycotts of the group from fans worldwide and RIIZE’s popularity and social media following took a severe hit. Now, the group is preparing for a comeback and experts are closely watching if the group will achieve the same success with their comeback.
As per reports on March 19, RIIZE will release their first full-length album in May. SM Entertainment confirmed to Dispatch, “RIIZE is currently preparing with the goal of releasing their first full-length album in May.”
RIIZE is making a comeback 11 months after the release of their first mini-album “RIIZING” in June 2024. “RIIZING” sold over 1 million copies in its first week, surpassing the group’s debut single album “Get a Guitar”. It exceeded the sales of their previous album (1.01 million copies) by 240,000 copies, reaching a total of 1.25 million copies sold.
Their debut single album “Get A Guitar” sold 1,016,849 copies in its first week (September 4-10). This makes them the first non-survival show group to surpass 1 million first-week sales with their debut album.
“RIIZING” sold 1,255,015 copies in its debut week (June 17-23), breaking their previous record of 1,016,849 copies set by “Get A Guitar”. Their 1st mini-album, released in June, topped the iTunes ‘Top Album’ charts in 10 countries. It also reached #1 on Japan’s Line Music real-time chart. Additionally, “RIIZING” ranked 6th on Spotify Korea’s 2024 year-end ‘Wrapped’ list for ‘Most Streamed Album in Korea’.
They debuted in Japan with the physical release of “Lucky” in September 2024. Earlier this year in January, RIIZE dropped a remake of TVXQ!’s song “Hug” for SM Entertainment’s 30th anniversary.
Meanwhile, RIIZE will perform at SMTOWN Live concerts in Mexico City (May 9), Los Angeles (May 11), London (June 28), and Tokyo (August 9 and 10).