Red Velvet fans were dealt a surprise blow as Wendy announced her absence from the 2025 SMTOWN Live. This year’s event was particularly special as SM Entertainment celebrates its 30th anniversary. Many projects and events were announced to celebrate this milestone.
The label invited all artists including past and present to SMTOWN Live. Red Velvet, a K-pop girl group under SM Entertainment, is also scheduled to perform at this historic event.
However, it was revealed that Wendy will be skipping this year’s event due to personal reasons. While it was not announced through the group’s official social media handle, Melon Ticket provider announced, “We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the lineup change, and ticket cancellations are available until Wednesday without penalty through the customer service center.”
Regarding this, Wendy shared an update on Bubble today and slammed the label for the late announcement, expressing, “You may have seen the announcement or not yet, but.. I talked to the company more than a month ago, but the notice only went up today… I’m sorry that there must have been a lot of ReVeluv waiting for Red Velvet’s 5-member stage. Since it’s our 30th anniversary, there will be various performances prepared. I hope you have a good time. Thank you always and sorry.”
Besides Wendy, Girls’ Generation member and solo artist Taeyeon will also not be participating. While their absence has disappointed a lot of fans, the SMTOWN Live concert series will still feature a powerhouse lineup of SM Entertainment artists.
EXO, SHINee, BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, NCT, aespa, RIIZE, NCT WISH, and virtual idol naevis will take the stage to celebrate the K-pop label’s 30th anniversary.
SMTOWN Live 2025 will begin on January 11 and 12 followed by international stops in Mexico City (May 9), LA (May 11), London (June 28), and Tokyo (Aug. 9-10).
SMTOWN Live has been held in several countries since 2008, including Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Chile, UAE, France, and the US.