Less than a year after their debut, five young men from Big Hit Music will stand on a stage in Singapore surrounded by the roar of Formula 1 and the company of global headliners — a moment that speaks to how quickly cultural momentum can carry new artists beyond the boundaries of genre and geography. CORTIS, whose very name is a pledge to color outside the lines, will perform at the Singapore Grand Prix on October 9, 2026, as the sole K-pop act on opening night. Their presence there is less a surprise booking than the logical next step in a deliberate journey outward — from Billboard charts to
K-pop Rising Act CORTIS Confirmed for Singapore F1 Grand Prix Alongside Janet Jackson
The sole K-pop act on opening night, alongside a Mandopop legend
Mark
So CORTIS is the only K-pop act on opening night. Does that mean they're the only K-pop act at the entire Grand Prix, or just Friday?
Mimi
Just Friday. The full weekend has other performers, but CORTIS is the sole K-pop group on that opening night lineup. It's a deliberate choice by the organizers, it seems.
Luke
Do we know why they were selected specifically? Is this because of their sales numbers, or their international profile, or something else?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't say. We know they've been expanding into non-K-pop venues—NBA All-Star, Lollapalooza—so they have a track record of performing outside the K-pop circuit. That probably helped.
Mark
They debuted less than a year ago. How does a group that new get to a Formula 1 Grand Prix?
Mimi
Big Hit Music backing, for one. They're the third act signed to Big Hit after BTS and TXT. And their numbers are genuinely fast. Second EP hit number one on Billboard's Top Album Sales, sold over two million copies in the first week.
Luke
But we should be careful here—"fastest-rising K-pop acts since debut" is a comparative claim. Fastest compared to what? The last five years? The last decade? It's not defined.
Mark
Fair point. Still, 2.3 million first-week sales is a concrete number.
Luke
It is. And the Singapore GP is a real event with real attendance. But we don't actually know if CORTIS was hand-picked or if they fit a slot that needed filling. The reporting doesn't tell us the booking story.
Mimi
True. We know what happened—they're performing—but not how the decision was made.
Mark
Does the timing work for them? They're on a world tour.
Mimi
Yes. The Singapore date falls between their Korea domestic shows and their Japan leg in September. It slots into their schedule naturally.
El Pulso
- A group barely ten months old has secured one of Asia's most visible sporting stages, signaling that CORTIS's rise is moving faster than the industry typically allows.
- Their second EP sold over two million copies in a single week, creating the kind of commercial gravity that opens doors usually reserved for established acts.
- By headlining the NBA All-Star Crossover Concert and landing an official Lollapalooza aftershow slot, CORTIS is deliberately bypassing the K-pop circuit to compete on a broader global stage.
- The Singapore GP slot — sandwiched between Korean tour dates and a Japan leg — reveals a world tour architecture built for exactly this kind of cross-market expansion.
- Performing alongside JJ Lin, DJ Snake, and Major Lazer Soundsystem rather than other K-pop groups, CORTIS positions itself as a genre-fluid act rather than a regional phenomenon.
- At ages 16 to 20, these five members are navigating a pace of growth that will define not just their careers but the next chapter of K-pop's relationship with global entertainment.
Less than a year after their debut, five young men from Big Hit Music will stand on a stage in Singapore surrounded by the roar of Formula 1 and the company of global headliners — a moment that speaks to how quickly cultural momentum can carry new artists beyond the boundaries of genre and geography. CORTIS, whose very name is a pledge to color outside the lines, will perform at the Singapore Grand Prix on October 9, 2026, as the sole K-pop act on opening night. Their presence there is less a surprise booking than the logical next step in a deliberate journey outward — from Billboard charts to NBA arenas to festival circuits — toward a kind of global belonging that transcends any single musical tradition.
On October 9, 2026, CORTIS will perform at the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix's Padang Stage — the only K-pop act on opening night, sharing a Friday lineup with JJ Lin, DJ Snake, Major Lazer Soundsystem, and TOKiMONSTA, among others. The five members — Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon, and Keonho, ranging from 16 to 20 years old — will be accessible to anyone holding a Friday race ticket starting at $198 SGD. Janet Jackson and Mark Ronson headline separately on the Wharf Stage later in the weekend.
The booking is remarkable given the group's timeline. CORTIS debuted in August 2025 under Big Hit Music and Republic Records, becoming only the third act signed to Big Hit after BTS and TXT. Their name — an acronym for Color Outside the Lines — doubles as a creative manifesto, and the members live it literally: they write, produce, and choreograph their own material, with James leading choreography duties.
Their commercial ascent has been steep. Their debut EP landed at number 15 on the Billboard 200, the second-highest charting debut by a K-pop act at the time. Their follow-up EP, GREENGREEN, debuted at number one on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart and moved over 2.3 million copies in its first week — a velocity that places them among the fastest-rising acts in the genre's history.
What sets CORTIS apart is where they are choosing to perform. In February 2026, they became the first K-pop group to headline the NBA All-Star Crossover Concert Series. They are confirmed for a Lollapalooza aftershow. Their debut world tour, Put Your Phone Down, runs through nine cities across South Korea, North America, and Japan from July through September — with Singapore slotting in naturally before their Japan dates.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix draws millions of attendees globally, and performing there as the lone K-pop act — rather than as part of a Korean-focused lineup — underscores the strategic logic behind CORTIS's expansion. The billing alongside a Mandopop icon like JJ Lin is not incidental; it reflects a group actively building a presence that belongs to no single genre or market.
CORTIS will take the stage at the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix on October 9, 2026, as the sole K-pop act performing on opening night. The five-member group—Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon, and Keonho, all between 16 and 20 years old—will perform at the Padang Stage in Zone 4 alongside JJ Lin, Spacey Jane, Borderline, Shingo Nakamura, Split Enz, Major Lazer Soundsystem, DJ Snake, and TOKiMONSTA. The stage is open to anyone holding a Friday race ticket, with entry starting at $198 SGD (roughly $150 USD). Janet Jackson and Mark Ronson will headline later in the weekend on the Wharf Stage, which requires Zone 1 tickets.
For a group that debuted less than a year ago, the booking represents a significant milestone. CORTIS emerged in August 2025 under Big Hit Music and Republic Records, becoming the third act signed to Big Hit after BTS and TXT. Their name is an acronym for Color Outside the Lines, a phrase that serves as both their identity and creative statement. The members are actively involved in writing, producing, and choreographing their own material—James handles choreography duties alongside his role as a performer.
Their commercial trajectory has been steep. Their debut EP, Color Outside the Lines, arrived in September 2025 and landed at number 15 on the Billboard 200, marking the second-highest charting debut by any K-pop act at that time. Within ten months, they released a second EP called GREENGREEN, which debuted at number one on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart and sold 2,313,291 copies in its first week. That sales velocity places them among the fastest-rising K-pop acts since their debut.
What distinguishes CORTIS from many groups at their career stage is their deliberate positioning outside K-pop-specific circuits. In February 2026, they became the first K-pop group to headline the NBA's Crossover Concert Series opening night during NBA All-Star weekend. They are confirmed as an official aftershow act for Lollapalooza. Their debut world tour, titled Put Your Phone Down, spans nine cities across South Korea, North America, and Japan from July through September 2026. The Singapore Grand Prix slot fits naturally into this schedule, falling between their domestic Korean dates and their Japan leg in Kanagawa.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix itself draws enormous audiences. The sport accumulated 6.7 million cumulative attendance across the 2025 season globally, making it one of Asia's most high-profile sporting events. For CORTIS, performing at this scale on a non-K-pop-specific stage—and notably as the only K-pop act on opening night rather than alongside other Korean groups—signals a strategic approach to international expansion that emphasizes cross-genre and cross-market positioning. The billing alongside JJ Lin, a Mandopop legend, underscores this broader appeal beyond the K-pop touring circuit.
Citas Notables
CORTIS's positioning as the sole K-pop act on opening night alongside JJ Lin rather than another K-pop group points to cross-genre, cross-market positioning that distinguishes them from groups whose international activity is confined primarily to the K-pop touring circuit.— Forbes reporting
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