With the recent news of Big Bang‘s G-Dragon caught in a legal issue for smoking marijuana, fans can’t help but be worried about Big Bang’s future as they are arguably one of the most successful boy bands in Korea at the moment.
Without a doubt, this is the boys’ most difficult moment in their careers, as now another member of the group is forced to postpone his activities.
Back in May of this year, member Daesung was involved in a car accident which took the life of a man and ultimately had the idol temporarily leaving the music industry. Now we have G-Dragon who has been arrested for smoking marijuana. These boys have come a long away starting from their debut years, but 2011 seems to be their worst year.
Many of their future schedules have gone down the drain. First off, GD&TOP were in plans to release a new single in Japan between November and December, however with the recent incident, it’s unlikely to happen. Furthermore, G-Dragon was in the process of making a comeback with a new solo, mid October. All of his comeback plans have been dismissed.
This isn’t the first time the group has had to pause major activities. Prior to Daesung’s car accident, the group was in preparation for new music and concert releases. Unfortunately, those plans were trashed when news of the idol’s accident hit media outlets.
It is apparent that Daesung took a huge loss with the unfortunate event. Even after 5 months, there are no signs of the idol returning to the industry. Industry Analysts have predicted that G-Dragon might have to take a long break just like his group mate. Considering how strict the Korean government is in regards to marijuana usage, this prediction is very reasonable.
According to reports, the idol took the drug back in May and after further investigation, a hair drug test came out to be positive in July. The idol even confessed himself that he smoked marijuana while attending a club in Japan.
On the bright side, because this was G-Dragon’s first offense, the prosecutor will not be giving him a serious charge, which means he will not be officially indicted. Despite this, the idol has taken a huge loss all because of the usage of marijuana.
The boys’ agency, YG Entertainment is also struggling as Big Bang is their biggest source of income. According to their annual reports, 27.98% of their total revenue for the first half of the year was from Big Bang’s concerts alone. If you include their album sales and endorsements, it goes beyond 50% of the total revenue mark.
With the band’s temporary cease of activities, it’s no doubt that the company will have a sharp drop in revenue in the latter half of the year. Analysts have shared that if G-Dragon gets his name blacklisted from broadcasting companies, it may be the very end of Big Bang.