Watch Heartsteel, NewJeans perform at the 2023 ‘League of Legends’ World Championship

Virtual boyband Heartsteel, which features EXO’s Baekhyun, and NewJeans recently performed at this year’s League of Legends World Championship.

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Heartsteel – formed by EXO’s Baekhyun, Taiwanese-American rapper ØZI, Nigerian singer Tobi Lou and American musician Cal Scruby – and K-pop girl group NewJeans opened the annual League of Legends World Championship at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul yesterday (November 19)

Heartsteel, in their first-ever live performance, took the stage first to perform their debut single ‘Paranoia’. “Every time you pop off / They hopin’ that you fall hard / They prayin’ for the death of a rockstar / Everybody hatin’ ever since you got more / They prayin’ for the death of a rockstar,” they sang, joined by their virtual counterparts on stage.

NewJeans followed with a fiery performance of their song ‘Gods’, which is the official anthem for this year’s championships. “Once you play God, once you play God / They’re gonna crumble one by one / Then we gon’ ride right into the sun / Like it’s the day my kingdom come,” they sing.

NewJeans also made their Billboard Music Awards debut yesterday (November 19), where they performed their hits ‘Super Shy’ and ‘OMG’. The quintet later took home the award for Top Global K-Pop Artist, with member Minji calling the win “a reminder to us of all the love and support we receive from our fans, Bunnies”.

In other news, K-pop boyband Stray Kids have topped the Billboard 200 with their latest mini-album, ‘ROCK-STAR’. It is their fourth consecutive Billboard 200 chart-topper and second of 2023, following ‘5-Star’ in June.

Meanwhile, South Korean singer Kyuhyun, a member of K-pop boyband Super Junior, was recently injured during a knife attack in Seoul.