BLACKPINK fittingly honored the Spice Girls during the closing night of their two-day run at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Over the weekend, the global K-pop sensations made their long-awaited return to London with the Deadline World Tour, marking their first visit since headlining a sold-out BST Hyde Park show in 2023.
In a nostalgic nod to the British pop legends, BLACKPINK capped off their Wembley stint on Saturday (Aug. 16) with a surprise performance of the Spice Girls’ debut single “Wannabe.” The song, which spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, had the crowd singing along as the group put their own spin on the iconic ’90s hit. Watch fan-captured clips of the performance here, here and here on X.
This wasn’t the first time JENNIE, LISA, JISOO and ROSÉ took on “Wannabe.” They previously performed the iconic track during a “Carpool Karaoke” segment with James Corden on The Late Late Show in 2023. During the ride, LISA shared that she was obsessed with the Spice Girls growing up, while JENNIE said she admired how each member had her own distinct personality. Corden even gave the BLACKPINK members their own “Spice” names, with ROSÉ becoming “Aussie Pink,” LISA as “Boss Pink,” JENNIE as “Shy Pink” and JISOO dubbed “Nail Pink.”
On Saturday, the Wembley crowd got a surprise encore when BLACKPINK returned to the stage to perform “Wannabe,” dancing and singing together to close out their second and final night in London.
Fittingly, BLACKPINK’s latest single “Jump” includes the line “spice up your life,” a clear reference to the opening track on the Spice Girls’ 1997 album, Spiceworld. Produced by Diplo, “Jump” debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts in late July.
For those who missed BLACKPINK’s opening night at Wembley on Friday (Aug. 15), Billboard has rounded up the seven best moments from the show here.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
