TEN Ends First U.S. Solo Headlining Tour, Plans 2027 Return

TEN, the Thailand-born singer who left SM Entertainment in April, has finished his first U.S. solo headlining tour. The run covered 14 intimate venues and ended on Tuesday, Nov. 10. He spoke about the tour and his departure in a Billboard interview published on Nov. 13.

In K-pop, an "idol" is a trained performer signed to a talent agency, usually as part of a group. TEN came up through NCT, a large group whose members rotate across several teams. He was also part of WayV, its Chinese-language team, and SuperM, a project that brought members from several groups together for releases aimed at international audiences.

Ahead of the U.S. dates, he marked ten years in the industry with a three-day residency in Bangkok, a run of shows held in one city over consecutive days. He also released OUTWEST, an English-language EP, which is a short release with fewer tracks than a full album. He co-wrote the material on it.

Outside music, he founded ILLIMNT, a creative agency that supports his projects across Korea, Thailand, the U.S. and beyond. An agency of that kind handles the planning, design and business side of an artist's work, so the artist can focus on the performing and writing.

In the Los Angeles interview, TEN told Billboard that he feels as if he is starting again from zero, working out who TEN really is as a solo artist. That is a personal description rather than a plan with a timetable, and he framed it in his own words.

The tour's next step is already on his calendar. TEN plans to return in 2027 as part of a bigger world tour. For a performer whose recent work has been built on smaller rooms and tighter schedules, a return with a wider route is the clearest marker so far of where the run is heading.

For the crews, promoters and venue staff who put the U.S. shows together, the tour was a set of working days in 14 places. Each of those nights needed a stage, a sound team and a box office. The next tour will need them all again.