Guitar.com Named RIIZE Its Only K-Pop Pick for 2026

When Guitar.com — one of the world's most respected publications for guitar culture — published its 2026 feature on rising Asian guitar artists, it included an unexpected name: RIIZE. The South Korean boy group, managed by SM Entertainment, became the only K-pop act in a lineup that typically spotlights artists from the alternative rock, J-rock, and indie guitar worlds. This was not a marketing placement or a tokenistic nod. The selection came from the group's own track record — one built around a debut single literally called "Get A Guitar" and two members who have been playing guitar and bass since middle school.

Guitar.com framed the recognition in terms of a broader market shift: "Guitar music is gaining a new audience across generations and creating new fusion stages across regions." In that context, RIIZE is less of an outlier and more of a logical endpoint — K-pop's most instrument-committed group finally reaching the attention of the global guitar community.

A Debut That Was Always About the Guitar

RIIZE launched in September 2023 with a sound that stood apart from SM Entertainment's typical debut playbook. Where many SM debuts lean heavily on polished electronic production, RIIZE opened with a groove-heavy guitar pop track that named its instrument right in the title. "Get A Guitar" leaned into funk-influenced rhythm playing and was backed by a music video filmed on the Sixth Street Viaduct in Los Angeles — an image of sprawling urban cool that reinforced the song's analog warmth. The debut MV reached 24 million views, making it the second most-viewed debut video by a 2023 K-pop rookie group on YouTube.

More importantly, "Get A Guitar" introduced the group through two genuine instrumentalists. Wonbin first picked up a guitar following his father's footsteps and progressed to electric guitar in middle school, where he developed both the technical skill and stage presence that now defines RIIZE's performance identity. Anton began his musical development on bass — drawing influence from funk legend Pino Palladino — before expanding to guitar. His bass foundation gives RIIZE's live performances a low-end richness that stands out in K-pop's frequently synth-dominated soundscape.

The connection between their playing and their live output became most visible during RIIZE's US leg of the RIIZING LOUD world tour. Anton and Wonbin opened "Get A Guitar" with an extended live jam that reviewers described as "bluesier and funkier than before, with the members visibly more melded with their instruments." Anton reflected on the moment: "That rock/bluesy intro was a really cool way to start that section of our concert. If we had more opportunities to explore that sound and bring it to K-pop, I think that'd be cool."

What Guitar.com's Recognition Really Signals

Guitar.com exists entirely outside the K-pop media ecosystem. Its readership consists of guitar players and enthusiasts who follow instrument culture — not idol charts, fandom rankings, or streaming competitions. For a publication rooted in that world to spotlight a K-pop group in its 2026 feature is not a headline grabbed through PR effort. It is a recognition that, on the publication's own terms, guitar music produced by RIIZE is worth discussing alongside acts from Japan, Southeast Asia, and beyond.

The Guitar.com feature notes that South Korea's alternative guitar scene has grown rapidly in recent years, and that RIIZE occupies a rare space: a mainstream K-pop act with genuine instrument credibility. Wonbin's guitar and Anton's bass have not been a stage prop or a single-album concept. They have been part of RIIZE's musical identity from the first note of their public existence.

The commercial trajectory provides the scale behind that identity:

RIIZE's debut full album ODYSSEY, released in May 2025, moved 1,797,267 copies in its first week — the highest first-week sales total of any album released in 2025. That number eclipsed the 1,255,015 first-week record set by their first mini album RIIZING in 2024. ODYSSEY ranked fourth on the Circle Album Chart for the first half of 2025 with 1,413,171 copies and reached number 15 on the IFPI Global Album Sales Chart for the year. Three consecutive million-sellers in three years is not a trajectory that coexists with a gimmick. RIIZE's guitar identity is working commercially as much as it is working critically.

420,000 Fans, Three Continents, and a First at Lollapalooza

The RIIZING LOUD world tour, which ran from July 2025 through March 2026, stretched across 35 concerts in 10 countries, drawing approximately 420,000 fans across 21 cities. The tour concluded with a three-night sold-out finale at KSPO DOME in Seoul — a venue that only a small circle of K-pop acts can fill for consecutive nights. The scale alone establishes RIIZE as one of the most commercially viable live acts in the genre today.

But the milestone that speaks most directly to their crossover credibility arrived in early 2026, when RIIZE became the first male K-pop group to perform at Lollapalooza South America — appearing at the festival's Argentina, Chile, and Brazil editions. Lollapalooza is not a K-pop festival. It is a multi-genre event with deep roots in alternative and rock culture, where a booking depends on genuine broad appeal rather than fandom loyalty alone. The fact that promoters chose RIIZE reflects a perception that the group can engage audiences who come for live music broadly. That perception does not form without instrument credibility.

What Comes Next

SM Entertainment has confirmed that RIIZE's second mini album is expected between April and June 2026, entering release season with more global momentum than the group has held at any prior point. Guitar.com's feature now sits in their public biography alongside the world tour finale, the Lollapalooza debut, and the ODYSSEY sales record.

The more revealing question is what direction the music takes from here. Anton's comment — "if we had more opportunities to explore that sound and bring it to K-pop" — reads as an aspiration, not a confirmed roadmap. ODYSSEY moved into broader emotional pop territory rather than doubling down on the guitar-rock fusion of the debut. Whether the next chapter sharpens or softens the guitar identity will determine whether Guitar.com's 2026 recognition is a milestone or a high-water mark.

For now, the recognition stands. Guitar.com, a publication that owes K-pop nothing, chose to include RIIZE in a feature about artists building the future of guitar music. In a genre where most external validation comes from within the pop industry's own ecosystem, that is a different kind of achievement — and one that RIIZE's debut single said they were aiming for three years before anyone was listening.