Seoul, Sep 11 (IANS): YouTube announced that K-pop superstars Blackpink have become the most subscribed artist on the video channel, surpassing Justin Bieber with their 65.5 million subscribers.

"This is unbelievable. It's a precious moment gifted to us by our BLINKS (fans)," the group's members Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose said in a statement.

"We would like to dedicate this honor to all of our fans around the world who have loved and supported us throughout," according to Billboard.com.

The quartet added, "Our BLINKS contributed a lot to this achievement. Therefore we hope they also enjoy this honor. ...We will continue to bring positivity and great energy through our music and videos."

Only months back they were the second most subscribed artist on YouTube.

Blackpink surpassed the 60 million mark in April, behind only Bieber, who currently has 65.1 million subscribers.

BTS follows with 57.7 million, then Marshmello with 53.8 million, and Ariana Grande with 49.6 million subscribers to round out the top five.

According to YouTube, Blackpink earned more than 9.7 billion views from around the world in just the past year.

The global superstars also have four music videos that have each garnered more than 1 billion views, 'Ddu-Du Ddu-Du', 'Kill This Love', 'Boombayah', and 'As If It's Your Last'.

This new record for the group comes on the same day that Lisa dropped her debut solo project, 'Lalisa'. She's the third member of the quartet to release a standalone release.

Jennie released the appropriately titled 'Solo' in November 2018, while Rose gave fans -R-, which featured 'On the Ground' and 'Gone', in March. Jisoo will be the last member of Blackpink to make her solo debut.

Blackpink is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album 'Square One', which featured 'Whistle' and 'Boombayah'.