Lady Gaga adds K-pop act to North America tour

File photo: Members of South Korean girl group Crayon Pop. (AFP/Anthony Wallace)

LOS ANGELES: K-pop made fresh inroads Thursday when Lady Gaga revealed that South Korean girl group Crayon Pop will open her upcoming summer concerts in Canada and the United States.

"I'm excited to announce June 26 through July 22 of Lady Gaga's artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball will be opened by CRAYON POP!," the "Mother Monster" announced on her @ladygaga Twitter feed.

The candy-coloured quintet topped the K-pop charts last year when their danceable ditty "Bar Bar Bar" -- featuring their signature helmets and piston-style line dancing -- went viral on YouTube.

South Korean pop music has an avid following in the West, but it broke into the mainstream in November 2012 when "Gangnam Style" by Psy became, and remains, the most-viewed video ever on YouTube.

Lady Gaga's tour kicks off May 4 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Crayon Pop will join the star's cavalcade seven weeks later in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and remain until the scheduled finale in Los Angeles.

Last week Lady Gaga, who turns 28 next week, raised eyebrows during a club gig at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas when she had a British "vomit artist" regurgitate coloured soy milk onto her cleavage.

That prompted New Jersey resident Chris Wolverton to launch an online petition at Care2.com accusing her of "glamorising bulimia" and demanding she halt using "imagery" that could impact on teens with eating disorders.

Lady Gaga herself said in 2012 that she wrestled with bulimia and anorexia from the age of 15, prompting a debate on social media.