History Music / BTS

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Jimin, as commonly seen in reaction videos. LetsPlay/PewDiePie, stepping into the K-Pop world in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3dmPMImx0E this]] video. He started with BTS, commenting on both their good sides and what he didn't like about them until he watched [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmE9f-TEutc Blood, Sweat and Tears]]. After said MV, he promptly declared that he's gay.

BTS ([[FunWithAcronyms or Bangtan Boys, or Beyond the Scene, or Bulletproof Boyscouts, or Bangtan Sonyeondan]]) is a {{Korean Pop|Music}}[=/=]HipHop[=/=]RAndB BoyBand that debuted with [=BigHit=] Entertainment[[note]]now BIGHIT MUSIC under HYBE Labels[[/note]] on June 13, 2013, composed of seven members: rappers RM (leader), SUGA, and j-hope, and vocalists Jin, Music/{{Jimin}}, Music/{{V|Singer}}, and Music/{{Jungkook}}.

* '''j-hope''': Full name Jung Hoseok, born 18 February 1994. Rapper, choreography leader, sometimes vocalist, member of the dance line.

* LongHairedPrettyBoy: The whole group grew their hair out in 2022 and each of them looked so [[https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/bts-members-long-hair-style-haircut-visuals-best/ fine]]. Fans swoon over them harder when they grow out their hair, especially Jungkook, Suga, and V.

BTS ([[FunWithAcronyms or Bangtan Boys, or Beyond the Scene, or Bulletproof Boyscouts, or Bangtan Sonyeondan]]) is a {{Korean Pop|Music}}[=/=]HipHop[=/=]RAndB BoyBand that debuted with [=BigHit=] Entertainment[[note]]now BIGHIT MUSIC under HYBE Labels[[/note]] on June 13, 2013, composed of seven members: rappers RM (leader), SUGA, and j-hope, and vocalists Jin, Music/{{Jimin}}, V, and Music/{{Jungkook}}.

* '''V''': Full name Kim Taehyung, born 30 December 1995. Vocalist, member of the dance line.

** ''MAP OF THE SOUL: 7'' (Studio Album)

[[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/arts/music/bts-break-solo.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes On June 14, 2022, one day after their ninth anniversary]], the band announced in a [=YouTube=] livestream that they'd be taking a break from group projects so the members could focus more on releasing solo albums]]. The band was facing the prospect of a hiatus due to South Korea's mandatory military service. Able-bodied males are normally required to serve for a minimum of 18 months before turning 28, but the band members qualified for a deferment to age 30. With the oldest member, Jin, set to turn 30 in December 2022, the band's record label [[https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/17/entertainment/bts-military-service-intl-scli announced on October 17]] that the members would take a break to fulfill their military obligations. Jin enlisted in December 2022, followed by j-hope in April 2023, and Suga in September. RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook enlisted together in December 2023.

Interestingly, their fame grew very gradually; while they had a strong start for a small company idol group, they only started to reach higher success in Korea in 2015 ([[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff gaining an international fanbase much earlier]]) with singles "I NEED U" and "Dope", and winning their first big Korean awards[[note]]awards in main categories such as Artist or Album of the Year, also known as ''daesangs''[[/note]] in 2016. In 2017, they ended Music/JustinBieber's 6-year winning streak with the Billboard award for Top Social Artist, marking a turning point in their career. They've broken many records before and since, having the highest-selling album in Korean history. They've also performed in sold-out tours in Asia, the Americas, Europe and other places, becoming (among other things) the first Korean group and Asian act in general to perform in ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', and the first to headline a concert at Wembley (with 2 sold-out nights). By the end of the 2010s, they were by the biggest boy band on the planet, achieving a level of stardom rivaled that decade only by Music/OneDirection.

An unusual aspect of BTS is that [[SingerSongwriter the members have had significant input in their work since the beginning]] (including pre-debut), with all members having participated in songwriting; notably, RM and Suga were involved in the underground hip-hop scene in Korea as teens. While ''the'' main influence of the group has always been Western HipHop, they're very versatile, often giving their own spin to wherever their GenreRoulette lands on and have a tendency to do {{Genre Mashup}}s.

BTS' work has recurring themes centered around youth and young people's place in society, often dealing with topics such as mental health, expectations pushed onto young people, and social inequality, with more than one ProtestSong under their belt; they also incorporate their own personal experiences into their work, including their career and difficult rise to stardom. Additionally, all three rappers (RM, Suga and J-Hope) have released very personal and distinct solo mixtapes - ''RM'' (2015), ''Agust D'' (2016), ''Hope World'' (2018) and ''D-2'' (2020), all heavily referencing the different points of their careers at which they each were released. In 2018, RM also released the introspective ''mono.'' (which RM has called not a mixtape, but a "playlist").

Their biggest and most ambitious project, however, might be the creation of an entire MindScrew of a [[TheVerse multi-media storyline]] tied to the narrative in their music, starring fictional versions of the members in what [=BigHit=] has named '''the Music/BTSUniverse'''. This series is comprised of {{Concept Video}}s, teasers, short films, a webcomic (titled ''Webcomic/SaveMe''), novels (''[[Literature/TheMostBeautifulMomentInLifeTheNotes The Notes]]'') and other content, starting in 2015 with the "I NEED U (Original Ver.)" music video and currently ongoing. To read more about the storyline and characters of the series, you can go to the Music/BTSUniverse work page.

They've also entered the big screen. Months after the Youtube Premium series of the same name, the movie ''Series/BurnTheStage'' - a documentary about the ''WINGS'' Tour in 2017 and the experiences behind the scenes of the members throughout - was released worldwide on November 15th, 2018. In January 26th, 2019, the ConcertFilm ''LOVE YOURSELF Tour in Seoul'' was released in cinemas around the globe as a one-day-only event. In August 2019, they released another documentary film about the ''LOVE YOURSELF'' tour under the title ''Bring The Soul''; another documentary series of the same title was released weeks later [[ChannelHop on BigHit's Weverse app]]. A third series, ''Break The Silence'', is also available in the Weverse app, with its release being followed with a third documentary movie, ''Break The Silence: Persona''.

The album '''''MAP OF THE SOUL: 7''''', was released in February 21st, 2020. It had 2 singles: the lead single '''"Black Swan"''' (released in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lapF4DQPKQ one version]] for radio and streaming platforms and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGbuUFRdYqU an orchestral version released as an art film for Youtube]]), and the main single '''"ON"'''. The latter has 2 music videos, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwMa6gpoE9I the "Kinectic Manifesto Film"]] (a PerformanceVideo) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPVDGOVjRQ0 a cinematic ]] ConceptVideo featuring the members in an AfterTheEnd setting.

This album was notable for its promotion campaign, with a huge [[https://twitter.com/bighitent/status/1214957638623973376 timeline of events]] leading up to it. This included not one, but ''two'' comeback trailers, as well as the launch of '''''[[https://www.connect-bts.com/index.jsp CONNECT, BTS]]''''', "a global project to connect five cities and twenty-two artists", that "may be described in terms of a collective curatorial practice by curators around the world who resonated with BTS' philosophy". The many plans they had post-release, including another stadium world tour, were halted however by the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. The members decided to use their time (that would have been otherwise spent in the now cancelled tour) in crafting their next album, livestreaming parts of the process on the [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5hrGMysD_Gtxnb_bal4-ZlUNOgwPqU3p BANGTANTV Youtube channel]].

In the meantime, the single '''"Dynamite"''', a disco-pop track entirely in English (the latter being a first for the group) was released in August 21, 2020 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdZLi9oWNZg along with a music video]]. According to the members, it's an unexpected project they took on to heal and bring joy for fans and other listeners during the pandemic. With "Dynamite", [[BlackSheepHit they became the first all-Korean act to reach #1 in Billboard Hot100]] and the first Asian act (and third group in general) to debut in that placement; it had the highest global debut streams in Spotify in 2020, and broke the Youtube record of most views in 24 hrs. with a whopping ''101 million'' views. This was followed by their second #1 hit, their remix of Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo's "Savage Love", which became the first #1 hit with Korean lyrics. "Dynamite" would later give them their first Grammy nomination in a musical category[[note]]''LOVE YOURSELF: Tear'' was nominated for Best Recording Package[[/note]], that being Best Pop [=Duo/Group=] Performance.

The album '''''BE''''' (which also contains "Dynamite") was finally released in November 20th, 2020. It's the album with the biggest amount of participation from all the members in its production - down to V directing its visuals, for example - and it reflects their feelings on life during the pandemic. Its main single, '''"Life Goes On"''', has a [[https://youtu.be/-5q5mZbe3V8 music video directed by Jungkook]], and became the first track mostly in Korean to top the Billboard [=Hot100=] chart in history, and the first non-English track to top the chart since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito".

Another English single titled "Butter" was released in May 21, 2021, becoming their fourth no. 1 single in the US and breaking records in streaming platforms like Website/YouTube and Spotify, followed by "Permission to Dance" weeks later. BTS thus became the first group in history to replace a #1 debut single with another #1 debut single on the Hot 100 chart. A remix of "Butter" featuring Music/MeganTheeStallion was released on August 27. On September 24, they collaborated with Music/{{Coldplay}} in the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZYPI4mYwhw "My Universe"]] for the latter's album ''Music of the Spheres''--becoming yet another #1 debut for the group, as well as Coldplay's first-ever #1 debut.

At the end of their ''Permission to Dance'' tour in Las Vegas, they announced the coming of an anthology album named '''''PROOF''''' which was released on June 10, 2022. It is confirmed to feature 3 new original songs and a compilation of their [[GreatestHitsAlbum greatest hits]], plus new demo and special editions of songs never released before. Tracklists can be found [[https://twitter.com/BIGHIT_MUSIC/status/1523679188921688066 here,]] [[https://twitter.com/BIGHIT_MUSIC/status/1523316798749396992 here, ]][[https://twitter.com/bighit_music/status/1524041585335410688?s=21&t=fcQdZ_zA8P2r35JED7WbMw and here.]]

On June 14, 2022, one day after their ninth anniversary, [[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/arts/music/bts-break-solo.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes the band announced in a YouTube livestream that they'd be taking a break from group projects so the members could focus more on releasing solo albums.]] The band was facing the prospect of a hiatus due to South Korea's mandatory military service. Able-bodied males are normally required to serve for a minimum of 18 months before turning 28, but the band members qualified for a deferment to age 30. With the oldest member, Jin, set to turn 30 in December 2022, the band's record label [[https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/17/entertainment/bts-military-service-intl-scli announced on October 17]] that the members would take a break to fulfill their military obligations. Jin enlisted in December 2022, followed by j-hope in April 2023, and Suga in September. RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook have enlisted together in December 2023.

On June 14, 2022, one day after their ninth anniversary, [[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/arts/music/bts-break-solo.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes the band announced in a YouTube livestream that they'd be taking a break from group projects so the members could focus more on releasing solo albums.]] The band was facing the prospect of a hiatus due to South Korea's mandatory military service. Able-bodied males are normally required to serve for a minimum of 18 months before turning 28, but the band members qualified for a deferment to age 30. With the oldest member, Jin, set to turn 30 in December 2022, the band's record label [[https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/17/entertainment/bts-military-service-intl-scli announced on October 17]] that the members would take a break to fulfill their military obligations. Jin enlisted in December 2022, followed by j-hope in April 2023, and Suga in September. The rest were announced to be enlisting together in December 2023.

BTS plams to re-form in 2025 once all the members have completed their service, though the country's defense minister indicated that they might be able to do a few overseas shows while serving.

On June 14, 2022, one day after their ninth anniversary, [[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/arts/music/bts-break-solo.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes the band announced in a YouTube livestream that they'd be taking a break from group projects so the members could focus more on releasing solo albums.]] The band was facing the prospect of a hiatus due to South Korea's mandatory military service. Able-bodied males are normally required to serve for a minimum of 18 months before turning 28, but the band members qualified for a deferment to age 30. With the oldest member, Jin, set to turn 30 in December 2022, the band's record label [[https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/17/entertainment/bts-military-service-intl-scli announced on October 17]] that the members would take a break to fulfill their military obligations. They plan to re-form in 2025 once all the members have completed their service, though the country's defense minister indicated that they might be able to do a few overseas shows while serving.