BTS - South Korean Boy Band

BTS (RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan which means Bulletproof Boys Scouts in English), also known as Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean k-pop group formed in 2013 by Big Hit Entertainment. The group consists of three rappers, namely RM (Kim Namjoon), Suga (Min Yoongi) and J-Hope (Jung Hoseok) and four singers, Jin (Kim Seokjin), Jimin (Park Jimin), V (Kim Taehyung) and Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook). BTS fan club is called ARMY.

History

BTS debuted on June 13, 2013 with the song "No More Dream" from their first album 2 Cool 4 Skool, which won them several awards. A year later, the group received an award for their album Dark & Wild and after two more years for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever.

The band became more famous with The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Trilogy. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Part 2 and The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever were both on the Billboard 200. The album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Part 2 was number 1 on the Billboard world album charts for several weeks. BTS was the first K-pop band to achieve that. Their album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever won an album of the year award. This ensured that the group won their first daesang or grand prize since their debut.

The group released their second full length album, Wings, in 2016. The album reached number 26 on the US Billboard charts, the highest place a K-pop album had ever reached. It made BTS the only K-pop group to hit the Billboard hit list three times and the first K-pop group to be listed in it for over a week. In South Korea, the album broke the record of best-selling album in the first month of sales. In 2017 they won the Top Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards. They were the first K-pop group to receive this award. In November 2017, they also made their American television debut when they performed at the American Music Awards. During this period they were also guests on Jimmy Kimmel and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

BTS has collaborated with artists such as The Chainsmokers for the song "Best of Me", Halsey for "Boy with Luv", Ed Sheeran for "Make It Right" and with Steve Aoki and Desiigner for "Mic Drop" and "The Truth Untold". Steve Aoki also made the song "Waste It on Me", which is sung in English.

In 2018, the boy band gave a speech at the United Nations in New York about their Love Yourself Campaign in collaboration with UNICEF. Both in 2018 and 2019, they ended up on TIME Magazine's list of the most influential people in the world. In 2019 they also equaled the record of The Beatles, three albums debuted in first place on the Billboard 200 chart in less than a year. BTS is often referred to as the greatest boy band of the 21st century.

On May 2, 2019, BTS won two awards at the American Billboard Music Awards. They won the Top Social Artist award for the third year in a row, but also won the Top Duo/Group award for the first time. It was the first time that a Korean artist received this award. In 2019 they performed at The Voice, The Late Night Show and at GMA in Central Park.

On June 1 and 2, 2019, the boy band became the first Korean artist to perform twice in a row for a sold-out Wembley Stadium.

BTS broke several records. That is the fastest way to reach 1 million followers on Tiktok. This took 3 hours and 31 minutes. They also set the record for the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours with the video for their song "Boy With Luv". The video was viewed 74.6 million times in 24 hours. In addition, they are also listed in the 2020 edition of Guinness World Records as the first K-pop act to hit No. 1 on the US albums chart with both Love Yourself: Tear and Map of the Soul: Persona.

In 2020, the boy band was the first South Korean artist to perform at the Grammy Awards. On February 21, 2020, their album Map of the Soul: 7 was released, delivering over 4 million pre-orders.

Members

• Kim Seokjin - stage name Jin, born December 4, 1992 in Gwacheon, South Korea. Position: singer and dancer.
• Min Yoongi - stage names Suga and Agust D (as a solo artist), born March 9, 1993 in Daegu, South Korea. Position: rapper, dancer and producer.
• Jung Hoseok - stage name J-Hope, born February 18, 1994 in Gwangju, South Korea. Position: rapper, producer and main dancer. It is also called sunflower.
• Kim Namjoon - stage name RM, born September 12, 1994 in Ilsan, South Korea. Position: rapper, dancer, producer and leader.
• Park Jimin - stage name Jimin, born October 13, 1995 in Busan, South Korea. Position: lead singer and dancer.
• Kim Taehyung - stage name V, actor, born December 30, 1995 in Daegu, South Korea. Position: singer and dancer.
• Jeon Jungkook - stage name Jungkook, born September 1, 1997 in Busan, South Korea. Position: lead singer, dancer and producer.