BTS (band)

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For the American metalcore band, see Beneath the Sky.
BTS

BTS at Golden Disc Awards on January 14, 2017.

From left to right: RM, Jimin, Jin, V, Jungkook,
Suga, and J-Hope.
Background information
Bangtan Boys
Bulletproof Boy Scouts
Also known as Beyond The Scene
Bangtan Sonyeondan

Origin Seoul, South Korea

K-pop
hip hop
pop
electronica
Genres
rock[1]
R&B
EDM

Years active 2013present

Big Hit Entertainment
Pony Canyon (20142017 in
Japan)
Labels
Def Jam Japan (Japan,
2017present)[2]

Website bts.ibighit.com
 Jin
J-Hope
RM
Suga
Members
Jimin
V
Jungkook

BTS
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
[show]Transcriptions
Japanese name
Kanji
Hiragana
[show]Transcriptions
This article contains Korean, Chinese and
Japanese text. Without proper rendering
support, you may see question marks, boxes, or
other symbols instead of East Asian characters.

BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys or Beyond The Scene, is a seven-member South Korean boy
band formed by Big Hit Entertainment. They debuted on June 12, 2013 with the song "No More
Dream" from their first album 2 Cool 4 Skool, for which they won several New Artist of the Year
awards, including at the 2013 Melon Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards and the 2014
Seoul Music Awards. The band continued to rise to widespread prominence with their
subsequent albums Dark & Wild (2014), The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2 (2015) and
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever (2016), with the latter two entering the
Billboard 200.[3] The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever went on to win the Album
of the Year award at the 2016 Melon Music Awards.[4]

Their second full album, Wings (2016),[5] peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200, which marked the
highest chart ranking for a K-pop album ever.[6] In their native South Korea, Wings became the
best selling album in the Gaon Album Chart history at the time.[7] The album went on to sell
more than 1.5 million copies, making it BTS's first "million seller",[8] and the group was
subsequently awarded Artist of the Year at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards.[9] The group's
next release, Love Yourself: Her (2017), reached #1 on iTunes in over 73 countries[10] and
debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, marking the highest rank for an Asian artist in history.[11]
The group also managed to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with the album's
title track, "DNA", which entered at #85 and peaked at #67.[12] The album sold over 1.2 million
copies on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart in its first month, reclaiming its title as the best
selling album in the chart's history and becoming the biggest selling Korean album by month in
16 years, coming second to G.o.d's album in 2001.[13] BTS has sold an estimated 5.5 million
albums worldwide.[citation needed]

Known for their large social media presence, BTS were listed by Forbes as the most retweeted
artist on Twitter in March 2016.[14] Following that, Twitter launched its first ever K-pop Twitter
emoji featuring BTS.[15] In 2017, BTS won a Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist.[16] In
June 2017, Time magazine named the band one of the 25 most influential people on the
internet.[17] BTS's achievements have also led the group to be ranked #5 on Forbes Korea Power
Celebrity list for 2017, a list ranking South Korea's most powerful and influential celebrities.[18]

Contents
1 Name
2 History
o 2.1 20102013: Pre-debut
o 2.2 20132014: Debut with 2 Cool 4 Skool, O!RUL8, 2?, Skool Luv Affair and
Dark and Wild
o 2.3 2015: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, world tour, rising popularity and
critical acclaim
o 2.4 2016: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, Youth and Wings
o 2.5 2017: You Never Walk Alone, Love Yourself 'Her', and Crystal Snow
3 Artistry
4 Philanthropy
5 Endorsements
6 Members
7 Discography
o 7.1 Korean albums
o 7.2 Japanese albums
8 Tours and concerts
o 8.1 Korean/Japan/Asian Tours
o 8.2 World Tours
o 8.3 Concert participation
9 Filmography
o 9.1 Television
o 9.2 Variety shows on V LIVE
10 See also
11 References
12 External links

Name
The group's name BTS is an acronym for the Korean expression Bangtan Sonyeondan
(Hangul: ; Hanja: ), literally meaning "Bulletproof Boy Scouts". In
Japan, they are known as Bdan Shnendan (), which translates to the same. On July
2017, BTS announced that in addition to being known as Bangtan Sonyeondan or Bulletproof
Boy Scouts, they would also be known as "Beyond The Scene" as part of their new brand
identity.[19]

History
20102013: Pre-debut

The first members of BTS were recruited through Big Hit Entertainment's "Hit it" auditions in
2010 and 2011. The lineup went through several changes before being finalised in 2012. Six
months prior to debut, the members began to gain publicity through Twitter, video blogs, fancafe
posts, and song covers on YouTube and SoundCloud.[20][21]

Before their debut, RM performed as an underground rapper and had released several tracks
informally, including a collaboration with Zico.[22][23] Jin was a film arts student at Konkuk
University before being streetcast for auditions, while Suga was an underground rapper in
Daegu.[24] J-Hope, who was part of a street dance team named Neuron, was active in the
underground dancing scene.[24] Before joining Big Hit, Jimin enrolled in Busan High School of
Arts as the top student in modern dance, but later transferred to Korea Arts High School with V,
who auditioned in Daegu.[25] Jungkook was cast by seven agencies after auditioning for
Superstar K, but eventually chose Big Hit, reportedly after watching fellow member RM rap.[26]

20132014: Debut with 2 Cool 4 Skool, O!RUL8, 2?, Skool Luv Affair and Dark
and Wild

The first album of BTS's "school trilogy" series and their debut single album, 2 Cool 4 Skool,
was released on June 12, 2013, with the lead single "No More Dream".[27][28] The album won
them several New Artist of the Year awards, including at the 2013 Melon Music Awards and
Golden Disc Awards and the 2014 Seoul Music Awards.

On September 11, 2013, BTS released their first extended play, O!RUL8,2?, which consisted of
10 tracks. They also starred in their own variety show, SBS-MTV's Rookie King Channel
Bangtan. The premise of the show was based on a fake broadcast station, "Channel Bangtan",
through which the members parodied variety shows such as VJ Special Forces and MasterChef
Korea. Rookie King Channel Bangtan premiered its eight-episode run on September 3, 2013.
BTS in 2014 performing at Mnet M! Countdown

The third part of the "school trilogy", their second EP Skool Luv Affair, was released on February
12, 2014.[29] BTS promoted the album's title track "Boy in Luv ()", releasing its music
video on February 11.[30] The album peaked at #3 on Billboard's World Albums Chart. BTS then
came back with "Just One Day ()", with its music video released on April 6.[31]

On March 7, Big Hit Entertainment announced that BTS would release their Japanese debut
single album, consisting of the Japanese language versions of their previous releases.[32] The
album, 2 Cool 4 Skool, was released on April 23; their first single was a Japanese version of "No
More Dream".[33] On June 14, BTS took part in the Bridge to Korea festival in Russia, an event
that aimed to promote tourism between the two countries. There, they became judges of a K-pop
cover dance competition and later performed on stage in front of 10,000 spectators.[34] The group
also attended KCON in Los Angeles alongside other artists on August 10, 2014.[35]

On August 19, BTS released the music video for their comeback single "Danger" from their first
full-length album, Dark & Wild, which sold over 109,098 copies. They made a comeback with
"War of Hormone ( )", a track from Dark & Wild. Its music video was released on
October 21, 2014.[36]

BTS continued to promote in Japan, releasing their first Japanese studio album, Wake Up, on
December 24. The album not only included Japanese versions of their songs, but also the original
Japanese tracks "Wake Up" and "The Stars".[37] They then held their first concert tour, 2014 BTS
Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, throughout October, November and December. They
toured South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia.[38] During the
2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards, BTS was nominated for the Best Dance Performance and
UnionPay Song of the Year awards. In addition to performing "Boy in Luv", they also had a
collaboration stage with Block B during the awards show.[39]

2015: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, world tour, rising popularity and
critical acclaim

From February 1019, 2015, BTS toured Japan for the first time with the Wake Up: Open Your
Eyes tour. They performed to 25,000 fans in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.[40] On March
28, BTS held their second solo concert in Korea, titled BTS Live Trilogy Episode 1: BTS
Begins.[41]
The group's third EP, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1, was released on April 29,
2015.[42] It was listed in June by Fuse as one of the "27 Best Albums of 2015 So Far" and was the
only Korean album listed that year.[43] On May 5, 2015, their title track "I Need U" won first
place on SBS MTV's The Show, which marked their first ever music show win since their
debut.[44]The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1 had sold over 200,000 copies since its
release.[45]

On June 4, BTS released their fourth Japanese single, "For You", to celebrate the first
anniversary of their Japanese debut, with its music video released on the same day. The single
climbed to the top on Oricon's daily chart, selling 42,611 copies within its first day.[46] On June
23, BTS released their music video for their follow up single, "Dope ()", from The Most
Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1, becoming BTS first music video to hit over 100 million
views.[47] "Dope" rose to its peak at number 3 on Billboard's World Digital Chart despite being
released two months earlier.[48]

The group's world tour, 2015 Live Trilogy Episode: The Red Bullet, continued with stops in
Malaysia, Latin America, Australia and the United States, and ended in Hong Kong on August
29.[38] BTS was a part of the 2015 Summer Sonic Festival tour in Japan, performing on August
15 at Tokyo's QVC Marine Field and on the 16th in Osaka.[49][50] They returned with the album
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2 on November 30. They also held a three-day concert
tour, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: On Stage, from November 2729, where they
showcased their title track "Run".[51] The album charted at number one on the Billboard World
Albums and remained atop the chart for multiple weeks, making BTS the first K-pop act to
achieve that feat.[52] At the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards, they received the Best World
Performer in recognition of their international fanbase. During the event, they performed "Run"
and had a short collaboration stage with GOT7. The band released the Japanese version of "I
Need U" as their fifth Japanese single on December 8.[53]

2016: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, Youth and Wings

Bangtan Boys at KCON France 2016 in Paris on June 2, 2016.

BTS released their sixth Japanese single, "Run", on March 15, 2016.[54] On May 2, they released
a special compilation album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever and held two
days of concerts at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul from May 78 in support of the
album. A total of 24,000 fans attended.[55] After that, the group began their Asia tour, which sold
out 144,000 concert tickets.[56] The group also headlined KCON in both Los Angeles and New
York in June and July 2016, both to sold out audiences.[57]

On September 7, 2016, they released their second Japanese studio album Youth, selling over
44,000 copies on its first day of release, and shot up to first place on the daily albums chart in
Japan.[58] In October 2016, Billboard placed BTS as #1 on their Social 50 chart, making them the
first Korean group to top the chart.[59] To date, they have spent 48 weeks as #1 on the Social 50
chart.[60]

On October 10, 2016, BTS released their second full-length studio album, Wings, with the title
track "Blood Sweat & Tears" (Korean: ). Pre-orders for the album reached over
500,000 copies within the first week.[61] The album managed to make it to the U.K. Official
Albums Charts, entering at #62, making history as the first Korean act to do so.[62] The album
also debuted at #26 on the Billboard 200 chart with 16,000 units earned in the week ending
October 13. This made the new U.S. record for "Highest Charting and Best Selling K-pop
Album", with 2NE1's Crush previously holding the record at #61 in 2014. It also marked them as
the first K-pop act to log three entries on the Billboard 200, and Wings was the first album to
spend more than one week on the chart.[63][64] A few days later, it was revealed that BTS had
topped the World Albums Chart, World Digital Songs Chart and Social 50 Chart for the week of
October 29.[6] They also charted on YouTube's Music Global Top 100: 17th on the video chart,
6th on the artist chart and 14th on the tracks chart.[65] The album's title track, "Blood Sweat &
Tears", achieved an "all-kill" on the South Korean music charts,[66] and went on to become the
group's first domestic number one hit on the Gaon Digital Chart.[67] Within 24 hours of the music
video for "Blood Sweat & Tears" being released, it reached over 6 million views. This broke the
previous record on YouTube for the highest number of views on a K-pop group music video
within 24 hours.[68]

From November 1213, BTS held a fan meeting at Gocheok Sky Dome for which all 38,000
tickets sold out.[69] On November 19, 2016, BTS announced the Live Trilogy Episode III: The
Wings Tour, set to visit South Korea, Chile, Brazil, the United States, Thailand, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Hong Kong and Australia. On the same day, BTS won Album of the Year for The
Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever at the Melon Music Awards. This award marked
BTS's first daesang, or grand prize, since debut.[4] On December 2, 2016, BTS won their second
daesang for Artist of the Year at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards.[9] By doing this, BTS
became the first artist not from a "Big 3" entertainment company (SM, YG and JYP) to win the
award.[70]

2017: You Never Walk Alone, Love Yourself 'Her', and Crystal Snow

In February 2017, BTS ranked fifth in Forbes magazine's Korea Power Celebrity list.[71] On
February 13, they released a repackage of their second full-length studio album, Wings, titling it
You Never Walk Alone. Pre-orders for the album, which contained 4 new tracks, reached over
700,000 copies.[72][73] Title track "Spring Day" (Korean: ) achieved an all-kill on eight of the
major South Korean online music charts, having crashed the Melon digital chart upon its initial
release due to traffic overload.[74] "Spring Day" entered the US Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot
100 Singles chart at #15. A writer from the magazine highlighted the achievement as the single
was "almost all in Korean" and had "zero promotions in America".[75] The single also topped the
Gaon Digital Chart.[76][77] Within 24 hours of the music video for "Spring Day" being released, it
reached over 9 million views.[78] This broke the previous record on YouTube for the highest
number of views on a K-pop group music video within 24 hours, previously held by the music
video for their previous single "Blood, Sweat, and Tears". However, the new record was broken
a week later after the group released the music video for "Not Today", which accumulated over
10 million views in said time span.[79] Similarly, "Spring Day" became the fastest K-pop group
music video to reach 20 million views, achieving the feat in less than four days; "Not Today"
bested this by reaching said number of views in less than 3 days.[80][81] The group performed the
new tracks from You Never Walk Alone for the first time at the South Korean leg of the 2017
BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour, a week after its release.

On May 21, BTS won the Top Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards, becoming the
first Korean group to win a BBMA.[82]

The group released a cover of the Seo Taiji and Boys classic "Come Back Home" (originally
from Seo Taiji and Boys IV) for Seo Taiji's Time:Traveler project.[19]

The group released their fifth mini album, Love Yourself 'Her', on September 18, 2017.[83]
The mini-album includes the track "Best of Me", a collaboration with The Chainsmokers's
Andrew Taggart.[84] Within 24 hours of release, the "DNA" music video reached over 20 million
views on YouTube, becoming one of the most viewed K-pop music videos within the first 24
hours.[85] On September 25, 2017, BTS earned their first Billboard Hot 100 entry after debuting
with the single "DNA" at number 85. They became the first K-pop boy group to enter the chart
and the second Korean act to do so with a Korean-language song.[86] On October 2, BTS scored
the highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 for a K-pop group, beating the Wonder Girls'
previous high record of number 76 by 9 spots, gaining a position of 67.[87]

On October 14, an official post made on their Japanese website confirmed the group's release of
an upcoming eighth Japanese single album (their first Triple-A side single), coming out on
December 6.[88] The album includes Japanese versions of two tracks from Love Yourself 'Her',
"Mic Drop" and "DNA" and an original new Japanese song entitled "Crystal Snow".[89][90]

On November 3, the group confirmed that they will be performing at the American Music
Awards, making them the first K-pop group to perform at the show.[91][92] On November 7, Big
Hit Entertainment confirmed a collaboration with Steve Aoki and Desiigner for a remix of "Mic
Drop" released on November 17.[93]

Artistry
In BTS's early history, the group's musical style and image was mainly influenced by hip hop, in
singles such as 'N.O.' and 'No More Dream'.[94] They soon evolved to include a more R&B feel to
their hip-hop as well as rock-inspired elements, in singles such as "Danger" and "Boy in Luv
()".[95] With The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1, BTS was noted to have shifted
musically. Although they still maintained a hip-hop image, they had also embraced their R&B
side, with tracks such as 'Hold Me Tight'. Wings brought a change in tone as it featured seven
solo songs, with genres ranging from V's 'neo-soul' Stigma' to J-Hope's gospel-evoking 'Mama'
and Suga's impassioned piano-rap in 'First Love'.[96] In You Never Walk Alone, 'Spring Day'
evokes an alt hip-hop feel, with British rock elements. BTS has also been noted for lyrics that
"speak honestly about topics they deem important, even in a conservative society."[97] Their
releases have tackled subject matters such as school bullying and nonconformity to societal
ideals, as well as mental health issues, suicide, nihilism, the K-pop idol system, and female
empowerment.[98] In their most recent mini-album, Love Yourself: Her, the tracks Pied Piper
and Go Go comment on BTSs own fanbase and an advocation for nihilistic spending in the
name of happiness and youth respectively. In the release before, You Never Walk Alone, Not
Today is an anti-establishment anthem, with messages advocating for minority groups.[99]

In 2016, however, the group faced criticisms of misogyny regarding the lyrics of "War of
Hormone", "Converse High", and RM's solo song "Joke", as well as a Twitter comment made by
Suga. The group's label later issued an apology.[100] BTS co-writes and produces much of their
output, which some media outlets have attributed for their success.[101][102] In Wings, for example,
all seven members are credited to having had produced or helped with producing their solo
songs.

Philanthropy
In 2015, BTS donated 7 tons (7,187 kg) of rice to charity at the K-Star Road opening ceremony
held in Apgujeong-dong.[103]

In 2016, they participated in ALLETS's charity campaign "Let's Share the Heart".[104][105][106]

In January 2017, it was revealed that BTS and Big Hit Entertainment had donated
KR100,000,000 (US$85,000) to the 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and A Safer Society, an
organization that is connected to the families of the 2014 Sewol Ferry Disaster. Each member
had donated KR10,000,000 and Big Hit Entertainment donated an additional KR30,000,000.
The donation was intended to have been made in secret.[107]

On October 31st 2017, BTS officially launched their 'Love Myself' campaign, in partnership with
the Korean Committee for UNICEF.[108] They revealed a new website called Love Myself, in
collaboration with UNICEF that would support profits from the #ENDviolence project. Big Hit
revealed they plan to donate 500 million won ($448,000) from the members, 3% of all upcoming
Love Yourself: Her album sales and 100% of all sales of official goods for the "LOVE
MYSELF" campaign over the next two years, as well as include donation desks installed by
UNICEF.[109][110]

Endorsements
In 2015, BTS became brand ambassadors for Puma.[111] In 2016, Nexon released character
avatars based on the members for their RPG game Elsword.[112] That year, they topped the 'Boy
Group Brand Power Ranking' published by the Korean Corporate Reputation Research Institute
for 9 out of 12 months,[113] and were the boy group with the highest brand reputation.[114]

In 2017, BTS were chosen as the honorary tourism ambassadors for Seoul as part of the 'I Seoul
U' programme. The group filmed an advertisement produced by the Seoul Metropolitan
Government, which was subsequently aired in over 100 countries.[115] They were also chosen as
the new brand models for Lotte Duty Free Shop.[116][117][118]

Members
Jin () vocals
Suga () rapper
J-Hope () rapper
RM leader, rapper
Jimin () vocals
V () vocals
Jungkook () vocals[119]

Discography
Main article: BTS discography
Korean albums Japanese albums

Dark & Wild (2014) Wake Up (2014)

Wings (2016) Youth (2016)

Tours and concerts

Main article: List of BTS concert tours

Korean/Japan/Asian Tours

2014 BTS Live Trilogy-Episode II: The Red Bullet (2014)

BTS Live Trilogy Episode I: BTS Begins (2015)
BTS's First Japan Tour-Wake Up: Open Your Eyes (2015)
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage (2015)

World Tours
 2015 BTS Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet (2015)
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life on Stage: Epilogue (2016)
2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour (2017)

Concert participation

KCON: Los Angeles (2014)[120]

KCON: Abu Dhabi, Paris, Newark, and Los Angeles (2016)[121]
KCON: Mexico City (2017)[122]
Music Bank World Tour: Singapore (August 4, 2017)[123]

Filmography
Television

Rookie King: Channel Bangtan (SBS MTV) BTS-based reality show, Episode 18
American Hustle Life (Mnet) BTS-based reality show, Episode 18
BTS GO! (Mnet America) BTS-based reality show, Episode 7[124]

Variety shows on V LIVE

Run BTS! Episode 126

BTS GAYO Episode 115
BTS Bokbulbok Episode 15
BTS: Bon Voyage a 10-day trip around North Europe celebrating their 3rd year,
Episode 18
BTS: Bon Voyage Season 2 a 9-day travel in Hawaii, Episode 18