biography about bts

BTS Members Profile

BTS Fandom Name: A.R.M.Y (Adorable Representative MC for Youth) BTS Official Light Stick Color: Silver-Gray BTS Fandom Color: Purple (Unofficial)

BTS Dorm Arrangement (Since 2018): – RM, Jin, SUGA, V, Jung Kook (all single rooms) – J-Hope & Jimin (they have a bigger room, so they decided to share it) NOTE: They are currently mostly living on their own. (BTS Festa video)

BTS Official Accounts: Instagram: @bts.bighitofficial Twitter: @bts_twt Facebook: bangtan.official Official website: bts.ibighit.com V Live: BTS channel Official Fan Cafe: BANGTAN TikTok:  @bts_official_bighit Weverse: BTS

RM Facts: – He was born in Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. ( Source ) – He has a younger sister, Kim Kyung Min . – Education: Apgujeong High School; Global Cyber University – Electronic engineering major (bachelor) – In 2006 RM studied languages in New Zealand for 4 months. (Bon Voyage 4 – Ep 1) – His favorite foods are meat (especially Samgyeopsal) and Kalguksu (Korean knife noodles). – He taught himself how to speak English and can speak it extremely well. – BTS has been around since 2010, but they debuted in 2013 because of the constant member change up. RM is the only member left from the original line up. – Despite his rough and tough image, he is very playful and relaxed. – Hobbies: Surfing the web. – His favorite colors are black, pink, and purple. (BTS interview for J-14 Magazine from 170505) – His favorite number is 1. – His favorite items are clothes, computer, books. – He likes clear weather. – His role models are Kanye West , and A$AP Rocky . – He is a big advocated for lgbtqia+ rights. – RM thinks silver hair suits him the best. (Buzz Feed Interview 2018) – He has co-composed/co-produced 160+ songs. – He released his first solo mixtape, “RM” on March 17, 2015. – On November 13 2017, Namjoon wrote a message on the group’s official fan cafe announcing he changed his stage name from Rap Monster to RM. Namjoon stated that “RM” stands for “Real Me”. – He made his official solo debut on December 2, 2022 with the full-length album “ Indigo “. – On December 11, 2023 RM and V quietly enlisted at the Korean Army Training Center in Nonsan. – RM’s ideal type: “sexy, even to a brain. Someone that is thoughtful and confident” Show more RM fun facts + members’ opinion about him

Jin Facts: – He was born in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, but when he was about 1 year old his family moved to Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do – He has an older brother, Kim Seok Joong , 2 years older than him. – Education: Konkuk University; Hanyang Cyber University – Films major (masters/graduate) – He is the oldest member. – His favorite number is 4. – His favorite weather is Spring sunlight. – Hobbies: Cooking, playing videogames on Nintendo devices, taking selcas. – His role model is T.O.P from BIGBANG . – He blinks his left eye when he is hungry. – Jin’s favorite color is blue. (According to BTS interview for J-14 Magazine from 170505). His favorite color used to be pink. – He also likes Disney princesses. – He is a very good cook. – He enjoys looking at photos and recipes. – His favorite foods are lobster, meat, and naengmyeon (Korean cold noodles). – According to the other members, he has the best body in Bangtan. – Jin thinks pink hair suits him the best. (Buzz Feed Interview 2018) – He made his solo debut on October 28, 2022 with the single album “ The Astronaut “. – On December 13, 2022 Jin officially enlisted as an active-duty soldier. His estimated discharge date is June 12, 2024. – Jin’s ideal type is a girl whose looks and personality is similar to that of a puppy, who’s good at cooking, kind and takes good care of him. Show more Jin fun facts + members’ opinion about him

Suga Facts: – He was born in Buk-gu, Daegu, South Korea. – He has an older brother, Min Geumjae (born Min Junki ). – Education: Global Cyber University – Liberal Arts Major (bachelor) – He speaks with a satoori accent when he’s nervous and when he cries. – Hobbies: Doing nothing when he has free time, taking photos, avoiding having to do work. – His favorite food is meat. – He is called Motionless Min because on his days off he doesn’t do anything. – His favorite color is white. – His favorite number is 3 – Suga loves taking photos. – His favorite weather is where you can wear short sleeves at day and long sleeves at night. – He likes to make rhymes for everyday situations/gags. – His role models are Kanye West , Lupe Fiasco , Lil Wayne , and Hit Boy . – Suga has co-composed/co-produced 120+ songs. – Suga uses the alias Agust D for his solo works. (“DT”, short for his birth place “Daegu Town”, and “Suga”, spelled backwards) – He made his official solo debut on April 21, 2023 with the full-length album “ D-Day “. – Suga started his military service on September 22, 2023. – Suga’s ideal type is someone who likes music, especially hip-hop. He says he doesn’t really care about looks. Show more Suga fun facts + members’ opinion about him

J-Hope Facts: – He was born in Gwangju, South Korea. – He has an older sister known as, Mejiwoo . – His father is a high school literature teacher (teaching at Gwangju Global High School). – Education: Gwangju Global High School; Global Cyber University – Was the rapper in 2AM ‘s JoKwon ‘s “Animal“. – Chose the name “J-Hope” as his stage name because he wants to be a source of light and hope to his fans. – He loves kimchi. – His favorite season is Spring. – Hobbies: Listening to music and window shopping. – His favorite color is green. (because it’s the color of hope – Billboard interview) – His favorite number is 7. – He auditioned and won a popularity award at a JYP Entertainment competition. – He is very clean. – He hates exercising/working out. – J-Hope and B.A.P Youngjae auditioned together for their JYP audition. – His role models are G-dragon of BIGBANG , A$AP Rocky , J.Cole , and Beenzino . – He thinks red hair suits him the best. (Buzz Feed Interview 2018) – J-Hope has co-composed/co-produced 110+ songs. – On March 2, 2018, J-Hope released his 1st mixtape “Hope World”, with the title track “Daydream”. – He made his official solo debut on July 15, 2022 with the album Jack In The Box . – On April 18, 2023, J-Hope started his military service. His estimated discharge date is October 2024. – J-Hope’s ideal type is a girl who loves him, is good at cooking, and thinks a lot. Show more J-Hope fun facts + members’ opinion about him

Jimin Facts: – He was born in Busan, South Korea. – He has a younger brother, Park Jihyun . – Education: Busan High School of Arts; Global Cyber University – Theatre and film major (bachelor) – Jimin was the last member to join BTS. – Hobbies: Relaxing whenever he gets a chance. – His favorite number is number 3 – His favorite colors are blue and black. – His favorite foods are pork, duck, chicken, fruit, and kimchi jjigae. – Jimin doesn’t like spinach (Run BTS ep. 65) – He prefers a sunny and cool weather. – Is known for his impressive abs. – He jokingly hits his fellow members as a way of showing his affection for them – If music is playing he will start to dance no matter where he is. – His role model is TaeYang of BIGBANG . – He made his solo debut on March 24, 2023 with the mini album “ Face “. – Jimin and Jungkook enlisted on December 12, 2023. – Jimin’s ideal type is a nice and cute girl who is smaller than him. Show more Jimin fun facts + members’ opinion about him or Quiz: How well do you know Jimin?

V Facts: – He was born in Daegu, but later moved to Geochang where he spent his life until he moved to Seoul. – He has a younger sister ( Kim Eun Jin ) and a younger brother ( Kim Jong Gyu ). – Education: Korea Art School; Global Cyber University – It is said that when his teaser image was released 5 personal fan clubs were created. – He has been in the group for awhile, but fans didn’t know of hear of him until the time around his debut. – He likes anything that is unique. – V’s favorite foods are Japchae and any type of meat. – Hobbies: Searching for music that no one listens to, going on the computer. – His favorite number is 10. – His favorite color is grey. (According to BTS interview for J-14 Magazine from 170505) – They call him Blank Tae because of his blank expression. – He has a habit of biting his nails and sticking out his tongue. – His role model is his dad. – V favorite items are computer, big dolls, clothes, shoes, accessories, and anything unique. – Members say he is a horrible cook. – He acted in the Korean drama “Hwarang” (2016-2017). – V ranked 1st in the “Top 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2017“. – V thinks red hair suits him the best. (Buzz Feed Interview 2018) – He is  made his solo debut on September 8, 2023 with the mini album “ Layover “. – On December 11, 2023 V and RM officially enlisted at the Korean Army Training Center in Nonsan. – V’s ideal type is someone who takes care of him and loves only him and who has a lot of aegyo. Show more V fun facts + members’ opinion about him or Quiz: How well do you know V (Taehyung)?

Jung Kook Facts: – He was born in Busan, South Korea. – He has an older brother, Jeon Junghyun . – Education: Seoul School of Performing Arts; Global Cyber University – Before joining the group he was a handball player. – Hobbies: Drawing. – GOT7 ‘s  Bambam & Yugyeom , BTS ‘s Jungkook , Seventeen ‘s The8 , Mingyu , DK ,  NCT ‘s Jaehyun and Astro ‘s Cha Eunwoo (the ’97 liners) are in a group chat. – His favorite foods are anything with flour (pizza, bread, etc) – He likes the number 1 – His favorite color is black. (Run BTS Ep. 39) – Jungkook thinks black hair color suits him the best. (Buzz Feed Interview 2018) – Said to be a very skilled cook. – He likes shoes and makeup. – Jungkook is ranked 1st on TC Candler “The 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2019”. – His role model is G-Dragon of BIGBANG . – He made his solo debut on July 14, 2023 with the digital single “ Seven “. – Jungkook and Jimin enlisted on December 12, 2023. – Jung Kook’s ideal type is someone who’s at least 168 cm but smaller than him, is a good wife, good at cooking, smart, has pretty legs, and is nice. Also a girl who likes him and is good at singing. Show more Jungkook fun facts + members’ opinion about him or Jungkook’s Tattoos & Meanings

Note: Please don’t copy-paste the content of this page to other sites/places on the web. If you use info from our profile, please kindly put a link to this post. Thanks a lot! 🙂 – Kprofiles.com

Note 2: The listed heights are taken from BTS’s official site and their Naver official profile , but the profile was updated when members later confirmed other heights. Jin confirmed his current height is 179.5 cm (he said he is 1.5 cm shorter than RM), V confirmed his height is 178.8 cm (“Let’s BTS” March 29, 2021), Jungkook confirmed his height is 177 cm (“Stationhead Radio” Oct 1, 2023).

Note 3: To clear up the confusion and a common misconception: Sub Vocalist/Sub Rapper and Vocalist/Rapper have the same meaning . The accurate terms used in South Korea are Main, Lead and Sub

Note 4 : The current listed positions are based on their official profiles on Melon, SBS, Chosun (Korean news magazine) etc. We may have a different opinion on the positions but we are respecting the official published positions. When any updates regarding the positions will appear, we’ll update the profile again. -Link to Melon Profile      -Link to Chosun Article     – L ink to SBS Profile

Source for V ‘s Visual position: BTS Run ep. 16 ( Eng Sub ). Source for J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook being the Dance Line : May 2022 and January 2019 . Note:  Part of the  dance line means either the Main Dancer or the Lead Dancer.

For reference on MBTI types: E = Extroverted, I = Introverted N = Intuitive, S = Observant T = Thinking, F = Feeling P = Perceiving, J = Judging

BTS firstly took the MBTI Type test in 2017, but updated their MBTI types in October 2020. V updated his result on Weverse on Oct. 22, 2021. In December 2021, Jungkuk updated his MBTI type result to INTP-T. Update: All the BTS members updated their MBTI results on May 6, 2022. (Source: BTS MBTI 2022 ver. ) RM updated his MBTI to ENTP on June 9, 2022. (Source: Instagram Story)

(Special thanks to  Ma. Lourdes Delmonte, Ashley, Rahmita Razzak, ZYX, ARMY, Nami, xxxxxx, Rian, Dale Dylan Wang Calitang, Kpoptrash, 🐱sope-me🌞, Bubble Tea, 🐱sope-me🌞, Eunwoo’s Left Leg, ari, 🐱sope-me🌞, OpPAr~, Nabiha Tahsin, Johanne Iversen,  Pick your filter, 아미, Bangtan Kookiee, min holly, Kim Taehyung, nothing, NININ, Arabelle Bonsa, unknown bro, lAciMoLaLa, hyunelvr, Yuniverse우주, Libby Karas, Verónica I, 3rd Astro, Sierra Pierce, Cara )

• V 26%, 1794056 votes 1794056 votes 26% 1794056 votes - 26% of all votes
• Jungkook 23%, 1642484 votes 1642484 votes 23% 1642484 votes - 23% of all votes
• Jimin 15%, 1023869 votes 1023869 votes 15% 1023869 votes - 15% of all votes
• Jin 11%, 757552 votes 757552 votes 11% 757552 votes - 11% of all votes
• Suga 10%, 732773 votes 732773 votes 10% 732773 votes - 10% of all votes
• J-Hope 8%, 563240 votes 563240 votes 8% 563240 votes - 8% of all votes
• RM 7%, 512622 votes 512622 votes 7% 512622 votes - 7% of all votes

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• BTS also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band formed by Big Hit Entertainment. The name subsequently became a backronym for Beyond the Scene in July 2017. On June 12, 2013, they performed the song "No More Dream" from their initial album 2 Cool 4 Skool to commemorate their debut on June 13, 2013. They won several New Artist of the Year awards for the track "No More Dream", including at the 2013 Melon Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards and the 2014 Seoul Music Awards. The band continued to gain 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 U.S. Billboard 200. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever went on to win the Album of the Year award at the 2016 Melon Music Awards. Their second full album, Wings (2016), peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200, which marked the highest chart ranking for a K-pop album ever. In South Korea, Wings became the best-selling album in the Gaon Album Chart history at the time. It sold more than 1.5 million copies, making it BTS's first "million seller", and the group was subsequently awarded Artist of the Year at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards. The group's next release, Love Yourself: Her (2017), debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, the highest rank for an Asian artist in history. 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. Another track from the album, "Mic Drop", was remixed by Steve Aoki with a feature by Desiigner and peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both tracks are certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, a first for any Korean group and the second Korean act overall after PSY. The album sold over 1.2 million copies on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart in its first month, achieving the highest monthly album sales in the chart's history and the highest on any Korean chart in 16 years, second to g.o.d's Chapter 4 album in 2001. BTS was awarded the Mnet Asian Music Award for Artist of the Year for the second year in a row in 2017. Their third full album, Love Yourself: Tear (2018), debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making them the only K-Pop act to achieve this feat so far. The album's title track, "Fake Love", is the group's third song to reach Gold certification. Love Yourself: Answer, the repackage of that album, also debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The repackage sold over 1.9 million copies on Gaon Album Chart in August 2018, breaking the chart's all-time monthly record once again. On November 9, 2018 "Love Yourself: Answer" became the first Korean album to be certified Gold (500,000+ units), and BTS became the first Korean group to get a Platinum (1,000,000+ units) certification with the single "MIC Drop" in the United States. Known for their large social media presence, BTS were listed by Forbes as the most retweeted artist on Twitter in March 2016. In May, Twitter launched its first ever K-pop emoji, featuring BTS. In October, Billboard placed BTS #1 on their Social 50 chart, making them the first Korean group to top the chart. To date they have spent 98 weeks at #1 on the Social 50 chart. Also in 2016 they charted on YouTube's Music Global Top 100: 17th on the video chart, 6th on the artist chart and 14th on the tracks chart. In May 2017, they won the Top Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards, becoming the first Korean group to win a BBMA. In June 2017, Time magazine named the band one of the 25 most influential people on the internet. On November 20, 2017, Guinness World Records revealed that BTS had earned a spot in their 2018 edition for "having the world's most Twitter engagements for a music group". That December, they were revealed to be the most tweeted about celebrity in 2017, being "liked or retweeted over half a billion times (502 million)" worldwide. In 2018, BTS became #1 on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list, which ranks South Korea's most powerful and influential celebrities, as well as became the youngest ever recipients to be awarded the Order of Cultural Merit from the South Korean government. In September 2018, BTS gave a speech at the United Nations as ambassadors for UNICEF. In October 2018, BTS were featured on the cover of Time magazine, with Time naming them 'Next Generation Leaders'. BTS' first members were recruited through Big Hit's "Hit it" auditions in 2010 and 2011. The original lineup went through several changes before the final group of members was established in 2012. Half a year prior to debut, the members began building their name and creating a relationship with fans through Twitter, video blogs, fancafe posts, and by releasing various song covers via YouTube and SoundCloud. Before debuting in 2013, RM was already performing as an underground rapper and had released several tracks informally, including a collaboration with Zico. Jin had been a student at Konkuk University, majoring in acting, before being streetcast for auditions, while Suga was an underground rapper in Daegu. J-Hope, who was part of a street dance team named Neuron, was active in the underground dancing scene, participating in various battles and competitions. Before joining Big Hit, Jimin entered 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. Jungkook was cast by multiple agencies after leaving auditions for Superstar K, but eventually chose Big Hit after seeing Rap Monster's rap. The group's debut single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, the first installment in their "school trilogy" series, was released simultaneously with its lead single "No More Dream" on June 12, 2013. While the album peaked at number five on the Gaon Album Chart and sold over 105,000 copies, "No More Dream" and the subsequent single "We Are Bulletproof Pt.2" were not major hits. Expanding their endeavors into Japan, "No More Dream" was later re-recorded in Japanese and released on June 4, 2014. The second part to the "school trilogy" was the extended play O!RUL8,2?, released on September 11, 2013, which sold over 120,000 copies to date and peaked at number four. Its supporting singles "N.O" and "Attack on Bangtan" failed to chart high. That same month, BTS starred in their own variety show, SBS-MTV's Rookie King Channel Bangtan, based on a fake broadcast station, "Channel Bangtan", through which members parodied variety shows such as VJ Special Forces and MasterChef Korea. At the end of the year, BTS was recognized with several New Artist of the Year awards, including the 2013 Melon Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards and the 2014 Seoul Music Awards. Their Japanese studio album, Wake Up (2014), released that December, peaking at number three on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart and selling 25,000 copies. Along with re-recorded Japanese versions of older songs, it also contained the original tracks "Wake Up" and "The Stars". Their first concert tour, 2014 BTS Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, was held from October to December. At the beginning of 2015, BTS toured Japan for the first time with their BTS's First Japan Tour-Wake Up: Open Your Eyes. They also held their second solo concert in Korea, BTS Live Trilogy - Episode 1: BTS Begins. Their third EP, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1 (2015), was released that March and was the only Korean album to be included in Fuse's list of the "27 Best Albums of 2015 So Far" that year. The lead single "I Need U" was a top five hit on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart in South Korea and garnered BTS their first ever music show win on SBS MTV's The Show. Although the second single, "Dope", peaked at number 44 on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart, its music video became BTS' first to accrue over 100 million views on YouTube in October. "Dope" later peaked at number three on Billboard's World Digital Songs Chart. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1 have sold over 300,000 copies to date. On March 17, 2015, the group's leader RM (then known as Rap Monster) released his first solo mixtape, the eponymous RM, for free on the streaming service SoundCloud. The mixtape was ranked 48th on the "50 Best Hip Hop Albums of 2015" list published by Spin Magazine. BTS' fourth Japanese single, "For You", was released that June to celebrate the first anniversary of their Japanese debut. The single topped Oricon's daily chart, selling over 42,000 copies within its first day. They also commenced their 2015 Live Trilogy Episode: The Red Bullet world tour, and participated in the Summer Sonic Festival tour in Japan. On August 16, 2016, Suga released his first solo mixtape titled Agust D for free on SoundCloud. The mixtape was listed among the "Top 20 Mixtapes of the Year" by Fuse TV. In November 2017, the group became the first K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards. Following the performance, Guinness World Records announced that BTS will be included their 2018 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world's most Twitter engagements and specifically for most Twitter engagements by a music group. BTS was also named by Twitter to be the most tweeted-about artist of 2017, and ranked 1st worldwide in yearly social media engagements with 502 million likes and retweets. They won their second Artist of the Year at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards, becoming the first act to win the award two years in a row. "Spring Day" later won Best Song of the Year at the Melon Music Awards. That December, they performed on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve to welcome the new year, making them the first K-pop group to be part of the show's lineup. They also made their Japanese TV music show debut on TV Asahi's Japan Music Station Super Live on December 22. On December 12, BTS was represented on six of the Billboard "Year End" Charts. The group ranked No. 1 on the "World Albums Artists" chart, No. 2 on the "World Albums" chart, No. 1 on the "Social 50 Artists" chart, No. 2 on the "Top Artists - Duo/Group" chart, and No. 32 on the "Independent Albums" chart. They also ranked as No. 10 on the "Top Artists" chart and are the only K-pop artists to have made the list. In January 2018, the Recording Industry Association of Japan announced BTS' first ever Double Platinum certification for their "MIC Drop/DNA/Crystal Snow" single, the only single album by a foreign artist in 2017 to sell over 500,000 copies and receive certification on the Oricon chart for that year. Later that month, BTS became the first artist outside of the "Big Three" to win both Grand Prize Daesang awards at the Golden Disc Awards and the Seoul Music Awards respectively. In February, both the "MIC Drop" and "DNA" singles were certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, making BTS the first Korean act, and the only K-pop artist ever, to receive this. On February 8, Big Hit won the award for its new Brand Identity (BI) with BTS' logo under the Corporate Identity/Branding category within Communication Design at this year's award presentation, illustrating BTS' worldwide influence. On February 11, sales for Love Yourself 'Her' surpassed 1.58 million, the highest sales recorded for an album in Gaon Chart history. On March 2, 2018, J-Hope released his first solo mixtape titled Hope World for free download on Google Drive, streaming on Spotify and SoundCloud, and for purchase on iTunes. The accompanying music video for the title track, "Daydream", reached 1 million likes in 1 hour 43 minutes, making it the fastest Korean video to reach the benchmark. With 73 No. 1 spots on the iTunes chart worldwide by the end of its first day, Hope World tied with the previous BTS release, Love Yourself 'Her', for the most No. 1 spots held by a Korean album on iTunes within the first 24 hours. As of March 5, the album remained at No. 1 on the iTunes Worldwide Charts, marking 5 days at No. 1 and breaking the record for the longest-charting Korean album at No. 1 on the chart previously held by Love Yourself 'Her'. The album debuted at No. 63 on the Billboard 200 Chart, making J-Hope the highest-charting solo K-pop act in Billboard 200 history. J-Hope also debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart, where fellow band mates RM and Suga (as Agust D) both previously peaked at No. 46. On April 4, 2018, their third Japanese studio album Face Yourself was released. Face Yourself topped the Japanese Oricon Weekly Album Chart for the week of April 2, with 282,000 copies. According to Japan's Oricon Chart on April 12, BTS' 3rd Japanese album sold 282,000 copies in the first week (April 2-April 8). This breaks the record by KARA, who sold 275,000 copies of their Japanese album 'Super Girl' in the first week of November 2011. On April 17, BTS were nominated again for Top Social Artist at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, making them the first and only Korean artist to be nominated two years in a row. The following week, they were announced as performers at the show where they will premiere their new comeback single. On May 1, 2018, Variety reported that BTS would be returning to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, performing a new song from Love Yourself 'Tear' titled "Fake Love". - IMDb Mini Biography By: ahmetkozan
• Catchy and emotional music
• Aesthetic MVs
• Authentic style combined with socially conscious messaging
• Diverse discography
• Members: Jungkook , j-hope , RM , Jin , V , SUGA & Jimin .
• Formed by Big Hit Entertainment they are often referred to as BTS. They were named 25 Most Influential People On The Internet by Time in 2017. They broke a YouTube record previously held by Taylor Swift for most-viewed video within 24 hours with the song "Idol".
• In 2019, BTS became only the third group in 50 years - after The Beatles and The Monkees - to have three number one albums on the Billboard 200 charts in less than 12 months.
• On October 15 2020 their label, Big Hit Entertainment pulled off South Korea's biggest stock market listing in three years. All seven members of BTS have become multimillionaires after the IPO. The K-pop label issued its shares at 135,000 won ($115) each, Big Hit said in the IPO filing, raising 962.55 billion won ($822 million) and valuing the company at 4.8 trillion won ($4.1 billion). The company is run by CEO Bang Si-Hyuk, a longtime music producer who is credited with creating BTS and setting it on the road to stardom in 2013. Bang owns about 43% of Big Hit, according to a stock exchange filing. Bang gave each of the BTS band members 68,385 shares in August 2020. Those holdings were worth nearly $7.9 million each at the issue price.
• On November 24, 2020, BTS made history as the first Kpop/Korean band to be nominated for a Grammy award - for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

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Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS

By Myeongseok Kang Translated by Anton Hur, Slin Jung and Clare Richards Flatiron: 544 pages, $45 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

The K-pop juggernaut known as BTS has dominated the American music scene in an unprecedented way. The group’s seven members — RM, Jin, SUGA , j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — have performed at the Grammys and the American Music Awards, and most of their music videos have over 1 billion views on YouTube.

The band released “ My Universe ” with Coldplay, whose frontman, Chris Martin, seemed to speak for billions when he said, “It’s very special to me that the most popular artist in the world speaks Korean ... and it just feels very hopeful to me, in terms of thinking of the world as one family.”

“ Beyond the Story : 10-Year Record of BTS” is the first biography of the group, published in time for their 10-year anniversary. Written over three years, the book weaves in an oral history with group interviews by the biography’s author, Myeongseok Kang. Fans might be surprised at the shaggy underdog tale contained therein. Here are some major takeaways.

BTS was born in a K-pop dormitory

In the aughts, Korean idol groups were having their big moment, and not just domestically. The U.S. went wild over rapper Psy’s “Gangnam Style” in 2012 , proving that K-pop could find a place in the Western market. During this time, Korean teens swarmed to dance hagwons (private academies) where they could study dance, and make important connections in Seoul’s entertainment industry.

That industry revolves around “idols” — K-pop celebrities who perform in solo acts or groups. Large entertainment companies scout Korean teens to become idols or hold packed auditions to anoint idol “trainees,” whom they then mold into pop stars. SUGA and j-hope entered the idol audition process before joining Big Hit Entertainment as trainees; j-hope had been auditioning for other companies before his dance hagwon recommended him for Big Hit.

Entertainment & Arts

BTS: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

The international superstar K-pop group BTS performed in an NPR Tiny Desk (home) concert on Monday morning.

Sept. 21, 2020

The trainees sign contracts and must live in a dormitory, where they eat, sleep and breathe K-pop until their debut. Jin describes the dorms as having “clothes strewn everywhere, cereal scattered on the floor” and plenty of dirty dishes, explaining that they worked 14-hours days and were simply too busy to live tidy lives.

While many of the BTS members wondered how they made it to their debut without quitting, Jin said adjusting to life in the dorm prepared him for the surreal state of being an “idol” in the K-pop world.

Breaking into the industry, BTS was not welcomed with open arms

Because the K-pop competition was so fierce, the odds of success as a group were incredibly slim. BTS members struggled at first with impostor syndrome, performance flubs and bullying from the public. Even before they made their debut on a televised showcase, naysayers were already dragging the group in the comments sections of online forums. Their first gig brought in only about a dozen fans.

It was a long slog from there. Jimin said the group would avoid making eye contact with other groups in green rooms. For the first time they were forced to compare themselves vocally with other K-pop idols.

“If I wanted to improve somehow, I had to practice my singing, but I didn’t know how to practice,” he said. “So I just kept singing blindly. Every time I made a mistake, I went to the bathroom to cry.”

Despite winning best new artist awards at many major Korean music awards shows in 2013, the group was shunned by peers and more established artists. According to the biography, no one in the industry would speak to them, they couldn’t approach anyone, and their nights consisted of little more than quick thank-you speeches at contest podiums before being shuttled back to the dorms.

Several times throughout the biography, Kang references various public insults aimed at BTS — but opts out of repeating the jibes.

Promoting BTS was a DIY endeavor for the group

In comparison to the “big three” Korean entertainment companies that debuted many of the era’s K-pop stars, Big Hit Entertainment might be considered more of a startup. It didn’t have the deep pockets to market BTS at the level of bigger players, so the group built a following instead through vlogging.

YouTube videos featured members dancing, rapping, spending Christmas together; individual vlogs were made in the style of confessional interviews; Jin launched his own “Eat Jin” vlog in which he filmed himself eating.

Kang writes that the vlog approach to self-promotion was “a complete rejection of genre norms in Korea’s idol industry, where every frame of every video was perfectly produced for public consumption.” And yet it was exactly this sense of spontaneity and intimacy that fueled BTS’ fanatical fan base.

BTS’ Suga on going solo, his love of hip-hop and the band’s future: ‘We’re real brothers, period’

With BTS currently on hiatus due to military conscription, its members are pursuing solo projects. For Suga, that means a bold new rap album and sold-out arena shows.

May 9, 2023

BTS had to address complaints their lyrics were misogynistic

It wasn’t all adoration from there on out: The band came under fire for two songs that fans said perpetuated gender inequality and misogyny. The 2014 song “War of Hormones” featured lyrics that translate to “Girls are like an equation / us guys just do them (yup) / Imma give it to you girl right now / A woman is the best present.” And the 2015 song “Joke” includes lyrics that translate to “”You’re the best woman, the best vagina .... But now that I think about it, you were never the best / I will stop calling you best and instead call you gonorrhea.”

In July 2016, Big Hit and BTS issued a statement responding to the complaints, saying, “We learned that music creation is not free from societal prejudice and fallacies,” and “Furthermore, we became aware that it may also not be desirable to define the value of women and their role in society from a male perspective.”

RM, who wrote the lyrics, told Kang that this early reckoning helped him recognize the problem in time to change his attitude and behavior.

According to Kang, gender sensitivity training is now obligatory for all all artists at Big Hit (now known as HYBE) before they can debut.

BTS gets snubbed, again, at 2023 Grammys

The K-pop superstars were shut out in two categories, including pop duo/group performance.

Feb. 5, 2023

The band still felt like outliers before winning AMA’s artist of the year in 2021

BTS had conflicting emotions when it came to awards shows . They struggled with industry peers in their early days, and felt they weren’t welcomed or respected as artists. But in 2021 they wound up on American soil just as a lull in the pandemic opened a window for a public appearance at the American Music Awards . They also happened to be up up for several major awards, including the most coveted: artist of the year.

SUGA recalled that their American television debut , in 2017, had been on the same stage for the same awards show (at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles). When the group won artist of the year, he couldn’t help thinking someone had made a mistake — or the world was playing a prank on him.

“I felt like we’d been outsiders or outliers until then,” RM said. “But now it felt, not like we were in the mainstream necessarily, but we were being welcomed more.”

Jung Kook said winning the award felt like the beginning of a new chapter: “Who would’ve thought we could win artist of the year at an American awards ceremony? It was so shocking. It sent chills down my spine.”

BTS fans know the feeling.

More to Read

After Blackpink, a new crop of Korean artists take on Coachella

April 14, 2024

Bram Inscore, songwriter and producer who worked with Beck, Troye Sivan and BTS, dies at 41

Dec. 29, 2023

K-pop superstars BTS were on hiatus in 2023. It may have been their most interesting year yet

Dec. 21, 2023

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Emily St. Martin is a former entertainment reporter on the Fast Break Desk. Before joining the Los Angeles Times, she contributed to the New York Times, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, NBC, Vice, Los Angeles Magazine and the Southern California News Group. She also previously worked at the Hollywood Reporter. In 2022, she won third place for best news feature with the L.A. Press Club. St. Martin has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of La Verne and a master’s in creative nonfiction from UC Riverside.

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BTS, an acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan or “Beyond the Scene,” is a Grammy-nominated South Korean group that has been capturing the hearts of millions of fans globally since its debut in June 2013. The members of BTS are RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook. Gaining recognition for their authentic and self-produced music, top-notch performances, and the way they interact with their fans, BTS has established themselves as “21st century Pop Icons” breaking countless world records. While imparting a positive influence through activities such as the LOVE MYSELF campaign and the UN ‘Speak Yourself’ speech, the band has mobilized millions of fans across the world (named ARMY) , collected four No. 1 songs in a span of 9 months, performed multiple sold-out stadium shows across the world, and been named TIME’s Entertainer of the Year 2020. BTS has been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the 63rd Grammy Awards and recognized with numerous prestigious awards like the Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.

• Date of Birth : 12th September, 1994
• Date of Birth : 4th December, 1992
• Date of Birth : 9th March, 1993
• Date of Birth : 18th February, 1994
• Date of Birth : 13th October, 1995
• Date of Birth : 30th December, 1995
• Date of Birth : 1st September, 1997

BTS’s ‘Beyond the Story’: 6 key takeaways from new bio

The K-pop group’s groundbreaking music-making journey wasn’t always a smooth one

It seems almost redundant for BTS to release an official biography 10 years into its existence. The K-pop superband is a household name across the globe, where it has topped the charts in dozens of countries. Grandmas in Seoul and teens in Spokane, Wash., can dispense all manner of trivia on the group’s members.

There’s RM, the bookish leader; Jin, self-dubbed “Worldwide Handsome,” both the eldest and the goofiest; Suga, who once wished to be reincarnated as a rock; J-Hope, BTS’s sunny and energetic den mom; Jimin, known for his charm and magnetic stage presence; V, enigmatic, mischievous and the one most likely to be wearing a vest; and finally, Jungkook, the golden child (or “Golden Maknae”) of the group.

But “Beyond the Story,” by Myeongseok Kang, is a book that knows its audience. Released on July 9 (the same day that, 10 years ago, the BTS fandom adopted the nickname ARMY), it pulls together a cohesive narrative — hitherto told in hundreds of blogs, YouTube videos, magazine articles and live video chats — about BTS’s music-making journey, with new reflections and interviews from the members themselves.

It also attempts to answer the question that still hangs over the group: What was it about BTS that transfixed the world? Here are some of the big takeaways.

The stakes were high from the start

Like other K-pop artists, the seven members of BTS started as “trainees” within the Korean music industry’s highly organized talent-development system. Labels would provide room and board for promising young talent, put them through rigorous dancing and singing training, and hope they developed into new artists, known as “idols.”

BTS came together under Big Hit Entertainment (now known as Hybe), a relatively small company that had nowhere near the resources of Korea’s top three labels. In 2012, the label launched a girl group called Glam, which was already struggling when BTS was still being cobbled together.

“I thought the company was going to go under,” Suga, a rapper and producer for BTS, says in the book.

With the pressure ratcheted up, Big Hit’s hopes landed on the shoulders of seven young men in their teens and early 20s: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook.

Masters of the vlog

For larger labels, unveiling a new K-pop idol group was like “a major Hollywood production,” the author notes. The K-pop scene is so competitive that it’s essential for a group to have fans before it even debuts.

Unable to compete with bigger labels’ marketing money and industry connections, Big Hit went a different route with BTS. The boys connected to fans through candid video diaries and blog posts chronicling their everyday experiences, anxieties and hopes, as well as teasing unreleased music .

BTS members managed their own Twitter account, and later, Jin, one of the group’s vocalists, started a YouTube series called “Eat Jin,” in which he … ate things .

“At the time, there really wasn’t any way to communicate with the fans, and as I liked eating, I thought I should upload that, at least,” Jin recalls.

The crude, unedited footage stood out from the glamorous, tightly managed image that idols were supposed to present. The strategy proved prescient years later, when video streams became the default way for Korean celebrities to talk to fans.

Breaking K-pop norms

Although BTS is widely seen as a global ambassador of K-pop, “Beyond the Story” posits that its biggest successes came from breaking the genre’s norms.

In K-pop, lead singles are typically dance-heavy songs, released alongside a glitzy music video featuring razor-sharp choreography. “I Need U,” BTS’s first big hit in Korea, bucked that trend, serving fans a moody, concept-heavy tune with an accompanying video that leaned into themes of familial trauma and violence.

“The way we expressed the emotions was really important,” J-Hope says. “ When I danced , I got into the character of a boy hanging off the edge of a cliff.”

It was considered a big risk for a group that had been viciously derided by online commenters and industry peers in previous years and that was, in many ways, still gaining its footing.

And unlike most K-pop groups at the time, BTS continued to explore these darker themes in later work, such as the 2016 album “Wings,” which drew inspiration from Hermann Hesse’s Jungian novel “Demian” to probe themes of temptation, shame and reinvention .

Pushed to the brink by success

Although BTS started gaining a foothold in the United States around 2015, it wasn’t until 2017 and 2018 that the group truly broke into the world’s largest music market.

Americans hadn’t been totally unfamiliar with K-pop before then; Psy’s “Gangnam Style” briefly surged on global charts in 2012. But BTS’s sustained popularity was unprecedented. Songs such as “DNA” and “Mic Drop” began cracking the Billboard Hot 100, and the group started taking its energetic performances to major awards shows, as well as “ The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ” and “GMA.”

Then the band would go back to South Korea and do it all over again.

“We really had no days off,” Jin says of that time. “I wondered whether it was right for a person to live a life as exhausted as this.”

Navigating the English-speaking press also posed a major challenge for the group. RM, the only fluent English speaker, frequently worried about making the kind of gaffes that would ripple across the Pacific.

Recalling interactions with the press at the Billboard Music Awards in 2018 , RM says, “It felt like I was having a mental breakdown.”

The make-or-break point

Just as group members were burning out during this period, their contract renewals came up, leading to discussions about whether BTS would break up .

Because of how tight the seven members were, Jin explains, if even one person left, the group probably would not continue to exist.

The book highlights their individual struggles with burnout and fame: Youngest member Jungkook took to drinking alone, and Jimin, a vocalist and dancer, withdrew by locking himself in a 6-by-6-foot room.

“We all wanted to say, ‘Let’s quit,’ but none of us could bring ourselves to do it,” Suga says.

But they were also performing at their best. Hit shows such as their 2018 Billboard Music Awards performance buoyed them and led them to talk honestly about their struggles, the group’s members say. They ended up renewing their contracts for another seven years.

Doubts about ‘Dynamite’

Even though BTS had made history several times by the time “Dynamite,” its first English-language song, was released in August 2020, not all of the band members initially thought it was a good idea. RM, for one, worried that “someone from outside” had written it.

Proposed by Bang Si-hyuk, founder of Big Hit and a producer for the group, “ Dynamite ” was meant to win over fans who were just discovering BTS before the pandemic disrupted its promotional schedules. The disco-pop tune contrasted with the rest of the tracks on the album, “Be,” which struck a more somber and melancholic tone. And the group’s members had also been proud that their global hits so far had been Korean-language songs that they had written and produced.

The global response to the feel-good bop put their doubts to rest: “Dynamite” became their first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.

“We were all overjoyed together,” V says. “Someone was laughing and someone was crying, and it was all, … ‘Ah, we weren’t going down a dead end this whole time.’”

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BTS, the band that changed K-pop, explained

The keys to BTS’s success: emotional resonance, sincerity, and an ARMY of fans.

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In 2012, Rolling Stone published a list of the 10 K-pop bands most likely to make it big in the US. Achieving significant US fame was a newly attainable, if still distant, milestone for South Korean pop groups thanks to the 2000s’ tremendous exporting of South Korean culture overseas — a trend known as Hallyu, the Korean Wave. Rolling Stone’s list, which appeared two months before Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” included groups like Big Bang, Girls’ Generation, and 2NE1 — the greatest bands of what’s generally thought of as the “second generation” of pop groups to emerge during K-pop’s rise to international prominence.

It didn’t, however, include a group of teenage boys, then-recently assembled through a studio audition process, who were being meticulously polished and prepped for their debut. On December 22, 2012, the group released a number of Soundcloud clips featuring its seven members rapping in Korean and English — including a rap cover of Wham’s “Last Christmas.”

It was hardly the stuff of attention-getting Korean hip-hop. But the band in question — Bangtan Boys, later officially known as BTS — would go on to completely transform the image of all-male boy bands in South Korean music and shatter conceptions of what breakout success looked like for South Korean bands overseas.

BTS’s rise to prominence has been so immense over the last few years that the band’s latest single, “Butter” — their first since a trio of groundbreaking, historic No. 1 singles in fall 2020 — is a major event.

BTS made headlines in 2020 with the hit single “ Dynamite ,” which became the first K-pop song in history to debut at No. 1 on the US Billboard “Hot 100” chart.

Having already racked up more than 60 million YouTube views in its first 12 hours online, “Butter” already seems positioned to be an even bigger hit for the band.

These US chart-toppers are huge accomplishments for BTS. The band has spent years building to this point, slowly conquering the American music scene with one milestone after another. Since 2018, when they became the first South Korean band in history to debut an album at No. 1 on the US Billboard chart , they’ve collaborated with major artists like the Chainsmokers , Steve Aoki , Nicki Minaj , Ed Sheeran , and Halsey . They’ve performed everywhere from Good Morning America to Saturday Night Live , from Times Square’s New Year’s Eve concerts to Grand Central Terminal .

In 2020, BTS garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group performance. They’ve even snagged a couple of Guinness World Records for their incredibly engaged fanbase .

So why was BTS the band that finally broke through the culture barrier overseas to make significant waves in the US? The answer lies in a combination of factors, and most of them are about change: the changing nature of K-pop’s studio culture and the way “idols” are produced; changing depictions of masculinity in South Korea; changing ranges of acceptable expression in K-pop; and, above all, the approach BTS has taken to building its fan base and interacting with its fans.

But to understand all this change, we have to back up a few years to understand how K-pop became the regimented industry it is today — and how BTS subverts that regimen.

How did K-pop become a $5 billion global industry?

Vox explore K-pop’s elaborate music videos, adoring fans, and killer choreography for our Netflix series Explained .

Watch now on Netflix.

BTS is the product of an industry insider who wanted to create a new kind of idol

K-pop began on April 11, 1992, when a hip-hop trio called Seo Taiji and Boys performed in a talent show on a national South Korean network. Seo Taiji and Boys were innovators who challenged norms around musical styles, song topics, fashion, and censorship, which was unprecedented for a culture whose musical production had spent the past few decades subjected to strict government oversight. But it wouldn’t last.

In the ’90s, three powerhouse music studios began cultivating what would become known as idol groups. Assembled through auditions and years of grooming within an intense studio culture — the highly regimented system of idol group production in Korean and Japanese music studios — idol groups are polished to perfection, designed to present the very highest standards of beauty, dance, and musicality. Children who enter these studios spend most of their lives enduring rigorous training to become part of an idol group. If they’re chosen, the studio exerts a huge amount of control, not only over the songs they sing and the way their band is marketed but also over their daily lives .

Idol groups have come to dominate the Korean music industry, but there are well-known toxic and abusive elements to idol life. Over the last decade, the Korean government has taken steps to end the structural exploitation that has been a major part of Korean studio culture. But in the early 2010s when BTS was formed, most studios had a highly regimented, restrictive approach to idol group production. As part of the process, they systematically ironed out most of the personal expression and socially conscious music that Seo Taiji was originally known for — after all, it’s hard to express yourself when you’re contractually forbidden to have a personal life. Even today, idols typically only feel free to open up about their struggles after their studio careers have come to an end .

It was within this environment that a man named Bang Si-hyuk began to quietly build a different kind of studio, and to cultivate the band that would become BTS. A successful songwriter and music producer, Bang was nicknamed “Hitman” for writing a string of popular songs, from g.o.d.’s “One Candle” in 1999 to T-ara’s “Like the First Time” a decade later. He worked as an arranger and producer with the studio JYP until 2005, when he left to form his own Big Hit Entertainment.

But Bang also struggled with his position within the industry. As a studio owner, he confessed to insecurity about his work and said he admired singers who could express their personalities in their music. This combination of ideas — the honest musical expression of one’s creative anxieties — would become a crucial element of BTS.

In 2010, Bang began to assemble a group of teens for a group he called the Bulletproof Boy Scouts. This would go on to become Bangtan Boys, then BTS, but the ingredients of their success were inherent in the original name. Bang intended “bulletproof” to function as a celebration of the kids’ toughness and ability to withstand the pressures of the world. But he also wanted the band to be able to be sincere and genuine — not immaculate idols groomed amid studio culture, but real boys who shared their authentic personalities and talents with the world.

This approach was quite different from the normal studio approach to idoldom, wherein idols are trained to be pleasant but mild — to function as blank slates upon which viewers can project their fantasies. By contrast, Bang wanted BTS to be full of figures that audiences could relate to. In a 2018 interview with the South Korean newspaper JoongAng, he described how he originally thought of BTS as consisting of gentle, sympathetic idols who could mentor their fans:

I recently came across a company document from [2012,] the year before BTS debuted, in which we were debating what kind of idol group to create. It said, ‘What kind of hero is the youth of today looking for? Not someone who dogmatically preaches from above. Rather, it seems like they need a hero who can lend them a shoulder to lean on, even without speaking a single word.

To create that band, Bang had to shake up the established precedents for how idol groups are treated. BTS wouldn’t have strict contracts and curfews, and they’d be allowed to discuss the pressures of stardom. Their lyrics would be open about the cultural pressure placed on Korean teens to excel and do well and to repress their anxieties. In short, they would be frank, honest, and natural.

How they did it: a consciously authentic style combined with socially conscious messaging

“We came together with a common dream to write, dance and produce music that reflects our musical backgrounds as well as our life values of acceptance, vulnerability and being successful,” said BTS’s leader, RM, in a 2017 interview with Time . There are six main ways BTS breaks with established precedent for K-pop boy bands to carry out this mission:

• They frequently write their own songs and lyrics.
• Their lyrics are socially conscious and especially attuned to describing the pressures of modern teen life in South Korea.
• They create and manage most of their own social media presence.
• They aren’t signed to “slave contracts,” nor do their contracts have the grueling restrictions of other idol groups.
• They tend to focus on marketing entire albums rather than individual singles. (This is essentially still true despite their recent string of singles in the US.)
• They talk openly about the struggles and anxieties of their career instead of presenting an extremely polished image at all times.

It should be noted that most of these elements have been present in numerous other recent K-pop groups — most notably Big Bang, which probably influenced BTS more than any other K-pop group. What Big Hit Entertainment did, however, was systematize these elements in BTS, and market them hard.

In the earliest videos of the band, from the months before their 2013 debut, the members were styled as young and sweetly innocent , maintaining the common “schoolboy” concept of male K-pop idol groups. When the group officially launched in June 2013, however, it was with a hard style paying homage to old-school gangster rap. Their first single, “No More Dream,” was an ode to teen apathy, a rebellious rejection of Korean traditionalism.

And it wasn’t exactly popular: Early audience reactions included a lot of eye-rolling at what was viewed as a superimposed gangster image the band hadn’t earned. And while they were clearly leaning on the confessional lyrical apathy of Seo Taiji and his early successors, it all seemed contrived rather than real.

A K-pop commentator who goes by the mononym Stephen ran a weekly podcast, This Week in K-Pop , from 2013 to 2017, which chronicled new releases in K-pop and inevitably documented the rise of BTS. But Stephen and his co-hosts were initially skeptical of the band. “Now K-pop has faux hip-hop undertones everywhere,” he said. “But in 2013 there wasn’t really that much, other than Big Bang. So when [BTS] came out with this very in-your-face, ‘We’re hip-hop’ image, it felt a little silly.”

Stephen pointed out that K-pop in general suffers from this problem. “K-pop really likes the look and attitude of hip-hop, but not too much . It’s very surface-level: hip-hop as a culture rather than as a musical genre.”

BTS’s climb to success, then, involved the band finding a way to communicate that this confessional image was real. They did this by mixing their openness on social media with blunt and honest lyrics — and owning their status as an underdog group battling to succeed against other bands who came from established studios with larger budgets. They spoke openly of the influence of Big Bang, which was also known for its socially conscious messaging. And they covered Seo Taiji’s ”Come Back Home”:

In essence, they found a way to imbue their musical style with substance. This led to well-reviewed, pointedly personal works like their three-album series The Most Beautiful Moment in Life , which deftly mixed “theater [and] autobiography.”

Their two most successful singles from this period managed to neatly encompass this new direction. “ I Need U ” (2015) was a refreshing, personalizing step away from hip-hop toward an R&B sound, while “ Dope ” (2015) openly celebrated the endless grind of their lives: “Over half of the day, we drown in work / Even if our youth rots in the studio / Thanks to that, we’re closer to success.”

“Dope” also drew attention to the band’s talent in a major way: It was the moment South Korea realized that these boys could dance.

“‘Dope’ is probably my favorite video of all time,” Stephen told Vox in 2018. “Focusing on dancing like that — they weren’t the only ones doing it, but they were definitely the best ones doing it.”

“And they alternate,” he added. “They do the big, boisterous, in-your-face dance video. But they also do those more emotional mini-art-flick type videos.” And no BTS art flick is better than “Blood Sweat & Tears,” the gothic, gorgeous 2016 single that launched them into a new level of international fame.

Colette Bennett is an entertainment reporter and a huge fan of BTS — but even though she liked their music, it took a while for her to take their message seriously.

“When The Most Beautiful Moment in Life series started, I saw something,” she says. “And that’s when I went back and watched their old vlogs. Up to and after debut, [these] skinny kids all crammed in a studio the size of a broom closet. Just … being honest about how much they poured into what they were doing, humble about being scared and unsure, etc.”

To Bennett, the band’s frank discussion of mental health and the expectations placed on Asian teens was revolutionary. In 2016, she wrote a profile of the band that argued that they were changing the nature of K-pop through their interpersonal approach to image-making. While watching them on their 2017 “Wings” tour, she said, “there was a moment that really stuck out.”

“There’s a song the three rappers do called Cypher 4 . The refrain is, ‘I love, I love, I love myself / I know, I know, I know myself.’

“I looked around me at hundreds of people in their 20s cheering every word, and I thought, ‘My god. They’re using their influence to teach young people — the ones most inclined to grapple with self-hatred — to start considering what self-love means.’”

The BTS ARMY is real, and it is mighty

BTS’s fans — who collectively gained the nickname ARMY for their well-organized and loyal following of the group — responded to that confessional strategy so well that by 2015, tickets for the band’s sold-out limited US tour were reportedly being scalped for more than $10,000 . Since then, the band has sold out all of its four subsequent world tours , including a record-breaking 2019 tour that included a landmark concert at the Rose Bowl, and a 2020 tour that ultimately had to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stephen told me that it took a while for the hosts of This Week in K-Pop to realize how big BTS had gotten. “We always thought the next big group to cross over would be a girl group, somebody like Twice ,” he told me. “I don’t think it really hit me how big they were until I moved to Korea in 2014 and talked to the children. Every single person in my school system, from teachers to high school students to middle school students to elementary — everybody knew who BTS was.”

BTS’s international fandom was also hard at work making sure the band had a chance to break through. Throughout 2017, fans systematically bombarded North American retailers like Walmart , Target , and Amazon with pleas to stock BTS’s new albums — and then promptly pushed the albums up the sales charts . The ARMY was so mighty that by the time BTS made their US television debut at the American Music Awards in 2017, the audience was treated to a time-honored K-pop spectacle: an auditorium ringing with fan chants .

The international BTS fandom has worked to mainstream K-pop as few other factors have. On Tumblr, the internet’s unofficial home for fandom communities, BTS and its members reign supreme, recalling the vast reach of One Direction in its heyday. In April 2018, Tumblr decided to stop breaking out K-pop as a separate category in its popular weekly Fandom Metrics, an official Tumblr product that measures the popularity of fandoms and related subtopics across the site. By merging K-pop with English-language groups, the account could more accurately reflect the relative popularity of K-pop bands to their Western counterparts.

The first week the categories merged, BTS debuted at No. 1 on the platform, ahead of Beyoncé and Harry Styles.

So who are these guys, anyway?

Bang’s initial idea for BTS was to build not a boy band, but rather a supporting crew around one talented teen: Kim Nam-joon, a.k.a. RM. He quickly opted to go the idol group route instead, and it took nearly three years of trying out different combinations of members and styles for the boy band to finally emerge.

Most K-pop groups have band members who occupy fixed, noticeable positions within the band: the leader, the public “face” of the group; the “visual,” whose main role is to be pretty; and so forth. Not every group has set roles, and most roles change over time. And because BTS is trying to be less staged than other groups, its roles are a lot blurrier than other groups. Still, there are a few constants.

The leader and lead rapper: RM

Born Kim Nam-joon, RM is a 26-year-old rapper and the first member recruited to BTS. It’s not exaggerating to say that the entire band was built around him.

RM first made his name as an underground rapper; still in his teens, he was frequently spotted spitting verses alongside his friend Zico, who would go on to become the leader of the K-pop group Block B. After a friend told Bang about the rapping teen, Bang recruited him into his studio, where fans gave him the pre-debut nickname “Rap Monster.” From there, the idea to form an entire idol group rapidly took shape, and the Monster shortened his stage name to RM.

The dancer/rapper: J-Hope

Jung Hoseok, a.k.a. J-Hope, sometimes called Hobi, is most frequently described by fans as a ray of sunshine, thanks to his sweet personality. The 27-year-old is one of the group’s main songwriters as well as a frequent choreographer, its lead dancer, and one of its three main rappers. (He sings well, too!) Since joining the group, he’s had a notable solo debut that landed him in the top 40 on the Billboard 200. And have I mentioned his chin could cut glass ?

The vocalist/dancer: Jimin

No single member of BTS is its “face,” but the spotlight often belongs to 25-year-old singer and dancer Park Jimin. Jimin is frequently positioned as the group’s lead vocalist. He’s also a part of the group’s dance line, for good reason , along with J-Hope, Jungkook, and Taehyung.

The mentor vocalist: Jin

The 28-year-old Kim Seokjin, a.k.a. Jin, is the group’s oldest member, and as such he frequently occupies a mentorship role within the group (complete with dad jokes). He’s one of the group’s main vocalists, and though he’s not officially the group’s “visual,” he seems to have a habit of accidentally going viral for being beautiful.

The prodigy: Jungkook

Depending on when and whom you ask, Jeon Jungkook is either the designated “face” of the group, the designated beauty, the designated main singer, the group’s centerpiece member, or all of the above. But there’s one role that never changes: At 23, he’s the youngest. The group often calls him the “golden maknae,” a.k.a. the golden child, because he’s a bit of a wunderkind in terms of talent. In fact, he was in high demand before he settled on joining Big Hit because he looked up to RM. But he’s unquestionably the baby of the group — and arguably its most popular member.

The rapper: Suga

Min Yoongi, stage name Suga, is one of the group’s three rappers — though it should be noted he, like fellow rappers J-Hope and RM, is also a decent singer. At 28, he’s also one of the oldest members, which makes him something of a group dad. His name comes from his preferred basketball position of shooting guard, but legend has it that Bang chose the name for him because it reflects his “sugary” personality — subtle, yet sweet and generous .

The vocalist/dancer: V

The 25-year-old Kim Taehyung chose the stage name “V” for victory — but it could just as easily stand for “versatile”: He’s one of the vocalists, he worked his way onto the dance line, and he’s even tried his hand at rapping. His playful, quirky personality (let’s call it “singular” ) and penchant for stealing the spotlight have made him one of the group’s most popular members. It also probably doesn’t hurt that he has chemistry with everything that moves.

Each of the members of BTS has been hands-on regarding their own careers from the start. As the group has gained more and more power in the entertainment industry, they’ve also each developed their creative and professional sides. By this point in their long careers, every band member has produced, written, or co-written multiple tracks on the group’s albums, and most of them have also worked on independent productions and songs outside of BTS.

For example, rapper Suga has also released two bestselling mixtapes under his alter ego rap handle, Agust D . And vocalist Taehyung co-produced and co-wrote the hit 2020 single “ Sweet Night, ” released as part of the soundtrack to the popular Korean drama Itaewon Class .

On top of all this, the band members all play a variety of musical instruments, in addition to routinely splitting the duties of dancing, singing, and rapping. They’re an immensely talented group of artists.

But perhaps their biggest asset is their shared ability to directly communicate their love and affection to fans. When the band appeared in the annual Time 100 in 2019, entertainer Halsey wrote their profile, making a point of highlighting BTS’s authenticity:

Outwardly, they are polished and professional, but hours of laughter, secret handshakes and gifts exchanged show those around them that underneath this showstopping, neatly groomed movement are just some guys who love music, one another and their fans.

Stephen told me there’s a real core appeal in what BTS is doing. “A lot of their ballads really do sound like they’re talking to you and confessing to you, more so than a lot of pop standards,” he said.

BTS has pulled off this confessional, one-on-one intimacy all while building an international fanbase, despite considerable language and cultural barriers. And in that respect, BTS has truly become an international revelation.

BTS has made major inroads for other K-pop bands and changed the way we think about international fandom

Understanding BTS’s rise to the top also means acknowledging that they’re not alone in their class: They’ve succeeded and grown alongside other bands that have also been innovating and reaching new levels of international success — like Blackpink, which in 2019 became the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella . Collectively, this K-pop generation is rapidly changing the conversation and pushing the limits of what K-pop is allowed to be.

But BTS has also done more than arguably any other band to expand K-pop’s international reach — as well as the way international media and the music industry are forced to contend with K-pop. After all, as the lyrics to “Butter” note , the band’s “got Army right behind us when we say so” — a major brag, but one that’s clearly accurate. And BTS fans aren’t just making themselves visible to the music industry. They were also at the forefront of the 2020 push to drown out racist hashtags on social media, and both fans and the band itself have condemned anti-Asian racism .

As BTS and their fandom gain more attention, they’re diversifying mainstream music in America at a moment when artists like The Weeknd have called out the recording industry for its gatekeeping . Between the band’s undeniable talent and diligent work ethic and the fandom’s immense influence over charts, sales, and media coverage, the BTS phenomenon is essentially unstoppable.

Moreover, whatever groundbreaking changes come next for K-pop will likely be a direct result of BTS’s influence. Already, American production companies are moving to bring even more aspects of K-pop to the US. For instance, MGM recently partnered with K-pop studio SM Entertainment to bring the K-pop reality competition format to Hollywood.

Even more intriguing: On the back of BTS’s tremendous success, its parent studio BigHit recently renamed to HYBE Entertainment and, in a billion-dollar deal , acquired heavy-hitting manager Scooter Braun ’s entire portfolio of clients. That means BTS’s studio now oversees artists like Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, and Ariana Grande. With that potential industry power, and that much fan support at its back, HYBE and BTS could well be poised to shape the music industry in ways hitherto unseen.

And whatever they do next? Will likely be Dynamite.

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BTS Members: Everything to Know About the K-Pop Supergroup

Get to know BTS' seven members: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook

Kelsey Lentz is a former assistant editor at PEOPLE with over four years of experience working in the digital media industry. She left the brand in 2023.

BTS has taken the world by storm.

Since their debut in 2013, the South Korean boy band, whose name is an acronym for Bangtan Sonyeondan (which roughly translates to Bulletproof Boys), has topped the charts with their catchy pop music, collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry and grown one of the largest fanbases, affectionately dubbed ARMY.

The Grammy -nominated group is comprised of seven members: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook. In the years since they exploded onto the scene, many of the members have gone on to pursue solo projects , in addition to creating hits like "Butter" with their bandmates.

While they are mainly known for their collective success, which includes their various charitable endeavors , each artist has begun to pave their own path and develop their individual fandoms.

"We do make sure that one person doesn't stand out," Jungkook told Miss Vogue in 2018. "But then we are really unique. We all have our style, so I think we all stand out. We each have our own roles and positions in the band and then we work together to make sure we all try hard for the Army."

Here's everything there is to know about the seven members of BTS.

RM (whose full name is Kim Namjoon) is the band's leader and main rapper. Born on Sept. 12, 1994, RM grew up in Ilsan, South Korea, and began rapping at a young age. He made some waves in the underground rap scene — performing under various names, including Large, Stealo and Runch Randa — and eventually caught the eye of the South Korean record label Big Hit Entertainment (later rebranded into HYBE), who formed BTS and recruited him to be the first official member in 2010.

Over the years, RM has been praised for his fluency in English. During an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show , RM revealed that he taught himself English by watching the iconic sitcom Friends . "My English teacher was the sitcom Friends ," he explained. "Back in the days, when I was like 15, 14, it was quite like a syndrome for all the Korean parents to make their kids watch Friends . I thought I was kind of like a victim at that time, but right now, I'm the lucky one, thanks to my mother."

RM added that his mom bought him all 10 seasons of the hit show on DVD. "So firstly, I watched them with the Korean subtitles, and then next time, I watched with the English subtitles, and then I just removed it."

During their annual FESTA dinner in June 2022, BTS shared that they would be taking a break to pursue solo projects and figure out their next steps as a band.

"I always thought that BTS was different from other groups, but the problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don't give you time to mature," RM said during the event. "You have to keep producing music and keep doing something."

HYBE later clarified in a statement that the group was not taking a hiatus and would remain active "as a team while taking individual journey to further achieve personal growth."

RM made his official solo debut with his first studio album, INDIGO, in December 2022.

Jin (whose full name is Kim Seokjin) was born on Dec. 4, 1992, in Gwacheon, South Korea. He is the oldest member of the group and the first member to begin mandatory military service in South Korea — a requirement that must be fulfilled by able-bodied men in the country before they're 28 years old.

Often referred to as "Worldwide Handsome," Jin joined the group in 2013 as one of the four main vocalists. In 2017, Jin graduated from Konkuk University in South Korea, according to a tweet from BTS' official Twitter page, with a degree in acting and art.

Jin is also BTS' resident foodie. He previously had his own food web series, Eat Jin, and he is the co-owner of a Japanese restaurant called Ossu Seriomushi, located in Seoul, South Korea. In August 2022, Jin made use of his time off from BTS and got back in the kitchen, receiving a cooking lesson from celebrity chef and South Korean television personality Lee Yeon-bok, per Billboard .

During an interview with Weverse Magazine , Jin opened up about finding his confidence as an individual, outside of BTS.

"It used to be that any time I had to do something, I thought it was such a big deal. Like, how can I handle something this big right now," Jin told the outlet. "I would always feel discouraged, but my personality has changed a lot now, I think. I think the biggest change in my mind is that now, even if there's a major project in the works, I think I can do it now."

He added, "Now, instead of, 'How can I handle this?' it's 'I can handle this!' when I'm making songs for other people to listen to."

Jin released the solo single , "The Astronaut," which was co-written by Chris Martin of Coldplay , in October 2022.

Suga (whose full name is Min Yoongi) was born on March 9, 1993, in Daegu, South Korea. Prior to joining BTS, he made a name for himself as an underground rapper — performing under the stage name Gloss — and a producer.

These days, in addition to his involvement with BTS, Suga performs as a solo rapper under the alias Agust D, which is a play on his stage name and a reference to his hometown. He is also a commercial producer under the name "By Suga."

Of his different aliases, he told GQ Austalia , "All three are me. They each take up a third of myself, and one isn't more reflective of me than another. I simply give people a choice. These three sides of myself are incredibly different, so I'm giving people a choice to see me as they want."

In April 2022, Suga produced and was featured on "Gangnam Style" singer Psy's comeback song "That That."

"At first, because he's many years my senior and someone who's well-respected in the business I was quite nervous," Suga said of the collaboration, adding, "it felt like working with a childhood friend so it made the songwriting process that much more fun … We became besties in a way."

Suga made his foray into the fashion world in January 2023, when Italian fashion house Valentino announced him as their latest brand ambassador. Suga joined the company's Di.Vas ambassador group, which stands for Different Values, per WWD .

Pierpaolo Picciolo, Valentino's creative director, described Suga to the outlet as a "multifaceted artist" who expresses himself with "authenticity and energy." He added, "He perfectly embodies everything that DI.VA.s testimonials stand for: diversity, inclusivity, creativity, and passion."

In September 2023, Suga became the third member of BTS to enlist in the South Korean military.

J-Hope (whose full name is Jung Hoseok) was born on Feb. 18, 1994, in Gwangju, South Korea. J-Hope got his start as a dancer and won several competitions in South Korea. He was then recruited by Big Hit Entertainment in 2010 and began training as a rapper. Now, he is one of three rappers in the group, as well as a dancer, songwriter and producer. He was also the first BTS member to start a solo career.

In 2019, J-Hope teamed up with singer Becky G to release the song "Chicken Noodle Soup." The "Shower" singer opened up about her collaboration with J-Hope during an interview with Teen Vogue . "We were one of the first to do Korean, Spanish, and English. It's really badass," she told the outlet.

Of their language barrier, she added, "I'm so happy that it happened the way it did. To this day, it's one of those, 'I see you, you see me, and even though we may not necessarily have the deepest conversations, we get it' [relationships]."

The duo performed the song at Lollapalooza 2022 during J-Hope's historic headlining set , which made him the first South Korean artist to headline a main stage at a major American music festival.

The month prior, he released his debut solo album Jack in the Box and opened up to Rolling Stone about his solo career. "Since I'm the first one to go solo, I feel a sense of responsibility and there's definitely some pressure as well," he told the outlet. " Jack in the Box is filled only with things I personally wanted to do, almost to the point where I worry to myself, 'Did I focus too much on solely what I wanted to do?' I think that's where the half nervousness comes from."

He added that his bandmates RM and Jungkook were some of the first people to listen to the album and were incredibly supportive of it. "[RM] said, 'Wow, I didn't think you'd do music like this. I have a bit of brain freeze. And it's so you. The fact that you brought this music at this time… I really respect it, and I love that it's so you,' " he recalled of RM's reaction to the album.

Later in the interview, he said that while his solo career has been " fun " and "challenging," he misses his bandmates, explaining that his rehearsals can sometimes feel "lonely."

Another female artist that J-Hope is close with is Lizzo . In April 2022, Lizzo spoke about their friendship and revealed that J-Hope is " a great texter , expressive. He doesn't leave you on read." She added of BTS, "Good people, like really good energy."

On New Year's Eve 2023, J-Hope performed in Times Square in New York City for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest .

In February 2023, J-Hope became the second member of BTS to enlist in the South Korean military .

"We would like to inform our fans that j-hope has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement," the group's label, BIGHIT MUSIC, said in a statement. "We ask for your continued love and support for j-hope until he completes his military service and safely returns."

Jimin (whose full name is Park Jimin) was born on Oct. 13, 1995, in Busan, South Korea. He is another one of the group's main dancers, and he studied dance in high school. He was the last to join BTS, becoming a member of the group in 2013.

In recent years, Jimin has also ventured out independently and taken on new projects. In early January 2023, he was featured on South Korean singer Taeyang's song "Vibe." Just a few days later, Dior announced Jimin as their new global brand ambassador .

The artist celebrated the news on Instagram, writing, "So thrilled to start a journey with @Dior!" He added in Korean, "Honored to be Dior's Global Ambassador! Stay tuned for a lot of things to come!"

Jimin has kept plans of a solo album close to his chest, however, in an interview with W Korea on Jan. 23, 2023, he hinted that there is an album in the works. "Lately, I am working on a solo album. That's what I have been up to. Nothing special … " he said subtly.

V (whose full name is Kim Taehyung) was born on Dec. 30, 1995, in Daegu, South Korea. He grew up singing and playing the saxophone, and he eventually joined BTS after auditioning for Big Hit Entertainment in 2013.

After making his official debut with BTS, V also took on acting projects and debuted as an actor in the historical drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth. V also starred on In the Soop: Friendcation , a reality show on Disney+ that followed the singer and his real-life actor and musician friends, including Parasite star Choi Woo-shik, while they were on vacation. BTS originated the franchise with 2020's BTS In the Soop .

On his 25th birthday in December 2020, V released the song "Snow Flower," which is a collaboration with singer-songwriter, producer and rapper Peakboy. Upon its release, he also discussed an upcoming solo mixtape.

"This year feels like a stopped moment, and as the end of the year nears, I think there will be a lot of people with increased anxiety and depression. As [the mixtape] was late, I made [the song] in a hurry, feeling sorry for ARMY," he said. "For today, I hope that white flowers will come down to your hearts and feel some warm comfort and happiness."

In December 2021, when the BTS members joined Instagram, V broke two Guinness world records in the process. The singer broke the record for the fastest time to reach both 1 million followers and 10 million followers.

That same month, he released the holiday song, "Christmas Tree," which immediately topped the Billboard charts and earned him his first solo No. 1, per Billboard . The following year, he released a cover of the Christmas song "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" on Dec. 23, 2022.

V is reportedly single. However, he's rumored to be dating Jennie from Blackpink . The pair were spotted holding hands on a stroll through Paris in May 2023.

Jungkook, 25

Jungkook (whose full name is Jeon Jung-kook) was born on Sept. 1, 1997, in Busan, South Korea. He is the youngest member of BTS and ARMY affectionately call him "Kookie" or "Golden Maknae," which translates to "golden youngest."

When he was a teenager, Jungkook auditioned for the Korean talent show Superstar K during its third season in 2011. While he never made it to the finals, his audition did get him recognized by a few talent agencies, including Big Hit Entertainment. He began training under the label and joined BTS in 2013 as one of the four main vocalists and a dancer.

Jungkook was inspired by his bandmate J-Hope to make his own music as a solo artist. "It was really funny. After hearing the album, [Jungkook] suddenly went to his studio," J-Hope told Rolling Stone in July 2022. "I think he felt the motivation to start . I love that one of our greatest motivators is one another."

ABC/Paula Lobo

While his solo album is still in the works, he has released a few solo tracks, including "My You," "Still With You," and "Dreamers," which was part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup official soundtrack.

In July 2023, Jungkook made his solo performance debut at  Good Morning America' s Summer Concert Series in New York City. He performed three songs, including his single "Seven," before severe weather rolled over Central Park.

A few months later, Jungkook became the fourth member of BTS to enlist in the South Korean military.

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BTS (방탄소년단)

BTS (Korean: 방탄소년단; Bangtan Sonyeondan; Bulletproof Boy Scouts), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they expanded their musical style to incorporate a wide range of genres, while their lyrics have focused on subjects including mental health, the troubles of school-age youth and coming of age, loss, the journey towards self-love, individualism, and the consequences of fame and recognition. Their discography and adjacent work has also referenced literature, philosophy and psychology, and includes an alternate universe storyline.

BTS debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool. BTS released their first Korean and Japanese-language studio albums, Dark & Wild and Wake Up respectively, in 2014. The group’s second Korean studio album, Wings (2016), was their first to sell one million copies in South Korea. By 2017, BTS had crossed into the global music market and led the Korean Wave into the United States, becoming the first Korean ensemble to receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their single “Mic Drop”, as well as the first act from South Korea to top the Billboard 200 with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018).

In 2020, BTS became one of the few groups since the Beatles (in 1966–1968) to chart four US number-one albums in less than two years, with Love Yourself: Answer (2018) becoming the first Korean album certified Platinum by the RIAA; in the same year, they also became the first all-South Korean act to reach number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 with their Grammy-nominated single “Dynamite”. Follow-up releases “Savage Love”, “Life Goes On”, “Butter”, and “Permission to Dance” made them the fastest act to earn four US number-one singles since Justin Timberlake in 2006.

As of 2023, BTS is the best-selling musical act in South Korean history according to the Circle Chart, having sold in excess of 40 million albums. Their studio album Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) is the fourth best-selling album of all time in South Korea, as well as the first in the country to surpass both four and five million registered sales. They are the first non-English-speaking and Asian act to sell out concerts at Wembley Stadium and the Rose Bowl (Love Yourself World Tour, 2019), and were named the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) Global Recording Artist of the Year for both 2020 and 2021. The group’s accolades include multiple American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and nominations for five Grammy Awards.

Outside of music, they have addressed three sessions of the United Nations General Assembly and partnered with UNICEF in 2017 to establish the Love Myself anti-violence campaign. Featured on Time’s international cover as “Next Generation Leaders” and dubbed the “Princes of Pop”, BTS has also appeared on Time’s lists of the 25 most influential people on the internet (2017–2019) and the 100 most influential people in the world (2019), and in 2018 became the youngest recipients of the South Korean Order of Cultural Merit for their contributions in spreading the Korean culture and language.

On June 14, 2022, the group announced a scheduled pause in group activities to enable the members to complete their 18 months of mandatory South Korean military service, with a reunion planned for 2025. Jin, the oldest member, enlisted on December 13, 2022; the others followed in 2023.

BTS Details:

Bts (bangtan boys) members:.

BTS stands for the Korean phrase Bangtan Sonyeondan (Korean: 방탄소년단; Hanja: 防彈少年團), which translates literally to ‘Bulletproof Boy Scouts’. According to member J-Hope, the name signifies the group’s desire “to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets”.

In Japan, they are known as Bōdan Shōnendan (防弾少年団). In July 2017, BTS announced that their name would also stand for “Beyond the Scene” as part of their new brand identity. This extended the meaning of their name to encompass the idea of growth “from a boy to an adult who opens the doors that are facing forward”.

BTS Accolades:

BTS has received numerous awards throughout their career. They have consecutively won the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist since 2017; are the only K-pop group to win Top Duo/Group, at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards; and are the most-awarded group in BBMA history as of 2022, with 12 wins overall. BTS are also the only K-pop group to win Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock and Favorite Social Artist at the American Music Awards and became the first Asian act in the show’s history to win Artist of the Year in 2021.

They are the first Korean pop act to receive a Grammy Award nomination, and the first Korean artist to be nominated for a Brit Award. With 30 awards overall, including a record four consecutive wins for Artist of the Year (Asia), BTS are the most-awarded foreign artist in the history of the Japan Gold Disc Awards. They have also received a total of 50 trophies at the MAMA Awards.

BTS Discography:

Korean-language studio albums.

• Dark & Wild (2014)
• Wings (2016)
• Love Yourself: Tear (2018)
• Map of the Soul: 7 (2020)

Japanese-language studio albums

• Wake Up (2014)
• Youth (2016)
• Face Yourself (2018)
• Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey (2020)

BTS Filmography:

• Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018)
• Love Yourself in Seoul (2019)
• Bring the Soul: The Movie (2019)
• Break the Silence: The Movie (2020)
• BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – LA (2022)
• BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas (2023)

Online shows

• Run BTS (2015–present)
• BTS In the Soop (2020–2021)

BTS Bibliography:

• Beyond the Story (2023)

BTS Concert tours:

• The Red Bullet Tour (2014–2015)
• Wake Up: Open Your Eyes Japan Tour (2015)
• The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage Tour (2015–2016)
• The Wings Tour (2017)
• Love Yourself World Tour (2018–2019)
• Map of the Soul Tour (2020; cancelled)
• Permission to Dance on Stage (2021–2022)

BTS Mobile Video Game – BTS World

BTS World is a mobile video game developed by South Korean studio Takeone Company Corp and published by Netmarble. Players take the role of BTS’ manager, going through various journeys with each of the seven members from 2012, prior to their debut, to 2019.

BTS (방탄소년단) Photos:

BTS (방탄소년단) Filmography:

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Beyond The Story: BTS biography is a humanising, literary portrayal of K-pop ’s world-leading  stars

PhD candidate, Media and Communication, University of Leeds

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Jenessa Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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In a climate of ever-increasing competition, it’s a real feat when any band makes it to their tenth anniversary bigger than ever. Such is the case with K-pop group BTS (short for bangtan sonyeondan , “bulletproof boy scouts” in Korean). The band have released their first official biography – Beyond The Story – to look back on their decade-long path to international, record-breaking success .

Initially rumoured to be a Taylor Swift autobiography , pre-orders had made the book a bestseller before its subject was announced. It was released to tie in with both BTS’s anniversary and their hiatus, undertaken so that the members could enrol in mandatory Korean military service .

For fans who have been there from the beginning, the book is a souvenir to covet. For western audiences who have discovered K-pop more recently, it’s a pleasant reintroduction to the group’s early incubation years. Having sold well over 40 million albums worldwide – and become the youngest ever recipients of the South Korean Order of Cultural Merit – BTS are among Korea’s most influential ambassadors.

Behind The Story was co-written by South Korean journalist Kang Myeong-seok and the band’s seven members. Following the oral history format that has benefited popular music journalism books such as Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me In The Bathroom (2011), it tracks the band’s history across 544 pages, culminating in the release of their most recent anthology album, Proof (2022).

One by one, and in their own words, we meet J-Hope , RM , Suga , Jungkook , Jin , Jimin and V . They recall their nervousness at becoming K-pop trainees, their different motivations and the parts of performance they felt most vulnerable about. Each knew that they would have to work impossibly hard if they were to compete at the level K-pop culture demands.

Through anecdotes both humorous and moving, we learn how they bonded as a group. The seven teenagers, who were from completely different walks of life, were set up in a bunkhouse to learn how to sing and dance as a slick professional outfit.

In telling the story of BTS, Beyond The Story also tells the story of K-pop and how its dynamics have changed over the years. Fans who cottoned onto BTS in their international breakthrough era of songs such as Boy With Luv (2019) or Dynamite (2020) may assume that they always traded in upbeat pop. But their early years were actually deeply rooted in American Hip-hop , a genre K-pop has borrowed from since the early 1990s.

While K-pop groups often pride themselves on a style of perfectly-synchronous choreography known as kalgunmu (razor-sharp dancing), BTS’s hip-hop influence allowed them a certain looseness. Their musical hybridity helped to bring their individual personalities to life.

While it is true that Korean management companies closely guide their stars’ public image, and work them hard from a very young age , Beyond The Story challenges the stereotype of K-pop artists as mere performance puppets. There are several moments where members recall direct involvement in styling, choreography or songwriting. They also discuss using their platform to speak up on a range of social and political issues .

The group’s founding label Big Hit was considered small when they launched. This meant the group were frequently underestimated – even mocked – by their peers. But this underdog status encouraged them to experiment with DIY forms of self-promotion. The members blogged directly to a growing fanbase , for example, instead of relying on management-led channels.

It’s a model that has paid off. Though K-pop still evokes images of impressive polish and unison performance, newer groups such as Seventeen , Le Serrafim and Tomorrow X Together have been able to develop a model which matches feats of dance athleticism with more vulnerable, personal lyricism. This allows them to be both relatable and aspirational for worldwide audiences.

Read more: Hallyu! The Korean Wave at the V&A is an unflinching look at the country's creative rise

A new wave of music biography

Some prior understanding of the K-pop industry may be required to get the most out of the book (knowing how groups are typically assembled, for example, or how competitive Korean TV shows work). But as a contribution to modern music journalism, Beyond The Story is valuable. As they learn of the band’s insatiable work ethic, discipline and brotherly commitment, readers will feel as if they know each of the seven members much better, with a deeper understanding of how their music has developed since their debut.

It’s also highly visual. Lush photography neatly punctuates the chapters, guiding the reader smoothly through each BTS era. With pages that mark the track listings and specific details of each release, it’s easy to turn to your favourite album or treat the book as a reference text – a thoughtful, encyclopaedic blueprint for future artist biographies to come.

The use of QR codes throughout (330, to be exact) is also a smart innovation, recognising that fans might want to reminisce about (or discover) the group’s music videos, dance practices and video logs for themselves as they read. In this way, the book becomes a living museum, truly immersive and interactive.

Of course, the BTS story is far from over. Amid their hiatus, the members are experiencing international success with solo singles. Jimin recently became the first Korean soloist to top the US Billboard charts. At a time when K-pop feels bigger than ever, their success story can only inspire others who are ready to ride the unstoppable Korean wave to reach for their dreams, or indeed, for their local bookstore.

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The Triumph of BTS

By Brian Hiatt

Brian Hiatt

T his is a very serious and deep question,” says RM, the 26-year-old leader of the world’s biggest band. He pauses to think. We’re talking about utopian and dystopian futures, about how the boundary-smashing, hegemony-overturning global success of his group, the wildly talented seven-member South Korean juggernaut BTS , feels like a glimpse of a new and better world, of an interconnected 21st century actually living up to its promise. 

BTS’ downright magical levels of charisma, their genre-defying, sleek-but-personal music, even their casually nontoxic, skin-care-intensive brand of masculinity — every bit of it feels like a visitation from some brighter, more hopeful timeline. What RM is currently pondering, however, is how all of it contrasts with a darker landscape all around them, particularly the horrifying recent wave of anti-Asian violence and discrimination across a global diaspora. 

“Now, of course, there is no utopia,” RM continues. “There’s a light side; there’s always going to be a dark side. The way we think is that everything that we do, and our existence itself, is contributing to the hope for leaving this xenophobia, these negative things, behind. It’s our hope, too, that people in the minority will draw some energy and strength from our existence. Yes, there’s xenophobia, but there are also a lot of people who are very accepting. . . . The fact that we have faced success in the United States is very meaningful in and of itself.”

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RM is a fan of complexity. He was on a path toward an elite university education before a love of hip-hop, first sparked by a Korean group, Epik High, detoured him into superstardom. Bang Si-hyuk, the cerebral, intense-yet-avuncular mogul-producer who founded BTS’ record company, Big Hit Entertainment (now HYBE ), signed RM first, in 2010, and gradually formed BTS around the rapper’s talent and magnetism. “When I first met RM,” says Bang, “I felt a sense of duty that I must help him grow to become a great artist after acknowledging his musical talents and ways of thinking.”

A lengthy recruitment and audition process brought RM his six bandmates: fellow rappers Suga and J-Hope, and singers Jung Kook, V, Jimin, and Jin. Jung Kook, the youngest member, whose multiple talents include an extraordinarily soulful tenor, had offers to sign with multiple entertainment agencies, but chose Big Hit and BTS because of RM. “I just simply thought RM was really cool,” Jung Kook says. “I really didn’t know a lot about being a singer. But when I saw him rap, I just thought he was really, really awesome. And I believe maybe it was fate that drew me to him.” 

Suga and J-Hope were the first two members to join after RM, at a point when Bang imagined a pure hip-hop group. (There were a bunch of other rapper trainees on board with them, all ultimately jettisoned in favor of the singers as BTS became more of a pop hybrid.) Suga, also a fan of Epik High, as well as American rappers like T.I., was already a skilled rapper when he joined, much to his parents’ displeasure. “They didn’t understand rap music,” says Suga. “It’s natural that they were against what I was doing. I think that helped me work harder because there was something that I had to prove.” On the intense 2016 solo track “The Last” (recorded under the alias Agust D), Suga revealed battles with OCD, social anxiety, and depression. “I’m comfortable now and feeling good,” he says. “But those sort of negative emotions come and go. For anybody, these emotions are not things that need to be hidden. They need to be discussed and expressed. Whatever emotions I may be feeling, I’m always ready to express them.” 

With the group’s sunniest personality, J-Hope is beloved by his fellow members. (“I think J-Hope can run for president of the world,” says V; “There will be at least six votes from us,” RM adds.) J-Hope is a stunning dancer, and a surprisingly aggressive rapper, a skill he learned in his trainee days. “When I first started training, all the members were rappers,” he says. “So when you went into the house, beats were dropping. Everyone was just rapping in freestyle. It was kind of not easy to adapt at first.”

V, a fan of jazz, classical music, and Elvis Presley, with a distinct baritone, ended up a Big Hit trainee by accident, after showing up to support an auditioning friend. He was a “hidden member,” who didn’t appear on camera in the endless vlogs and other ingenious online promotion that preceded BTS’ debut in June 2013. “I actually can’t understand it whatsoever,” he says now, with a laugh. “Why did they do that? Why was that the concept? I really had no idea!” (Bang belatedly offers an answer: “We needed momentum to announce that the team called BTS was finally complete. V had great charms in terms of appearance and personality, so I thought it would be impactful when he was revealed last. It was an effective strategy in forming the team’s overall image, as well as leaving an impression of each member.”)

Jimin is a virtuosic, formally trained dancer who also hits some of the most impossibly high notes in BTS’ catalog. He has a strong perfectionist streak. “Dancing was my own world and my own space,” says Jimin, who feels he owes BTS’ fans flawless performances. “For their sake and for their devotion, I shouldn’t make mistakes.” 

He’s also deeply attached to his team. “We were very different people that came together,” Jimin says. “We argued a lot in the beginning, of course, but I think now, because we have spent so much time together, I began to like even the things about the other members I used to hate. The time we spent together really made us close, like a family. No matter where I go, there is someplace that I can come back to. I’ve come to feel that way about our group.”

RM carries himself with a level of gravitas that was perhaps incongruent with his initial stage name of Rap Monster, officially shortened in 2017. He drops quotes from Nietzsche and the abstract artist Kim Whan-ki in interviews, and celebrated his 26th birthday by donating nearly $85,000 to a museum foundation to support the reprinting of rare fine-art books. He and Suga fill their rhymes with double- and triple-entendres that would impress U.S. hip-hop heads who’ve never thought much about BTS.

It’s not uncommon for the members of BTS to shed a tear or two while they’re addressing fans onstage. Along with their comfort with makeup and iridescent hair dye, it all plays into their instinctive rejection of rigid conceptions of masculinity. “The labels of what being masculine is, is an outdated concept,” says RM. “It is not our intention to break it down. But if we are making a positive impact, we are very thankful. We live in an age where we shouldn’t have those labels or have those restrictions.” 

In their early days, with their singles “No More Dream” and “N.O.,” BTS wrote directly about the frustrations of South Korean youth, who faced relentless pressure and competition in school and the job market. (BTS were carrying on a tradition: K-pop progenitors Seo Taiji and Boys hit similar thematic notes in the early 1990s, while drawing on then-current American hip-hop and R&B, just as BTS would — the first single from Taiji’s group prominently samples Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise.”) BTS has since learned that their initial message, along with later lyrics that grapple with identity, self-love, mental health, and much more, had enough wider currency to make them spokesmen for a global generation — literally: They’ve addressed the United Nations General Assembly, twice. 

“When we wrote those songs, and those messages, of course, it wasn’t from some knowledge or awareness of the education system in the United States or anywhere else,” says RM. “We were teenagers at that time. There were things we were able to say, from what we felt and from our experiences about the unreasonableness of school, or the uncertainties and the fears and anxieties that teens have. And a common thought and a common emotion resonated with youth, not just in Korea, but in the United States, and the West.”

In December, BTS had another Number One U.S. hit with “Life Goes On,” a wistful ballad that stands as the definitive pop response to the pandemic year. But because the lyrics are almost entirely in Korean, the song received virtually no play on U.S. radio; its chart position came from streaming and purchases, and the obvious demand wasn’t enough for radio to reconsider. RM, for one, is still hopeful that particular wall will shatter. “If they feel it, I think they will change,” he says. “The barriers are still breaking down. It keeps going on and on.”

In the meantime, BTS is following up “Dynamite” with another English-language single, “Butter,” due May 21st. Like the lighthearted “Dynamite,” “Butter” has no heavy message. It’s a pure, swaggering dance-pop celebration in the retro vein of Bruno Mars, with layers of Jam and Lewis-style synths and boasts of being “smooth like butter” and having a “superstar glow.” “It’s very energetic,” says RM. “And very summery. It has a very dynamic performance.” There’s clearly more music coming as well — several Western songwriters who’ve worked with the group in the past say they’re currently in touch with BTS’ team about new songs. 

By taking a strong hand in the writing of their music, BTS have always stood apart from traditional K-pop methods, and, for that matter, much of songwriting-camp-dominated U.S. pop, too. (Whether BTS are actually part of K-pop at this point is a hotly debated topic among their fans, known as ARMY — many believe the group has transcended the label.) “They feel organic and unique,” says Late Late Show host James Corden, a fan who’s had them on several times since 2017. “It never feels like they’re in the machine. They are the machine.”

Head producer Pdogg tends to select the best melodies and sections from various creators, who could be anywhere in the world. “It’ll come back and they’ll say, ‘We love these two parts that you did,’ ” says August Rigo, a Filipino Canadian songwriter who worked on the 2020 singles “Black Swan” and “On.” “ ‘Then we have this verse, and we have this section that we’re not quite sure of.’ So it’s like piecing a puzzle together in collaboration with BTS. . . . It wasn’t like, two days and it was done. No, it was two, three months, maybe six or seven revisions.”

In at least one case, BTS ended up scouting collaborators on their own. After the Brooklyn production duo Brasstracks noticed one of their songs playing in the background of a behind-the-scenes BTS video, they tweeted about it, and soon heard from Big Hit. “The next thing we knew there was an email, saying, ‘Hey, we’re doing this and we’re looking for this’ and ‘BTS is into your work,’” says Ivan Jackson, one half of Brasstracks, who previously worked with Mark Ronson and Chance the Rapper. “I just think they have their ears to the ground in a way they don’t get their flowers for. Because we’re not huge producers. They didn’t get Timbaland.” Brasstracks sent a beat that ended up as the track “Dis-ease,” with a bridge section added by Pdogg and another producer, Ghstloop. “It was a really awesome case of collaboration,” says Jackson.

“Dynamite,” produced by U.K.-based pro David Stewart (not the Eurythmics guy) and written by Stewart and songwriting partner Jessica Agombar, another Brit, was an exception. HYBE put out word that BTS were ready for an English-language single, and BTS and their label chose the song from multiple submissions. “ ‘Dynamite’ would not have been released if BTS had been on tour as scheduled,” says Bang. “The project was chosen to shift the mood as a response to the pandemic situation. I thought it matched BTS, and that the song’s trendy vibes would be better expressed if sung in English.”

The bond between BTS and their ARMY is real, and the guys have genuinely missed their fans, missed the road. “When we couldn’t go on tour, everybody felt a sense of loss, a sense of powerlessness,” says Jin. “And we’re all sad. And it actually took us a while to get over those feelings.”

“The roar of the crowds and ARMY is something we loved,” says Jung Kook. “We miss that more and more. And we long for that more and more.”

BTS are as passionate in their advocacy for their ARMY as the fans are for them. “The ARMY is a lot more levelheaded than even we are,” says RM. Fans have lived up to BTS’ faith in them again and again, assembling professional-level documentaries, embarking on ambitious research and translation projects, and collectively matching BTS’ million-dollar donation to Black Lives Matter in just 25 hours.

Over the course of the group’s existence, none of the members of BTS have acknowledged any romantic relationships, though several have alluded  to dating before they joined. The official line is they’re too busy. The usual pop-group thinking might suggest BTS worry about fan reaction on this subject, but Suga, at least, rejects that idea. “I have a hard time understanding this question,” he says. “The ARMY is a diverse group. In this hypothetical situation, some may accept it, some may not. Whether it’s dating, or something else, they’re all individuals, and they will understand things differently.”

In 2018, BTS negotiated a renewal of their contract with Bang’s company, committing to another seven years as a band. Two years later, they were given a financial stake in HYBE. “It’s very meaningful,” says RM, “for us and also the company, that we admit and recognize each other as true partners. Now Big Hit’s success is our success, and our success is Big Hit’s success.” It also meant a multimillion-dollar windfall for the group when HYBE went public last year. “That’s very important,” RM says with a grin.

“I think the country sort of told me, ‘You’re doing this well, and we will give you a little bit more time,’ ” says Jin. Military service, he adds, “is an important duty for our country. So I feel that I will try to work as hard as I can and do the most I can until I am called.” 

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Suga is 28, J-Hope is 27, and RM turns 27 this year, so their service looms as well. At least one K-pop group, Shinhwa, got back together after their own time in the military, and are still a group after 23 years. BTS may well aspire to that kind of longevity. “So, yes, we will want to see ARMY as we do now,” says V. “I’m sure it will work out so that we can continue to see ARMY. About military service, or what will happen, we haven’t discussed it in the specifics amongst ourselves, but I’m sure it’ll work out eventually.”

For Jimin, at least, BTS is eternal. “I don’t think I’ve ever really thought of being not a part of this group,” he says. “I can’t imagine what I would do on my own. I think when I become older, and I grow my own beard” — he gestures to my facial hair and smiles — “I would like to think that at the end, when I’m too old to dance, I would just like to sit onstage with the other members and sing and engage with the fans. I think that would be great, too. So I’d like to keep this going as long as I possibly can.”

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Biography presents BTS: The Biggest Band on the Planet Paperback – February 1, 2021

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Every life has a story. Biography captures the most gripping, surprising and fascinating true stories about people that matter. The decision that changed everything. The biggest break. The defining opportunity. In this special issue, Biography highlights the compelling rise of Korean pop megastars BTS—Jungkook, RM, Jin, J-Hope, Jimin, Suga and V. Skeptics said the band would never succeed—they went on to dominate the world stage. This essential guide explores the lives and careers of the world-famous septet, from their underdog beginnings to their historic ascent on the global music charts.

• Print length 96 pages
• Language English
• Publication date February 1, 2021
• Dimensions 8 x 0.23 x 10.88 inches
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09FRR773L
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hearst Specials (February 1, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.23 x 10.88 inches
• #519 in Pop Artist Biographies
• #1,342 in Popular Music (Books)
• #10,656 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies

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Begins Youth: Cast and character guide on who's playing who in the BTS drama

Begins Youth has been garnering attention from BTS fans given its storyline being inspired by The Most Beautiful Moment in Life universe portrayed by RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Junglook. The Bangtan Universe has showcased the story of seven young boys, their friendship, and their journey to becoming adults.

The show's first four episodes aired on April 30, 2024, on the Xclusive platform. The drama stars Seo Ji-hoon, Ahn Ji-ho, Noh Jong-hyun, Kim Yoon-woo, Jeon Jin-seo, Jung Woo-jin, and Seo Young-joo. The drama is directed by Kim Jae-hong and written by authors Kim Soo-jin and Choi Woo-joo.

BTS drama Begins Youth 's character guide: Seo Ji-hoon, Seo Young-joo & more

Seo ji-hoon as jin or kim hwan.

Seo Ji-hoon who has shown his acting skills through K-dramas such as The Revenge of Others, Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency, and more will portray the role of Kim Hwan. So far in the Bangtan Universe, the eldest member Jin has been illustrating this character through music videos.

Kim Hwan is the son of a National Assembly member who follows his father's orders. He appears to be a well-settled person. However, he faces difficulties expressing himself despite coming from a wealthy background. He meets six young boys as he is transferred to a new school, who will become a huge part of his life in the future.

Seo Young-joo as RM or Kim Do-geon

Actor Seo Young-joo who previously appeared in dramas like The Killing Vote, Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 , and Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung , will play the role of Kim Do-geon.

The BTS leader RM was seen as Kim Do-geon in the group's music videos, webtoon, and other content so far. Seo Young-joo's Kim Do-geon comes from an underprivileged background and works hard to earn a living, on the positive side he maintains exemplary grades in his academic life.

Noh Jong-hyun as Suga or Min Ce-in

Noh Jong-hyun is set to play the character BTS' Suga portrayed in The Most Beautiful Moment in Life universe. Noh Jong-hyun's Min Ce-in is a young boy who enjoys playing piano and finds solace in the company of his six friends.

Surrounded by rumors of murdering his mother and setting his house on fire, the speculations are not true as Min Ce-in loved his mother the most. Noh Jong-hyun was previously seen in The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, Duty after School, Kkondae Intern , and more.

Ahn Ji-ho as J-Hope or Jeong Ho-su

Ahn Ji-ho is set to play the role of Jeong Ho-su which was previously portrayed by J-Hope in the BTS music videos. Jeong Ho-su has a passion for dancing and has an optimistic outlook toward life. He faces a traumatic experience in his childhood as he was abandoned at an amusement park.

However, he gets along well with his friends despite his past events. Ahn Ji-ho was previously seen in Gyeongseong Creature, All of Us Are Dead, and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days.

Kim Yoon-woo as Jimin or Park Ha-ru

My Dearest actor Kim Yoon-woo will play the character Park Ha-ru. So far Park Ha-ru was portrayed by the BTS vocalist Jimin in the HYYH plot line through the septet's music videos. Park Ha-ru has a contagious smile, a young boy with a warm heart who has been through traumatic events in the Past.

Jung Woo-jin As Kim Taehyung or Kim Joo-an

BTS' Kim Taehyung's character Kim Joo-an from the Bangtan Universe will be depicted by Kim Joo-an in the Begins Youth drama. Kim Joo-an's life takes a tragic turn as his father turns into an alcoholic after his mother leaves their home suddenly. Kim Joo-an lives by each day hoping for his father to leave his addiction.

Jeon Jin-seo as Jungkook or Jeon Je-ha

Actor Jeon Jin-seo was last seen in The World of the Married, Graceful Family, and The Legend of the Blue Sea . He plays the character Jeon Je-ha who is portrayed by Jungkook in the BTS Universe . Due to his insecure family, Jeon Je-ha faces mental health issues. He finds comfort in life as he helps Min Ce-in, his friend.

Begins Youth airs four episodes every Tuesday on the paid platform Xclusive at 16:00 KST. The final four episodes will release on May 14, 2024.