BTS

For other uses, see BTS (disambiguation).

BTS or Bangtan Boys (Hangul: 방탄소년단; RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan), is a South Korean boy band made up of seven members. They were created by Big Hit Entertainment in 2013. The members include RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, Jungkook. The group debuted on June 13, 2013 with their EP 2 Cool 4 Skool. They have since released five Korean studio albums: Dark & Wild (2014), Wings (2016), Love Yourself: Tear (2018), Map of the Soul: 7 (2020), and BE (2020). Their most famous song is "Dynamite".

BTS
BTS at the White House on May 31, 2022 From left to right: V, Jungkook, Jimin, RM, Jin, J-Hope, and Suga
Background information
Also known as	Bangtan Sonyeondan Beyond the Scene Bulletproof Boy Scouts
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop hip hop R&B EDM
Years active	2013–present
Labels	HYBE LABELS, Big Hit Pony Canyon Def Jam Japan[1] Columbia[2]
Members	Jin Suga J-Hope RM Jimin V Jungkook Jasmine Samuels
Website	bts.ibighit.com
Korean name
Hangul	방탄소년단
Hanja	防彈少年團
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Bangtan Sonyeondan McCune–Reischauer Pangt'an Sonyǒndan
Japanese name
Kanji	防弾少年団
Hiragana	ぼうだんしょうねんだん
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Bōdan Shōnendan Kunrei-shiki Bôdan Syônendan

In 2015, they found success in the American charts with their fourth extended play, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2, entering the U.S Billboard 200. The group is recognized as those who led the Korean Wave into the United States and have broken several sales records, becoming the first Korean group to receive an award by the Recording Industry Association of America for their single "Mic Drop". They are the first Korean act to top the U.S. Billboard 200. The band has also set records over and over for the most viewed music video in 24 hours. The most recent time they reset the record was with their single “Butter” in 2021, with 108 million views in its first day.

Along with their success in selling albums, BTS have also been included in Time's "100 Most Influential People In The World". They have also donated to charities^[3][4] and launched the Love Myself campaign^[5] which helped programs stop violence against children and teenagers.

Name

The name BTS is from Bangtan Sonyeondan (Hangul: 방탄소년단; Hanja: 防彈少年團), which is Korean for "Bulletproof Boy Scouts" and later revealed on 5th July 2017 to extend the identity as "Beyond The Scene". According to member J-Hope, the name was chosen to show the group's desire "to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets".^[6][7]

Their name in Japanese is Bōdan Shōnendan (防弾少年団), which means the same thing.^[8]

In July 2017, BTS announced that their name would also stand for "Beyond the Scene".^[9] This extended their name to mean "growing youth BTS who is going beyond the realities they are facing, and going forward".^[10]

History

We started to tell the stories that people wanted to hear and were ready to hear, stories that other people could not or would not tell. We said what other people were feeling—like pain, anxieties and worries. That was our goal, to create this empathy that people can relate to.

 —Suga^[11]

2010–2014: Formation

The CEO of Big Hit Entertainment, Bang Si-Hyuk, met with the group's leader RM and was impressed by his rapping. BTS was supposed to be like a hip hop group, but Bang decided that young people nowadays need "a hero who can lend them a shoulder to lean on, even without speaking a single word". He decided that those heroes would be the members of BTS and so the group was reorganized into a more traditional idol group.

On June 12, 2013, BTS released their album 2 Cool 4 Skool. This was a song with a single song, "No More Dream". It was not a commercial success.

In September 2014, BTS released their extended play, O!RUL8,2? (Oh! Are you late, too?) In it were songs that criticized the Korean educational system and talked about finding themselves in the world. It was more successful than their first album.

2022

In June 2022, it was announced that the group was taking time to make solo projects. Their record label confirmed that this was not a hiatus (pause).^[12]

Charity

In June 2020, BTS and Big Hit Entertainment donated US$1 million to Black Lives Matter in response to the killing of George Floyd. Their fans also raised US$1 million within 24 hours.

Members

BTS has seven members.^[13]

Stage Name	Birthname (Korean)	Birthday	Position
RM	Kim Namjoon (김남준)	09.12.1994	Leader, Main Rapper
Jin (진)	Kim Seokjin (김석진)	12.04.1992	Vocalist, Main Visual
Suga (슈가)	Min Yoongi (민윤기)	03.09.1993	Lead Rapper, Main Producer, Beatmaker
J-Hope (제이홉)	Jung Hoseok (정호석)	02.18.1994	Main Dancer, Rapper, Sub Vocalist
Jimin (지민)	Park Jimin (박지민)	10.13.1995	Lead Vocalist, Main Dancer
V (뷔)	Kim Taehyung (김태형)	12.30.1995	Vocalist, Main Visual
Jungkook (정국)	Jeon Jungkook (전정국)	09.01.1997	Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Sub Rapper, Center

Albums

BTS has released five Korean albums, six EPs and four Japanese albums.^[14]

Korean Albums

• Dark & Wild (2014)
• Wings (2016)
• Love Yourself: Tear (2018)
• Map of the Soul: 7 (2020)
• BE (2020)
• Proof (2022)

Korean EPs

• 2 Cool 4 Skool (2013)
• O!RUL8,2? (2013)
• Skool Luv Affair (2014)
• The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 (2015)
• The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2 (2015)
• Love Yourself: Her (2017)
• Map of the Soul: Persona (2019)

Japanese Albums

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