BTS (boy band)

BTS is a K-pop band—an umbrella term for South Korean pop music—that achieved a worldwide following in the 2010s and 2020s. K-pop is known for exciting performances, tight harmony, and precise choreography, as well as music videos created using high production values. It is predominantly recorded and performed in Korean. BTS was the first K-pop band to top the US album charts and, in 2022, became the best-selling artist in South Korean history. The group and its fans, who are known to be extremely invested in the members and music, have a strong social media presence. In June 2022, BTS announced a break so that members of the group could fulfill their mandatory South Korean military obligations. In 2023, all seven members renewed their contracts to reunite after their military service commitment.

Background

K-pop groups developed in South Korea in much the same way as American boy bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Some comprise performers who found one another, but most were created by producers in the South Korean music industry. K-pop encompasses multiple music styles. Artists borrow from hip-hop, Rhythm & Blues, soul, euro-pop, and dubstep, among other genres. In addition to the boy bands, K-pop includes girl groups, rappers, and solo artists.

K-pop agencies sign hundreds of aspiring performers. Agency contracts average seven years, during which trainees develop their singing and dancing through hours of practice and coaching, often while continuing to attend school. Every month the agency evaluates trainees for talent, ability to work as a group, and how to cope with the demands of training and fame. The latter includes staying out of trouble. Trainees can accept jobs such as modeling or commercials, so long as they follow the agency’s rules. Once they are put in a group, each member will have a main job, such as lead singer or rapper and main dancer. One member, who is the most attractive, is the group’s visual, while the most popular is dubbed the face of the group. The leader is usually the oldest or the member who has trained the longest. The youngest is called the maknae.

K-pop debuted nationally in South Korea on April 11, 1992, when a musical trio, Seo Taiji and Boys, performed on the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. The group combined hip-hop and New Jack Swing music, which was mostly unknown among young South Koreans. Several years later, the first manufactured groups, known as idol groups, were created by a company, SM Entertainment. H.O.T. was another boy band, while S.E.S. was the first idol girl group.

The golden age of K-pop began in 2008 with the Motown-inspired girl group Wonder Girls, who put Korean pop on the radar of the US music industry. Their song “Nobody” was the first K-pop single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, American rapper Lil’ Kim collaborated with soloist SE7EN on the song “Girls.”

BTS arose as part of the so-called third generation of K-pop groups, when the idol industry created and developed multiple successful groups. BTS was created in 2013. Its seven members—Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—are from various parts of South Korea. Unlike traditional K-pop artists, whose music focuses almost exclusively on relationships, their debut single was critical of the country’s demanding education system.

The worldwide popularity of K-pop is largely due to social media and music streaming. Awareness of the music spread to other countries thanks to YouTube and other sites, where music was shared. BTS became known for their tightly choreographed and polished music videos, which were posted on social media.

Overview

The oldest member of BTS, Jin, was born in 1992. The youngest, Jungkook, was born in 1997. All seven were teens when they began performing together. K-pop agencies scouted Jin. Jungkook competed on Superstar K, an audition television program. Although he did not make it past the preliminary round, seven entertainment agencies tried to recruit him. J-Hope was a prize-winning competitive dancer before he auditioned for the Big Hit music label. SUGA came in second in Big Hit Entertainment’s audition competition, Hit It, and was signed. Jimin attended a Big Hit audition, as did V, although the latter was only accompanying a friend and auditioned at the urging of a staff member. The agency signed RM on the recommendation of rapper Sleepy.

After spending time as trainees, the seven young men were put together as part of Big Hit’s pivot in K-pop creation. Revenue was sagging, and the entire company brainstormed to find a solution. The team believed that although social media should bring people together, it seemed to isolate people more. Big Hit decided to create a group to meet the need to inspire and make connections with fans. BTS was their answer. BTS stands for a Korean phrase, Bangtan Sonyeondan, which translates in English to "Bulletproof Boy Scouts." More than previous K-pop idol groups, the members engage daily with fans online. Devoted fans, known as “stans,” receive alerts through a Big Hit app whenever new content is posted or when an artist begins live-streaming.

Western music fans became aware of BTS largely through social media and the group’s appearances on television programs. They first performed for a national US audience in 2017 at the Billboard Music Awards when they took the award for top social artist of the year, a measure of social media fan interaction. In 2018, they were again named the top social artist and performed.

In its music, BTS has addressed social and personal issues such as bullying and mental health. The group addressed the United Nations in 2018 and again in 2020, when it delivered a message of hope during the global COVID-19 pandemic, urging people to care for one another.

The influence of K-pop and BTS, in particular, became obvious in 2020. While the United States and other countries saw multiple protests after the police killing of George Floyd in May, stans stood against racial injustice. For example, when people began posting #WhiteLivesMatter on Twitter, stans hijacked the hashtag to post videos and GIFs of favorite artists and antiracism messages.

The global reach of K-pop is evident in BTS’s social media accounts. As of 2021, the official BTS YouTube channel had more than 49 million subscribers. By the mid-2020s, that number had risen to over 77 million. In 2021 the group’s official Twitter account had 29.5 million followers, while its Instagram had more than 41 million followers. More than 32 million people followed their TikTok account. Again, these numbers continued to rise throughout the decade, with over 73 million subscribers on Instagram and over 63 million on TikTok.

BTS is a valuable enterprise. Experts estimate its impact on South Korea’s gross domestic product is about $4.9 billion annually. In 2019, more than 97 percent of Big Hit’s revenue was generated by BTS. By the 2020s, economists suggested that BTS added over $5 billion dollars to the South Korean economy each year.

In 2020, BTS was nominated for a Grammy Award for the first time. (Love Yourself: Tear was nominated in 2019 for Best Recording Package, which refers to the visual look of an album.) BTS did not win the Best Pop Duo/Group performance award. They did, however, become the first Korean act to perform at the Grammys that year. In February, the group released their fourth album, Map of the Soul: 7. It was soon followed by the album Be, also released in 2020.

The following year, BTS was named the 2020 Global Recording Artist of the Year by IFPI. The group later released several singles, including "Butter" in May 2021, "Permission to Dance" in July 2021, and "My Universe" with Coldplay in September 2021, all of which were English-language songs. "Butter" was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2022. However, it did not ultimately win. BTS earned three Grammy nominations the following year: Best Music Video for "Yet To Come," Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "My Universe," and Album of the Year for their appearance on Coldplay's Music of the Spheres.

In June 2022, BTS announced a pause in their music career so that the members could complete their mandatory South Korean military service. At the same time, several members pursued solo projects. The seven members of the band committed to reuniting in 2025.

Despite their break as a group, BTS still released several films from their previous tours, including BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage—LA (2022) and BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas (2023). They also released the soundtrack to an animated South Korean program in 2023. In 2023, all seven members renewed their contracts.

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