Park Ji-min (: 박지민) was born on October 13, 1995 in , , South Korea. His immediate family includes his mother, father, and a younger brother. When he was a child, he attended Busan's Hodong Elementary School and Yonsan Middle School. During middle school, he attended Just Dance Academy and learned popping and locking dance.[] Prior to becoming a trainee, Jimin studied contemporary dance at Busan High School of Arts and was a top student in the modern dance department. After a teacher suggested he audition with an entertainment company, it led him to . Once he passed the auditions in 2012, he transferred to , graduating in 2014.
Jimin graduated from Global Cyber University in August 2020, with a major in Broadcasting and Entertainment. As of 2021, he is enrolled at , pursuing a in Advertising and Media.
2013–present: BTS
On June 13, 2013, Jimin made his debut as a member of with the release of the single "No More Dream". In the group, Jimin holds the position of vocalist and dancer. Under BTS, he has released three solo songs: "Lie", "", and "Filter". "Lie" was released in 2016, as part of the group's second Korean studio album, . It was described as stunning and dramatic, conveying dark undertones and emotions that helped reflect the overall concept of the album. In contrast, "Serendipity", released on the (2017) (EP), was soft and sensual, unraveling the joy, conviction, and curiosity of love. "Filter", from the group's 2020 studio album, , was very different from its predecessor, with a distinct -esque flair and lyrics that reflected on the different sides of himself that Jimin shows to the world and those around him.
"Serendipity" and "Lie" both surpassed fifty million streams on in 2018, followed shortly thereafter by the former's full length version from BTS' (2018) compilation album, which achieved the milestone in early 2019. With this, Jimin set a new record as the only Korean artist to have three solo tracks accumulate over 50 million streams each—previously was the only Korean artist to ever cross the 50 million streams mark with "" (2012) and "" (2013). Both songs were also the only solos by a BTS member included in the 's list of the top 20 most streamed BTS songs in the United Kingdom as of October 2018, ranking at number 17 and 19 respectively. In April 2019, the list was expanded to reflect the top 40, and both tracks ranked at numbers 18 and 20 respectively, the highest of five solo songs included that year.
In May 2019, Jimin became the first BTS member to have a solo music video achieve 100 million views on with "Serendipity". It was the nineteenth BTS music video overall to achieve the milestone. He was the only BTS member with multiple solo songs in the January 2020 update of the Official Chart's top 40 list. "Lie" and "Serendipity" were the second and third most-streamed solos at numbers 24 and 29, behind only "" by Jungkook at number 19. "Serendipity"'s full length version debuted at number 38, behind "Intro: Boy Meets Evil" by at number 35 but ahead of "Trivia: Seesaw" by at number 39. In February, "Filter" set a record for the biggest streaming debut among all Korean songs on Spotify with over 2.2 million streams in its first 24 hours of release, and went on to become the fastest Korean solo in the platform's history to surpass 20–60 million streams. It is also the first and only solo BTS b-side track to receive a Song of The Year nomination at the . In March 2021, it became BTS' 15th song to spend a full year on Billboard's chart. "Filter" is the longest-charting Korean song released in 2020, and has spent 74 weeks on the ranking as of the August 28, 2021 issue.
Jimin was awarded the fifth-class Hwagwan in 2018 by the , , along with other members of BTS for their contributions to the promotion of Korean culture. In July 2021, President Moon appointed him , along with the other members of BTS, to help "lead the global agenda for future generations, such as sustainable growth" and "expand South Korea's diplomatic efforts and global standing" in the international community.
2014–present: Solo work
In 2014, Jimin collaborated with fellow BTS member and vocalist on a song called "Christmas Day", a Korean rendition of 's ""—the Korean lyrics were written by Jimin himself. The two collaborated again in 2017 for a cover of American singer 's "" (2016), with Jimin singing the parts of who featured on the original with Puth. Jungkook had previously released a solo version of the song earlier that year in February, and the two prepared the duet as a special gift to the band's fandom, releasing it on June 2 during BTS' fourth anniversary celebrations. Commenting on Jimin's appearance on the track, Teen Vogue wrote that "adding Jimin's voice to the mix makes the rendition all the more lovely". Canadian outlet magazine also praised his rendition saying, "...no shade, Selena—it honestly might be better than the original".Elite Daily described the cover as "nothing short of flawless".
Jimin appeared on several variety shows such as , , and God's Workplace in 2016. He also served as a special MC on domestic music programs such as and . In December, he participated in a dance duet at the with from .
On December 30, 2018, Jimin released his first solo song outside of BTS releases, "Promise", for free on BTS' page. On January 3, 2019, the platform announced that "Promise" had surpassed the record set by Drake's "Duppy Freestyle" for the biggest 24-hour debut in history. Described by as a "mellow ", the song was composed by Jimin and Big Hit producer Slow Rabbit, who also produced the track, and features lyrics written by Jimin and fellow BTS member . On December 24, 2020, Jimin released his second solo song "Christmas Love", a song about his childhood memories of the holidays.
ArtistryJimin performing "" at the 2016 .
Jimin's vocals have been described as delicate and sweet. He is regarded as an exceptional dancer among the members of the group and in K-pop in general. Noelle Devoe of wrote that he is often praised for his "smooth and elegant movements" as well as his charm on stage. In the BTS documentary , Jimin said he thinks of himself as a perfectionist and that even the smallest mistakes on stage make him feel guilty and stressed.
He has cited singer as one of his inspirations and reasons why he wanted to become both a singer and performer.
Impact and influence
In 2016, Jimin was ranked as the 14th most popular idol in an annual survey conducted by . He ranked 7th in 2017, before ranking 1st consecutively in 2018 and 2019. Jimin is the only idol to top the survey for two consecutive years. In 2018, Jimin was the ninth most-tweeted about celebrity and the eighth most-tweeted about musician in the world. He was picked as the seventeenth best boyband member in history by . From January to May 2018, Jimin won the monthly Peeper x Billboard Award for "Top K-Pop Artist – Individual". Peeper x Billboard is a collaboration between the Peeper social media app and that collects fan votes for their favorite K-pop artists and announces monthly winners. The prize was a donation to the charity in his name. , a British influencer, got 18 surgeries costing up to 150k to look like him.
In 2019, he received a plaque of appreciation from the Cultural Conservation Society for performing , a traditional Korean fan dance, during the and helping spread the dance outside of Korea. As of 2021, Jimin has become the first idol to top the brand reputation ranking for individual boy group idols for 34 consecutive months.
Philanthropy
From 2016 to 2018, Jimin supported graduates of Busan Hodong Elementary School, his alma mater, by covering uniform expenses. After news of the school's closing was released, he donated summer and winter middle school uniforms to the final graduates and gifted autographed albums to the entire student body. In early 2019, Jimin donated 100 million (US$88,000) to the Busan Department of Education to help support lower income students. Of the total, ₩30 million ($23,000) went to his alma mater, Busan Arts High School. In July 2020, he donated another ₩100 million, this time to the Jeonnam Future Education Foundation, for the creation of a scholarship fund for talented but financially struggling students from South Jeolla Province. In July 2021, Jimin donated ₩100 million to , to help polio patients. As with previous donations, the benefaction was made privately, but the news became public in September, when the Go-seong Rotary Club displayed a banner thanking him for the donation. On October 12, 2021, Jimin was announced as a member of the Green Noble Club, a group of major donors to the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation who have made donations of ₩100 million or more.
