BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys, Bulletproof Boy Scouts or Beyond The Scene, is a seven-member South Koreanboy band formed by Big Hit Entertainment. Their name in Korean - Bangtan Sonyeondan (Hangul: 방탄소년단; Hanja: 防彈少年團), and Japanese - Bōdan Shōnendan (防弾少年団), both translate to "Bulletproof Boy Scouts".
Background information
Also known as
*Bangtan Boys Bulletproof Boy Scouts
*Beyond The Scene
*Bangtan Sonyeondan
Origin Seoul, South Korea Genres
K-pop hip hop pop electronica rock R&B EDM
Years active 2013– presentLabels
Big Hit Entertainment Pony Canyon (2014–2017 in Japan)
Def Jam Japan (Japan, 2017–present)
Website bts.ibighit.com
BTSKorean 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
BTS debuted on June 13, 2013, with the song "No More Dream" from their first album called 2 Cool 4 Skool, for which they won several "New Artist of the Year" awards including those at the 2013 Melon Music Awards and Golden Disc Awards, and the 2014 Seoul Music Awards. A year after their debut, they received major bonsang awards for their subsequent albums Dark & Wild and The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1.
The band continued rising to widespread prominence with their TheMost Beautiful Moment in Life trilogy, with The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2 and The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever both debuting inside the Billboard 200. The Most Beautiful Moment In Life, Part 2 also charted at number one on the Billboard World Albums Chart and remained there for multiple weeks, making BTS the first K-pop act to achieve that feat. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Foreverwent on to win the coveted "Album of the Year" award at the 2016 Melon Music Awards. This win marked BTS's first daesang, or "grand prize", since their debut.
The group released their second full album, Wings in 2016.The album debuted at #26 on the US Billboard 200, which marked the highest chart ranking for a K-pop album ever, as well as made BTS the first K-pop act to log three entries onto the chart, and the first to spend more than one week on the chart. In their native South Korea, Wings sold 681,924 albums in its first month, breaking the record for the highest first month sale for an album in Gaon history, as well as becoming the best selling album in Gaon history thus far. The album's title track, "Blood Sweat & Tears" (Korean: 피 땀 눈물), became the group's first domestic number one hit on the Gaon Digital Chart. The group's follow up comeback and follow up title song, 'Spring Day' (Korean: 봄날) also reached number one on Gaon Digital Chart, and its corresponding album 'You Never Walk Alone' recorded over 700,000 in pre-orders alone. Wings went on to sell more than 1.5 million copies, making it BTS's first "million seller".To date, BTS's discography has sold an estimated 4 million albums worldwide.
Known for their large social media presence, BTS were listed by Forbes as the most retweeted artist on Twitter in March 2016.Following that, Twitterlaunched its first ever K-pop Twitter emoji featuring BTS.In October 2016, Billboard placed BTS as #1 on their Social 50 chart, making them the first Korean group to top the chart. To date, they have spent 35 weeks as #1 on the Social 50 chart.In 2017, BTS won a Billboard Music Award for 'Top Social Artist'.[18] Also known for their large international fanbase, having performed and sold out tours in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America and South America, BTS's performances won them the Best World Performer award in the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Just a year later, BTS went on to win the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Award for Artist of the Year.
BTS ranked #5 in Forbes magazine's Korea power celebrity list in February 2017, a list ranking Korea's most powerful and influential celebrities. In June 2017, Time magazine named the band one of the 25 Most Influential People On The Internet.
Pre-debut
BTS's 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, Rap Monsterwas already performing as an underground rapper and had released several tracks informally, including a collaboration with Zico.Jin had been a film arts student at Konkuk University 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 seven agencies after leaving auditions for Superstar K, but eventually chose Big Hit, reportedly after watching fellow member Rap Monster rap.
