BTS Band is arguably the most popular band in world history (with Beatles lagging behind) and has the most dedicated 40 million-strong group of fans and followers known as the ARMY (short for “Adorable Representative MC For Youth”). Their music, performance, and radiant appearances have paved the way for many awards, musical records, and unprecedented achievements.
10. Origin of the Name
The most popular boy band group: BTS is short for Bangtan Sonyeondan. For those who are not fluent in Korean, this means “bulletproof Boy Scouts”. Sometimes the group is called “The Bangtan Boys”, however, the abbreviation BTS is the most popular name globally.
9. Is a Grammy Award Possible For The BTS Band?
No Korean pop artist/s has won the Grammy Award yet, however, BTS has been nominated for the prize on several occasions – amongst which are the nominations for Best Pop Group Performance, Best Video, and Record of the Year. If this Award is to fall in Korean hands, BTS seems the most likely candidate.
8. Official Praise Statistics
BTS has won some 483 awards, had 692 nominations to date and 152 music wins to date (December 2023). The band is running strong in 2023 in spite of the military service obligations for the boys in the group. The latest win for BTS was the group being coined “The most viewed male act for 2023” on the social media platform TikTok.
7. The Origin of the Band
The “father” of BTS band is songwriter and music producer Bang Si-Hyuk. Having launched his own studio in 2005, he started recruiting talent for a boy band in 2010. Eventually, the seven-strong BTS made their debut in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment.
6. Record Breaking Group
The BTS band has more than a few Guinness World Records to their name. In 2018 they became the first K-pop group to reach Number 1 on Billboard 200 with their album Love Yourself: Tear. They won the “Highest Annual Earnings Record” in 2020.
According to Forbes the group earned USD 50 million just for that year. On April 22, 2022, BTS broke the Guinness World Record for the group with most followers on Instagram, dethroning One Direction.
On October 25, 2023, the last album Map of the Soul: 7 became the first K-Pop album to top sales of one million physical copies in the US. In total the most popular boy-band group: BTS holds 25 Guinness World Records until today.
5. Going in the Army (not the fans group)
At the peak of his career, on December 12, 2023, BTS band member Jimin enlisted for military service. He was joined by Jung Kook. In November 2023, BIGHIT Music disclosed that the RM and V have also started their military enlistment process. Jin has already started his military service in 2022 and Suga and J-Hope enlisted earlier in 2023.
All seven Bangtan Sonyeondan members have stated that they will dully serve their military obligations. Such is the requirement for all Korean able-bodied men aged 18 to 28. Previously the Parliament of South Korea had passed a bill enabling BTS to delay their military service until aged 30. Now, already in the army, with a news video interview, BTS urges their fans not to show up on military bases.
4. Solo Careers
All of the Bangtan Sonyeondan members have embarked on solo projects. Here are some of the more prominent ones over the years: RM, who is the untitled leader of the band was the first to release 11 tracks back in 2015. Suga followed suit and in 2016 released Agust D. Then it was J-Hope’s turn who release Hope World in 2018.
In 2020 Suga launched his mixtape D-2. Jack in the Box was the 2022 solo album of J-Hope. Jin and Coldplay released “The Astronaut” in October 2022 – a song that is the result of brilliant collaborations between British and Korean pop artists. The Football World Cup in 2022 in Qatar was kicked off with Jung Kook’s solo track “Dreamers”. In it he is accompanied by Qatari artist Fahad Al-Kubaisi. March 2023, brought us Jimin’s solo album FACE.
The latest installment of Blizzard’s Diablo in 2023 enjoyed the support of Suga, who launched the dark gothic “Lilith (the Diablo IV Anthem)” with Halsey. V released his debut solo album “Layover” in September 2023. Jung Kook was the last to release his solo album in November 2023, titled “Golden”. Sadly this was the last solo project released prior to all of the boys joining the military in mid-December 2023.
3. The Economics Of BTS
BTS is not only popular, it is actually a Korean national treasure. The term “Bangtan economy” comes into circulation in order to emphasize the huge contribution of the band to Korean culture and economy. According to a Hyundai Research Institute study from 2019, the BTS contribution to the Korean economy topped USD 4.9 Billion annually.
Further, the Institute predicted that for the decade between 2014 and 2023 BTC will bring USD 50 billion to its home country. Tourism has also benefited from the boys. The Korea Tourism Organization has disclosed that tourism to sites related to the group has helped the overall tourist industry in Korea to recover from the pandemic.
The influence of the group on retail is also heavy. The yearly influence on sales of clothing is estimated to be in the range of USD 2 billion, for cosmetics – USD 2.8 billion, for foodstuffs – USD 4 billion for 2019 (the year of the research) alone. Since then the group’s influence has only grown.
The major export potential of BTS is evident from the group’s video views on YouTube – the leading countries by number of views are Japan with 918 million for 2023, and India with 778 million.
2. Before it all Began
We all know what the boys from the BTS band have achieved today. But it is not very popular what they did before joining the group. Here is some history: Before becoming RM (short for Rap Monster) Kim Nam-joon (as is his real name) was an underground rapper performing under the name of Runch. Suga (Min Yoon-gi) was also a rapper under the pseudonym Gloss. J-Hope (Jung Ho-seok) prior to becoming the third member of BTS was a dancer.
The remaining 4 from the band were all studying in various art schools, from where they were recruited into the band. Jin (Kim Seok-jin) was studying filmmaking. Jungkook astonished all with his singing in a reality show when he was just 14. V (Kim Tae-hyung) is a saxophone player. Jimin auditioned for the group directly from high school (under the advice of his teacher), thus becoming the last member to join the band. When Big Hit brought all this talent together, there was only one outcome possible – success.
1. Social Responsibility of BTS
BTS are not only pop-icons. Their campaign together with UNICEF “Love Myself” has been a huge success. It promotes non-violence and increased self-esteem for youngsters around the world.
Don’t forget to read more articles here.
Economist, former CEO of a financial services company, current sustainability director of a large EU IT company, nature lover, gardener, traveler
