BTS Details

BTS (Korean: 방탄소년단; RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band formed in Seoul in 2010. The septet co-writes and produces much of their output. Originally a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to include a wide range of genres. Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social commentary, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of school-age youth, loss, the journey towards loving oneself, and individualism. Their work features references to literature and psychological concepts and includes an alternative universe storyline.

The group formed as teenagers under Big Hit Entertainment and released their debut single album, 2 Cool 4 Skool (2013). Subsequent works—such as their first U.S. Billboard 200 entries The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2 (2015), The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever (2016), and Wings (2016)—helped establish BTS' reputation as a socially conscious group. Wings became BTS' first album to sell one million copies in South Korea. By 2017, BTS crossed into the international music market, leading the Korean Wave into the United States and breaking numerous sales records, becoming the first Korean group to receive a certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their single "Mic Drop". The band is the first Korean act to top the Billboard 200 with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018) and have since hit the top of the U.S. charts with their albums Love Yourself: Answer (2018), Map of the Soul: Persona (2019) and Map of the Soul: 7 (2020), making BTS the fastest group since the Beatles to earn four number one albums in less than two years. Love Yourself: Answer broke the South Korean Gaon Album Chart's all-time monthly record previously set by their own Love Yourself: Tear and became the first Korean album to be certified platinum in the United States.

Having sold over 20 million albums on the Gaon Music Chart, BTS are the best-selling act in South Korean history, and their album Map of the Soul: 7 is the country's best-selling album. BTS were the second best-selling artists of 2018 worldwide according to the IFPI. The group has won four Billboard Music Awards, including Top Social Artist three years in a row and Top Duo/Group. Forbes Korea named BTS the most influential Korean celebrities in 2018 and 2020, and BTS ranked 43rd in the Forbes Celebrity 100 (2019). They placed fourth on Billboard's Top Social Artist of the 2010s and 45th on their Top Touring Artists of the 2010s, the highest-ranked Asian act and the only non-English speaking act on the list. They were speakers at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly and honored as the youngest recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit from the President of South Korea. As of 2019, BTS are purportedly worth more than $4.65 billion to South Korea's economy each year, or 0.3 percent of the country's GDP, and attract one in every 13 foreign tourists that visit South Korea.