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Bangtan Sonyeondan, widely known as the global phenomenon BTS, rewrote several historic feats in 2023 despite being on a brief hiatus from group activities. As the year 2023 comes close to wrapping up, it is time to take a walk down memory lane to relive all those iconic moments when BTS paved the way.
Following the June 2022 release of their anthology album Proof, BTS offered fans a taped dinner. The idols then declared they were going to take a hiatus from group music-making to work on individual projects on June 14, 2022. In retrospect, the news wasn't shocking because BTS had been living and creating music together for the last ten years, so it was probably the right moment for them to take a breather and discover their unique tones and storylines.
However, nobody had anticipated that the seven members of the globally popular boy band would carve their respective names on the Billboard charts to the Guinness Book of World Records to get honored by the Recording Industry Association of Japan and America.
Unforgettable moments of 2023 when BTS shattered the glass ceiling and made history several times
1) Suchwita with BTS members
The BTS members experienced a lot of emotional moments with each other during the event. Fans excitedly awaited the entrances of BTS members, despite the program including many other well-known Korean superstars. RM, the BTS member who debuted in the first episode back on December 5, 2022, marked the beginning of Suchwita's journey.
In 2023, in episode 7, Jimin was the first BTS member to come as a guest on Suga's talk show on March 27, 2023, to promote his solo album FACE. Followed by Suga himself appeared as a guest on his own show in episode 9 to promote his solo record D-DAY on April 24, 2023, while Namjoon a.k.a RM was the host for that special episode.
Then, Jin appeared in episode 12 on June 10, 2023, which was a pre-filmed video since the singer had enlisted in the military in December 2022. Followed by, J-hope in episode 14 on July 19, Jungkook in episode 15 on July 29, and lastly, Taehyung aka V in episode 18 to promote Layover on September 11.
However, Jungkook appeared in episode 21 once again to promote his debut solo album GOLDEN where Taehyung made a surprise appearance in casual home shorts and crocs.
2) Jimin starts his solo career along with brand sponsorships from Tiffany & Co. and Dior
Jimin's debut album, "Face," released in March, marked the beginning of his professional life as a solo artist. The album yielded several immediately memorable music performances for listeners in addition to two big singles, Set Me Free Pt. 2 and Like Crazy, which peaked at No. 30 and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.
Jimin released a vinyl edition of FACE on October 13, 2023, and prepared a new documentary detailing the album's production process. He performed on Music Bank, Inkigayo, and Studio Choom for solo album promotion. The Like Crazy singer-songwriter became the first BTS member to grace Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show.
Earlier this year, South Korean singer, dancer, and composer Jimin—a member of the boy band BTS—was appointed by Dior as a worldwide ambassador. Jimin's new endeavor follows the release of his most recent single, Vibe, on which he collaborated with Big Bang's Taeyang, a stalwart of K-Pop. Fans are well aware of how much Jimin looks up to Taeyang, hence, a partnership between the two was another significant achievement for the FACE singer.
Right at the heel of these, Jimin was announced as Tiffany & Co.'s newest Global House ambassador in May 2023. The artist, who is well-known for his distinct style and global influence, was hailed as the ideal representative by the House Tiffany & Co. as he embarked on a new chapter in the intersection of luxury, music, art, and culture.
3) Suga releases D-DAY, announces world tour & becomes the face of VALENTINO & NBA
Suga, also known as Agust D, released his debut studio album, D-DAY, on April 21, 2023, featuring guest performances from BTS members. The album broke the previous record set by Jimin, selling 1,072,311 copies globally on its first day. It also debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200. Furthermore, "D-DAY Tour 2023" became the highest-grossing concert tour by a Korean solo artist and generated USD 57.2 million (about KRW 75.55 billion).
The fashion industry has been associating with the prominent South Korean band BTS for a while now. Suga is the newest brand ambassador for Valentino. The adored pop boy band member from BTS has joined the company's ambassador program, Di.Vas, which symbolizes Different Values.
The South Korean rapper, songwriter, producer, and member of the BTS group, has been designated an NBA Ambassador on April 6, 2023. As an NBA Ambassador, the idol engaged in the entirety of the 2022–2023 NBA season and beyond along with partaking in various league promotions.
4) JHope releases On The Street and enlists in the military
A documentary titled J-Hope in the Box, which followed the recording of his debut album and his performance at Lollapalooza, was made available internationally on Weverse and Disney+ in February 2023. In the same month, he was also named a Louis Vuitton brand ambassador.
On the Street, a joint track by J-Hope and American rapper J. Cole was released on March 3, 2023. He became the first member of BTS to crack the top 40 and the highest-charting Korean soloist in the lengthy history of the chart when the track opened at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart. The farewell song penned for his fans, On the Street also gave J-Hope his highest possible position at number 60 on the US Hot 100.
Following this, J-Hope enrolled on April 18, 2023, at an army boot camp in Wonju, Gangwon Province, beginning his 18-month assignment. After Jin enlisted in December 2022, he was the second member of the well-known K-pop group BTS to report for required military duty.
Although it was difficult for fans to say farewell and part ways with their idols, they recognized the significance of carrying out this mandated obligation for all physically fit South Korean men.
5) Take Two releases on their 10th anniversary and tops multiple charts + Bastion OST
In celebration of the 10th anniversary record-extending seventh leader on each list, a song called Take Two was released. From June 9 to June 15, 2023, the song was available for download and sold 64,000 copies globally, bringing it to the top of the Billboard Global 200 list. Furthermore, on June 15, 2023, the song surpassed 104.8 million streams on Spotify, making the band the first Korean and K-pop boy group to ever achieve this feat.
With this accomplishment, BTS became the first artist since the chart's inception in 2020 to have an original track debut at No. 1 every year. During June 9–15, Take Two also dominated the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart with 54.3 million streams and 48,000 sales outside of the United States. As a result, since the chart's debut in 2020, BTS is the only act to have held the top spot.
6) BTS releases its documentary book, docu-series, and photobook
Journalist Myeongseok Kang and the band members wrote Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS, which was translated by Anton Hur and describes the K-pop group's quick ascent to fame. The sensational autobiography is released at a time when BTS's impact is just growing.
With an eight-part documentary series called BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star, the members of BTS are sharing their 10-year journey on television, from their early days of slaving away as trainees to their rise to international pop success. On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, the first two episodes of the new limited series were released. It will only be available for streaming on Disney+.
In this new series, fans are treated to a never-before-seen behind-the-scenes film that highlights their highs and lows. The docuseries, which focuses on pivotal periods in the group's history, delves into extremely intimate moments from their past, such as their first contract renewal procedure, how they felt about meeting one other, and COVID isolation.
The group's photobook BEYOND THE STAGE: THE DAY WE MEET was issued by BTS' agency, HYBE on December 22, 2023. Moreover, the book, the docu-series, and the photobook are all interconnected chronicling the massive career history of the seven boys: Kim Namjoon aka RM, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook, and BTS in its entirety.
7) Kim Taehyung releases his solo album & becomes the face of CELINE and Cartier
Layover, the first album of BTS' well-known Kim Taehyung, commonly known by his stage name V, was released on September 8, 2023. In formal terms, the singer's first studio album is really a six-track extended play (EP). With this album, he became the first K-pop artist to appear on TimeOut's prestigious list of the "30 Best Albums of 2023," which was published on December 17, 2023. The album scored him the 19th position.
Layover became the first album by a solo K-pop artist to have every song reach 60 million plays on Spotify as of December 16, 2023. The debut solo album of Taehyung consists of five tracks: Blue, Rainy Days, Slow Dancing, Love Me Again, and For Us.
In addition, Taehyung created massive ripples in the fashion world as well as in K-pop. The K-pop sensation was appointed as the newest brand ambassador and the face of the Panthère de Cartier campaign by the luxury jewelry company Cartier, based in France earlier in 2023.
Following this, in April 2023, it was revealed that Taehyung would serve as Hedi Slimane's CELINE muse as he joined forces with CELINE to become the company's newest brand ambassador.
8) Jungkook's dominance on every music chart and award show with his solo album release GOLDEN
On September 12, 2023, Jungkook became the first male K-pop solo artist to win the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) "Song of Summer" for his song SEVEN (ft. Latto).
Furthermore, with a triple nomination for his hit summer song SEVEN (feat. Latto), Jungkook also became the most decorated Korean solo artist in the history of the MTV Europe Music Awards. He took the trophy home for Song of the Year, Best K-pop at the 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) on November 6, 2023.
The 26-year-old BTS vocalist Jungkook is the second K-pop solo artist to take home a Billboard Music Award since PSY in 2013. He received the 2023 Billboard Music Award for "Top Global K-pop Song" on November 20, 2023.
The title single, Standing Next to You, from BTS Jungkook's solo debut album GOLDEN, was released on November 3, 2023. On November 14, 2023, the song peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 main music chart. Ten of the album's tracks were included on the Billboard Global 200 as of November 14, 2023, with the tune also topping the Global 200 and Global (Excl. US) charts.
According to The Herald Corp, Jungkook's solo album GOLDEN ranked third on the UK Official Chart album list after debuting in second place on the Billboard 200. The album was also the fifth best-selling album in the US for the week, coming in at number 16 on the Billboard 200 main album chart and at number five on the Top Album Sales and Top Current Album Sales charts.
9) BTS members being recognized for solo endeavors with RIAA and RIAJ Platinum
Jimin of BTS has had phenomenal success with his first standalone single Like Crazy, going platinum in the US. The song's remarkable achievement of selling over a million copies enabled him to achieve the esteemed Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 30, 2023.
Jimin joins his bandmate Jungkook, who achieved the same honor for his solo debut song SEVEN featuring Latto on November 7, 2023.
Furthermore, Jimin also became the first Korean soloist in history to have an album recorded in a foreign language and receive an RIAJ Platinum Certification in Japan. Jungkook also earned a RIAJ Platinum certification on December 9, 2023, for his solo album GOLDEN, after Jimin.
10) Winning MAMA 2023 as a group & as solo artists despite hiatus
At the 2023 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), which took place over two nights on Tuesday, K-pop sensation BTS took home the highest prize. Held in Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, the largest annual K-pop awards event recognized the septet as the winners of the Samsung Galaxy Worldwide Icon of the Year.
Among the twenty prizes this year, the Worldwide Icon of the Year, Artist, Song, and Album of the Year are the four major categories (Daesang). The group won the Worldwide Icon of the Year title for the sixth time in a row, having first won in 2018.
Additionally, after winning Worldwide Icon Of The Year (Daesang), the group also took home the Worldwide Fans' Choice (Bonsang), the MAMA 2023 award for Best OST for their track The Planet.
In addition, as a solo artist, Jimin bagged the Best Male Artist. Jungkook won Best Collaboration for his debut solo single SEVEN featuring Latto and also the Best Dance Performance Male Solo for the same song. Furthermore, Suga took home the award for the category of Best Rap & HipHop Performance for his track People Pt.2.
11) BTS members journey beyond Spotify's Billion streams as soloists and as a group
Global phenomenon BTS became the first and only Asian artist and K-pop act to ever achieve the enormous mark of 37 billion Spotify streams across all credits on December 11, 2023.
Suga passed through the 3 billion stream benchmark on August 1, 2023, and became the first K-pop solo artist to reach over 3 billion plays, according to Spotify. Kim Taehyung surpassed over 1.9 Billion streams on Spotify across all credits as of September 1, 2023. Following this Jimin reached over 3 billion plays on Spotify across all credits on September 30, 2023.
On November 9, BTS member RM crossed the 2 billion streams mark on Spotify for all of his solo releases. In addition to breaking previous records held by his bandmates, K-pop artist Jungkook of BTS is the first solo K-pop artist and the fastest to reach 4 billion Spotify plays as of December 17, 2023.
12) BTS enlistment along with their pre-filmed upcoming projects
The seven members of the K-pop group BTS enlisted to serve their required time in the South Korean military. Millions of BTS fans, who identify as ARMY, found it to be just as distressing and heartbreaking as they had anticipated to see their favourite idols enlist in the military.
The BTS enrollment process started on December 13, 2022, when Jin, the group's eldest member, enrolled in the military training facility close to the North Korean border not long after turning thirty. Following his footsteps, J-Hope enlisted on April 18, 2023, and Suga enlisted as a social service agent as an alternative to the military due to his shoulder injury on September 22, 2023.
The group's leader RM enlisted on December 11, 2023, alongside his bandmate Taehyung, followed by Jimin and Jungkook on December 12. However, even before embarking on an unknown journey, the seven members filmed and recorded several pieces of content to be released while they serve in the armed forces till 2025.
Namjoon and Jimin's upcoming second albums are speculated to be on the roster. Taehyung's forthcoming single with American musician UMI is slated to be released on December 30, 2023. Fans are also eagerly waiting for HYBE to release the speculated travel variety show of Jungkook and Jimin, which the duo had earlier hinted at.
13) BTS songs Spring Day, No More Dreams, Outro: Tears topping charts once again
Songs from BTS' debut album 2 Cool 4 Skool (2013), followed by Love Yourself: Tear (2018), and more reappeared on several music charts for the first time since its release years ago. Remarkably, Spring Day from You Never Walk Alone (2018) album reached its highest position on the US iTunes chart on December 12, 2023, not long after RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook enlisted in the military.
Subsequently, hits like Outro: Tears from Love Yourself: Tear (2018) album of the group topped the US iTunes list on December 14, 2023. while No More Dream from their 2013 debut album 2 Cool 4 Skool topped the iTunes Chart on December 15, ten years after its release. The pattern seems to follow a well-thought-out timeline and according to various media reports, ARMY is the driving force behind their achievements.
14) BTS dominates billboard as soloists and as a group
In the history of the Billboard charts, BTS has achieved great success. With seven top 10 finishes on the Billboard 200, the group has together spent 21 weeks at the top of the Artist 100. Being the first K-pop group to accomplish so, all seven of the members of the group have individually charted in the top 10 of the Billboard Artist 100.
Each of the seven members has started their own musical solo endeavors and achieved solo Hot 100 successes after taking a brief hiatus from group activities. Jimin and Jungkook, have even gone on to become solo No. 1 hits with their respective songs, Like Crazy and Seven (with Latto).
When Chicken Noodle Soup featuring Becky G was released and peaked at No. 81 in October 2019, J-Hope became the first member of BTS to get a solo Hot 100 entry. The following artist, Suga (using the alias Agust D), released Daechwita in 2020.
Other members that followed were Taehyung aka V (Christmas Tree), Jungkook (Stay Alive), Jin (The Astronaut), Namjoon aka RM (Wild Flower ft. Youjeen), and Jimin with TAEYANG (Vibe).
Meanwhile, post the group's enlistment Spring Day peaked at No.1 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. Previously, five songs have topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts and climbed at No.1 which involves Dynamite, Life Goes On, Butter, Permission to Dance, and My Universe. While Yet To Come topped the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) topped the Billboard Global 200 list.
Bangtan Sonyeondan's seven members are currently serving in the South Korean military and are reported to reconvene in 2025 to resume group activities.
