South Korea’s The Bangtan Boys or BTS debuted on June 13, 2013, with their release No More Dream. The Big Hit Entertainment seven-member group is considered the best-selling South Korean act in history. Their songs even broke the Top 200- Billboard list in the United States. The act is extremely popular around the world mostly due to their heavy social presence on social media.

The members include Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, Jungkook, and RM. Jin was born in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea and went to Hanyang Cyber University where he majored in film. He is the oldest member of the group.

Suga whose full name is Min Yoon Gi is the lead rapper. Each member of a South Korean group has a specific role. As the lead rapper, Suga is subordinate to the eldest member Jin. Most groups have the same hierarchy.

J-Hope chose this stage name instead of his given name Jung Ho Seok. He wants to be a source of hope to his fans. He is the main dancer and also a rapper and sub-vocalist for the group.

Jimin is a main dancer but he is also a lead vocalist. His real name is Park Ji Min. V’s real name is Kim Tae Hyung. He is a vocalist and lead dancer as well as what is called a visual. This means he is considered the most good-looking in the band. He has the special honor of being the public spokesperson for the group.

Jungkook or Jeon Jeong-guk is another main vocalist, lead dancer, and sub-rapper. He is also the maknae or youngest member of the band. RM is a rapper and used to be called Rap Monster. Now he goes by Real Me and uses the same acronym.

RM and Suga were, according to a Quora discussion, once underground rappers. They were scouted and discovered by Big Hit Entertainment. J-Hope was part of an underground dance team. He auditioned for another group before being discovered by Big Hit.

Jungkook originally made an appearance on the talent show Superstar K. This led him to being scouted. Jin originally got into acting only to be placed into the group for his singing. V auditioned himself. Jimin was encouraged by a teacher to audition for several entertainment companies. He passed the audition with Big Hit.

BTS decided in 2017 to alter their acronym. Their full name comes from the Korean term Bangtan Sonyeodan or Bulletproof Boy Scouts. Now they are called Beyond the Scene.

They won many New Artist of the Year awards such as the Seoul Music Awards in 2014 and the Golden Disc and Melon Music Awards. In the United States, their second album Wings made number 26 in the Billboard 200. This is the highest chart rank for any K-pop artist ever.

They have become a worldwide phenomenon which is fast making K-pop the biggest music trend to come along since the British Invasion with the Beatles many decades ago. They thrill fans everywhere and are a popular topic on every social media platform and bts merchandise store.