Jungkook

Jungkook
Jeon Jung-kook (born September 1, 1997), also known mononymously as Jungkook (stylized as Jung Kook), is a South Korean singer. He rose to prominence as a member and vocalist of the South Korean boy band BTS. He has performed three solo songs as part of BTS' discography— "Begin" in 2016, "Euphoria" in 2018, and "My Time" in 2020—all of which charted on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart. He also recorded the soundtrack song "Stay Alive" for the BTS-based webtoon 7Fates: Chakho.
In 2022, Jungkook featured on American singer Charlie Puth's single "Left and Right", which peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, he became the first South Korean artist to release an official song for the FIFA World Cup soundtrack with "Dreamers", which he subsequently performed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony. In 2023, Jungkook released his debut solo single "Seven" featuring Latto, which broke streaming and chart records, debuting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the Global 200, and the Global Excl. US charts, making him the first Korean solo artist to do so. "Seven" also later became the fastest song in Spotify history to surpass 1 billion streams on the platform. His follow-up single "3D", featuring Jack Harlow, debuted at number five on both the Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, making Jungkook the first South Korean solo artist to achieve two consecutive top-five entries on the latter.
Early life and education
Jeon Jung-kook was born on September 1, 1997, in Busan, South Korea. His family consists of his parents and an elder brother. He attended Baekyang Elementary and Middle School in Busan. When he became a trainee, he transferred to Singu Middle School in Seoul.
In 2011, Jungkook auditioned for the South Korean talent show Superstar K during its auditions in Daegu. Though he was not selected, he received casting offers from seven entertainment companies. He eventually chose to become a trainee under Big Hit Entertainment after seeing RM, now his fellow band member and leader in BTS, perform. To work on his dance skills in preparation for his debut, he went to Los Angeles during the summer of 2012 to receive dance training from Movement Lifestyle. In June 2012, he appeared in Jo Kwon's "I'm Da One" music video and also worked as a backup dancer for Glam before his debut.
He graduated from School of Performing Arts Seoul, an arts high school, in 2017. In November 2016, he decided to forgo taking the CSATs, Korea's nationwide university entrance exam. In March 2022, he received his degree from Global Cyber University's Department of Broadcasting and Entertainment. He was awarded the President's Award, the school's highest honor.
Career
2013–present: BTS
On June 12, 2013, Jungkook made his debut as a member of BTS with the release of the single 2 Cool 4 Skool. Under BTS, he has sung three solo songs. The first, a pop track titled "Begin", from the 2016 album Wings, tells his story of moving to Seoul at a young age to become an idol and expresses his gratitude towards his bandmates for taking care of him during that time. The second, a future bass song titled "Euphoria", was released with an accompanying nine-minute short film on April 5, 2018, as the introduction to the third part of BTS' "Love Yourself" series. Produced by DJ Swivel, the song charted at number five on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100. Its full studio version was included on BTS' Love Yourself: Answer compilation album, released on August 24. The third solo, "My Time", off the band's 2020 studio album Map of the Soul: 7, is an R&B song about forgoing teenage experiences because of his career, and charted at number 84 on the US Billboard Hot 100. "Euphoria" and "My Time" are the first and second longest-charting solo tracks among K-pop singers on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, having spent a record 90 and 85 weeks respectively on the ranking.
Aside from singing, Jungkook has also helped produce two songs for BTS: "Love is Not Over", from the band's 2015 extended play (EP) The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1, and "Magic Shop", from the band's 2018 album Love Yourself: Tear—he is credited as the main producer for both tracks.
In October 2018, Jungkook was ordained alongside his bandmates with the fifth-class Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit by the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in. He was appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture, again alongside his bandmates, by Moon in July 2021, in order to help "lead the global agenda for future generations" and "expand South Korea's diplomatic efforts and global standing" in the international community.
2015–present: Solo activities
In September 2015, Jungkook participated in the "One Dream, One Korea" campaign, taking part in a song collaboration alongside various Korean artists in memory of the Korean War. The song was released on September 24 and presented at the One K Concert in Seoul on October 15. The following year, Jungkook was cast in the pilot episode of Flower Crew. He also appeared on Celebrity Bromance, and competed on King of Mask Singer under the name "Fencing Man", appearing in episode 72. On November 6, 2018, Jungkook collaborated with American singer Charlie Puth for a special duet performance of the latter's "We Don't Talk Anymore" single at the MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards. He released the self-produced song "Still With You" for free on SoundCloud on June 4, 2020, as part of BTS' annual debut anniversary celebrations.
In February 2022, Jungkook sang the soundtrack for 7Fates: Chakho, a new BTS-based webtoon. Titled "Stay Alive" and produced by bandmate Suga, the song earned Jungkook his first solo entry on the Hot 100 with its debut at number 95, and his first solo top-ten entry on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S chart at number eight; it also became the first Korean soundtrack in history to debut on the UK Singles Chart, at number 89. He released another self-produced song, "My You", for free on June 12 as part of BTS' ninth anniversary celebrations, and appeared as a featured artist on the single "Left and Right" by Puth later that month. On November 20, Jungkook released the single "Dreamers" ahead of his performance at the opening ceremony for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar later that same day; the single was included on the tournament's official soundtrack album. He headlined the event at Al Bayt Stadium, performing the song with Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi; he is the first Korean artist to sing an official theme for the World Cup and perform at an opening ceremony for the event.
Jungkook was announced as the newest global ambassador for Calvin Klein in March 2023. "Still With You" and "My You" were made available on streaming services worldwide as official singles under Jungkook's name on July 3. His debut solo single "Seven", featuring American rapper Latto, was released on July 14. It debuted at number one on the Hot 100, the Global 200, and the Global Excl. US charts, making him the first Korean solo artist to simultaneously top all three charts and the second—after Jimin—to debut atop the Hot 100. Jungkook performed as a headliner at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York City on September 23. His second solo single, "3D", featuring Jack Harlow, was released on September 29. It debuted at number five on both the Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, making Jungkook the first Korean solo artist to earn two top-five singles on the latter. The collaboration single "Too Much", with the Kid Laroi and Central Cee, followed in October. "Too Much" debuted at number 10 in the UK, making Jungkook the first Korean solo artist to achieve three top-10 singles in UK chart history. His debut solo album Golden and a third single, "Standing Next to You", will be released on November 3.
Artistry
Voice and musical style
Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt describes Jungkook as "an extraordinarily soulful tenor". Kim Min-sook, writing for the Korean music website Reputation, described his voice as "soft" and suitable to sentimental songs, also praising his ability to keep a stable intonation even while dancing, while Mary Siroky of Consequence observed that he "has the kind of clear, dexterous voice built for pop music". Music critic Kim Young-dae considers Jungkook's vocal performance to be the strong point of BTS songs such as "Danger", "Butterfly", "Autumn Leaves", and "Lost", as well as his solo song "Euphoria", commenting that his voice is "specially notable, for both the techniques and his detailed, expressive capacity that attributes a lot [of] narrative to ordinary notes". In 2023, Rolling Stone named Jungkook to their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, calling him "an extremely gifted singer" who "hits high notes with ease and harmonizes with his [BTS] members effortlessly, always giving his audience new ad-libs and unexpected vocal riffs to keep things interesting".
Influences
Jungkook has cited Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, and Usher as some of his musical inspirations.
Impact and influence
In a 2019 survey conducted by Gallup Korea, Jungkook ranked as the third most-loved celebrity of the year in South Korea. He debuted on the list in 2016 at 20th, placing 17th in 2017 and eighth in 2018. Jungkook placed first for 10 consecutive weeks on magazine Hi Chinas list of the most beloved celebrities in China in 2018. Various artists have cited him as an influence and role model, such as Kim Dong-han and Hyeongseop X Euiwoong.
Jungkook was the most-searched male K-pop idol on Google in the first half of 2019, topping the chart again in the following year, and the most searched K-pop idol on YouTube in 2019 and 2020. On Tumblr, he ranked first on the "Top K-Pop Stars" list for three consecutive years. On Twitter, his tweets were the most retweeted of 2018 in South Korea and 2019 globally, and second-most retweeted of 2020 globally. Jungkook also set all-time records for the most real-time livestream viewers in V Live history twice, the first time in October 2018 with 3.7 million viewers and again in March 2021 with 22 million viewers.
Jungkook earned the nickname "Sold Out King" from media outlets, as items that he is seen using often sell out quickly. These include shoes, Downy fabric softener, wine, novels (namely I Decided to Live as Me by Kim Soo-hyun, which became a best-seller in both Korea and Japan), and Hanbok. Korean media credited Jungkook with the creation of the "Modern Hanbok" fashion trend in the Korean entertainment industry when celebrities such as Jun Hyun-moo, Jang Do-yeon, Gong Hyo-jin, MC Oh Seung-hwan and The Return of Supermans Park Joo-ho began wearing similar clothing after he was photographed wearing it.
In June 2021, a lawmaker of the Justice Party used photos of Jungkook to promote the legalization of tattoos in South Korea. The posts were widely condemned by netizens, who accused the lawmaker of taking advantage of Jungkook's fame for political purposes. That same year, images of Jungkook were posted by Mayor John Geesnell Yap of Tagbilaran, Philippines to convince citizens to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Hollywood Reporter named Jungkook in its inaugural "Platinum Players of Music" list, published in September 2023, as one of the top 25 musicians that "defined the year in music."
Personal life
Since 2018, Jungkook has lived in Hannam-dong, Seoul, South Korea with his bandmates. In July 2019, he purchased an apartment in Yongsan District, Seoul worth ₩4 billion, which he gifted to his older brother in December 2020. As of July 2021, Jungkook's net worth was estimated to be US$20 million.
Religion
Jungkook's father is Christian and his mother is Buddhist, but he has stated that he has no particular religious affiliation.
Health
In 2017, Jungkook collapsed during a BTS concert in Chile. During the band's Love Yourself World Tour in 2018, he suffered a heel injury which prevented him from participating in choreography. He did not withdraw from the subsequent European leg of the tour, but sang while seated.
In November 2019, Jungkook was involved in a car accident with a taxi. Neither party suffered any major injuries, and both reached an amicable settlement.
Philanthropy
Jungkook donated to Seoul National University Children's Hospital in April 2023 for treatment expenses of patients from low-income families and the hospital's integrated care center.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Other charted songs
Other songs
Writing and production credits
All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's (KOMCA) database, unless otherwise noted.
Filmography
Directing credits
Music videos
Television
Jungkook appeared in a short film titled BTS Wings Short Film #1 Begin, released in September 2016 in promotion of BTS' fourth studio album Wings.
Awards and nominations
World records
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
1997 births
Living people
Singers from Busan
South Korean male singers
South Korean pop singers
South Korean singer-songwriters
South Korean male idols
South Korean tenors
BTS members
MTV Video Music Award winners
21st-century South Korean male musicians
Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (South Korea)
Japanese-language singers of South Korea
English-language singers from South Korea
South Korean child singers
School of Performing Arts Seoul alumni
South Korean male singer-songwriters
Hybe Corporation artists