BTS or Bangtan Boys (), is a South Korean boy band made up of seven members. They were created by Big Hit Entertainment in 2013. The members include RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. The group debuted on June 13, 2013 with their EP 2 Cool 4 Skool. They have since released 5 Korean studio albums: Dark & Wild (2014); Wings (2016); Love Yourself: Tear (2018); Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) and BE (2020)

In 2015, they found success in the American charts with their fourth extended play (EP), The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2 entering the U.S Billboard 200. The group is recognized as those who led the Korean Wave into the United States and have broken several sales records, becoming the first Korean group to receive an award by the Recording Industry Association of America for their single "Mic Drop". They are the first Korean act to top the U.S Billboard 200.

Along with their success in selling albums, BTS have also been included in Time's "100 Most Influential People In The World". They have also donated to charities and launched the Love Myself campaign which helped programs stop violence against children and teenagers.

Name 
The name BTS is from Bangtan Sonyeondan (), which is Korean for "Bulletproof Boy Scouts." According to member J-Hope, the name was chosen to show the group's desire "to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets".

Their name in Japanese is , which means the same thing.

In July 2017, BTS announced that their name would also stand for "Beyond the Scene." This extended their name to mean "growing youth BTS who is going beyond the realities they are facing, and going forward."

History

2010–2014: Formation 
The CEO of Big Hit Entertainment, Bang Si-Hyuk, met with the group's leader RM and was impressed by his rapping. BTS was supposed to be like a hip hop group, but Bang decided that young people nowadays need "a hero who can lend them a shoulder to lean on, even without speaking a single word". He decided that those heroes would be the members of BTS and so the group was reorganized into a more traditional idol group.

On June 12, 2013, BTS released their album 2 Cool 4 Skool. This was a song with a single song, "No More Dream." It was not a commercial success.

In September 2014, BTS released their extended play, O!RUL8,2? (Oh! Are you late, too?) In it were songs that criticized the Korean educational system and talked about finding themselves in the world. It was more successful than their first album.

Charity 
In June 2020, BTS and Big Hit Entertainment donated US$1 million to Black Lives Matter in response to the killing of George Floyd. Their fans also raised US$1 million within 24 hours.

Members 
BTS has seven members.

Albums 
BTS has released five Korean albums, six EPs and four Japanese albums.

Korean Albums 

 Dark & Wild (2014)
 Wings (2016)
 Love Yourself: Tear (2018)
 Map of the Soul: 7 (2020)
 BE (2020)
 Butter(2021)

Korean EPs 

 2 Cool 4 Skool (2013)
 O!RUL8,2? (2013)
 Skool Luv Affair (2014)
 The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 (2015)
 The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2 (2015)
 Love Yourself: Her (2017)
 Map of the Soul: Persona (2019)

Japanese Albums 

 Wake Up (2014)
 Youth (2016)
 Face Yourself (2018)
 Map of the Soul: 7 ~The Journey~ (2020)
 BTS THE BEST (2021)

References 

South Korean boy bands
2013 establishments in Asia
2010s establishments in South Korea
K-pop music groups