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THE GROUP'S NAME, BTS, STANDS FOR THE KOREAN EXPRESSION BANGTAN SONYEONDAN
(방탄소년단) LITERALLY MEANING "BULLETPROOF BOY SCOUTS". ACCORDING TO MEMBER J-HOPE, THE NAME SIGNIFIES THE GROUP'S DESIRE "TO BLOCK OUT STEREOTYPES, CRITICISMS, AND EXPECTATIONS THAT AIM ON ADOLESCENTS LIKE BULLETS".
IN JULY 2017, BTS ANNOUNCED THAT THEIR NAME WOULD ALSO STAND FOR "BEYOND THE SCENE" AS PART OF THEIR NEW BRAND IDENTITY. THIS EXTENDED THEIR NAME TO MEAN "GROWING YOUTH BTS WHO IS GOING BEYOND THE REALITIES THEY ARE FACING, AND GOING FORWARD."
DEBUT - NEW ARTIST
BTS FIRST BEGAN ITS FORMATION IN 2010 AFTER BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT CEO BANG SI-HYUK MET WITH GROUP LEADER RM AND WAS IMPRESSED WITH HIS RAPPING. BTS WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO BE A HIP HOP GROUP, BUT BETWEEN THEIR INITIAL FORMATION AND THEIR DEBUT BANG SI-HYUK DECIDED THAT THE CONTEMPORARY YOUTH NEEDED INSTEAD "A HERO WHO CAN LEND THEM A SHOULDER TO LEAN ON, EVEN WITHOUT SPEAKING A SINGLE WORD". THE GROUP WAS MEANT TO DEBUT IN 2011 AND FEATURED ON SEVERAL TRACKS BY ARTISTS SUCH AS 2AM AND LEE SEUNG-GI BEFORE THEIR DEBUT WAS POSTPONED AND THE GROUP WAS REORGANIZED INTO A MORE TRADITIONAL IDOL GROUP. THE LINEUP WAS THEN FINALIZED WITH JIN, SUGA, J-HOPE, RM, JIMIN, V, AND JUNGKOOK IN 2012. SIX MONTHS PRIOR TO THEIR DEBUT, THEY BEGAN TO GAIN ATTENTION FOR THEIR PRESENCE ON VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITES, AS WELL AS SONG COVERS ON YOUTUBE AND SOUNDCLOUD.
PEAK OF HIGH SUCCESS
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT IN LIFE, PART 1 AND PART 2 WERE LATER COMBINED INTO THE YOUNG FOREVER (2016) EDITION AND WAS SUPPORTED BY THREE SINGLES: THE TOP 40 HIT "EPILOGUE: YOUNG FOREVER", THE TOP 10 HIT "FIRE", AND THE TOP 20 HIT "SAVE ME". A TWO-DAY CONCERT AT THE OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS ARENA IN SEOUL WAS HELD IN MAY TO SUPPORT THE ALBUM, FOLLOWED BY THEIR ASIA TOUR. THE GROUP ALSO HEADLINED BOTH US KCON SHOWS HELD THAT YEAR IN NEW JERSEY (JUNE) AND LOS ANGELES (JULY), TO SOLD OUT AUDIENCES.YOUNG FOREVER LATER WON ALBUM OF THE YEAR AT THE YEAR-END MELON MUSIC AWARDS, BECOMING THE GROUP'S FIRST MAJOR GRAND PRIZE (DAESANG). IT ALSO ENTERED THE U.S. BILLBOARD 200, THEIR FIRST ALBUM TO DO SO.
ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2016, BTS RELEASED THEIR SECOND JAPANESE STUDIO ALBUM YOUTH, SELLING OVER 44,000 COPIES ON ITS FIRST DAY OF RELEASE AND RANKING NUMBER ONE IN JAPAN. JAPANESE EDITIONS OF "I NEED U" AND "RUN" WERE RELEASED AS SINGLES. MEANWHILE, BACK IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY, PRE-ORDERS FOR THE GROUP'S SECOND KOREAN STUDIO ALBUM, WINGS, RELEASED THAT OCTOBER, ACCUMULATED OVER 500,000 COPIES WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK. THE LEAD SINGLE "BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS" ACHIEVED AN "ALL-KILL" IN SOUTH KOREA, BECOMING THEIR FIRST NUMBER ONE HIT ON THE WEEKLY GAON DIGITAL CHART. ITS MUSIC VIDEO GAINED OVER 6 MILLION VIEWS WITHIN 24 HOURS, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD HELD ON YOUTUBE FOR THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF VIEWS OF A K-POP GROUP MUSIC VIDEO WITHIN 24 HOURS. IN SOUTH KOREA, WINGS BECAME THE BEST-SELLING ALBUM IN THE GAON ALBUM CHART HISTORY AT THE TIME. IT PEAKED AT #26 ON THE BILLBOARD 200, WHICH MARKED THE HIGHEST CHART RANKING FOR A K-POP ALBUM EVER. IT SOLD MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION COPIES THAT YEAR MAKING IT BTS'S FIRST "MILLION SELLER",.
IN OCTOBER 2016, BILLBOARD PLACED BTS #1 ON THEIR SOCIAL 50 CHART, MAKING THEM THE FIRST KOREAN GROUP TO TOP THE CHART. THEY LATER WON ARTIST OF THE YEAR AT THE 2016 MNET ASIAN MUSIC AWARDS, BECOMING THE FIRST ARTIST NOT FROM A "BIG THREE" ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY (SM, YG AND JYP) TO DO SO. ALSO IN 2016 THEY CHARTED ON YOUTUBE'S MUSIC GLOBAL TOP 100: 17TH ON THE VIDEO CHART, 6TH ON THE ARTIST CHART AND 14TH ON THE TRACKS CHART.
IN EARLY 2017, BTS EMBARKED ON THEIR LIVE TRILOGY EPISODE III: THE WINGS TOUR. THAT FEBRUARY, PRE-ORDERS FOR THE REPACKAGED EDITION OF WINGS, ENTITLED YOU NEVER WALK ALONE, REACHED OVER 700,000 COPIES AND BROKE THE RECORD FOR MOST ALBUMS SOLD IN A MONTH. THE LEAD SINGLE "SPRING DAY" TOPPED EIGHT OF THE MAJOR SOUTH KOREAN ONLINE MUSIC CHARTS, AS WELL AS GAON, AND CRASHED MELON'S DIGITAL CHART DUE TO THE HIGH INFLUX OF USER TRAFFIC. IT ALSO ENTERED THE US BILLBOARD'S BUBBLING UNDER HOT 100 SINGLES CHART AT NUMBER 15 WITH "ZERO PROMOTIONS".
