BTS

The seven members of BTS

BTS has seven members and has never had any others. RM leads the group and was rapping in the Seoul underground before Big Hit signed him. Suga came from the Daegu scene and produces; J-Hope came from Gwangju and dances. Jin, Jimin, V and Jung Kook sing. Six of the seven write, and most BTS albums carry production credits from inside the group rather than only from the label.

Each member has a profile in this archive with their birth date, birthplace, the work they have done outside the group and any acting credits. V is the one with screen work: he appeared in the 2016 drama Hwarang. The rest have stayed with music, variety and their own solo releases.

What BTS stands for

BTS is short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, written 방탄소년단, which translates as Bulletproof Boy Scouts. The idea behind the name was blocking out the things said about young people. In 2017 the group added Beyond the Scene as an English reading of the same three letters, which is why both explanations turn up and both are correct.

The debut, and the years before it

BTS debuted on 13 June 2013 with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, released by Big Hit Entertainment, now BigHit Music. The title track was No More Dream. The label was small at the time and the group spent years as trainees before that date, which is the part usually skipped: RM joined first, then Suga, then J-Hope.

The school trilogy that followed, O!RUL8,2? and Skool Luv Affair, is about the same subject as the debut. School, and what it costs.

The albums, in order

This archive lists sixteen Korean releases, from 2 Cool 4 Skool in 2013 to Arirang in 2026, covering studio albums, mini albums, single albums and repackages. The discography below sorts newest first and can be filtered by type. Japanese editions and compilations released outside Korea are not counted in that figure.

The three album series that carried the group outside Korea are The Most Beautiful Moment in Life in 2015 and 2016, Wings in 2016, and Love Yourself across 2017 and 2018. They keep returning to the same subjects: school, work, money and what it costs to like yourself.

Military service, and the return in 2026

The group paused between 2022 and 2025 while each member completed South Korea’s mandatory military service. Jin was discharged on 12 June 2024 and J-Hope on 17 October 2024. RM and V followed on 10 June 2025, Jimin and Jung Kook on 11 June 2025, and Suga on 18 June 2025. They appeared together in public again on 1 July 2025.

Arirang, released on 20 March 2026 with Swim as its title track, is the first album made by all seven after that gap. The world tour of the same name runs through 2026 and into 2027.

ARMY and the Army Bomb

The fandom is called ARMY. Its lightstick is the Army Bomb, which connects to the venue during a show so the whole arena changes colour at once, and which is the single most searched piece of BTS merchandise. There is no officially designated fandom colour, which is why this record leaves that field empty rather than repeating the purple that fans use informally.