There’s no other way to put what happened in 2020 and 2021 (no, not COVID): BTS became the biggest band in the world.
During that time, the group was the most significant name in K-pop and was emblematic of the genre’s growing popularity among English-speaking listeners. In the summer of 2020, “Dynamite” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making BTS the first-ever all-South Korean group to top the US charts. Hell, it was big enough to dethrone “WAP,” Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s year-defining mega-hit, from its No. 1 spot. It was a major moment in K-pop history, perhaps the biggest one ever.
Then, this sort of thing just kept happening. BTS’ next single, a remix of Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat),” also hit No. 1. “Life Goes On” did it next, then “Butter,” then “Permission To Dance,” and then the Coldplay collaboration “My Universe.”
In 2022, though, the inevitable, a turning point that fans knew for years would eventually come, happened: The hiatus. You see, in South Korea, as BBC News puts it, “all able-bodied men aged 18-28 must serve [in the military for] about two years. The seven BTS members had been allowed to put off starting their military service until they turned 30.”
The group’s members — Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook — were all nearing the maximum age, so they had no choice but to fulfill their military obligations. BTS was on pause.
Here’s the thing about this hiatus, though: Two years later, it hasn’t felt like much of a break.
Over the past couple years, BTS members have been busting out solo projects left and right and up and down and left again. Not even BTS proper has completely taken the time off, dropping the single “Take Two” in the summer of 2023.
The BTS musical universe has been so full during the “hiatus” that it’s worth going over in detail, so here’s a break-down of what each BTS member has been up to and what they have on the way.
Jin
The BTS Army took Jin’s military enlistment particularly hard: In January 2023, Big Hit Music asked fans to chill out with sending Jin mail because he was receiving too much of it.
Jin did eventually return the love, though, with the October 2022 solo single “The Astronaut.” It’s a bit misleading to call it a “solo” song, though, as it was co-written with Kygo and Coldplay, the latter of whom also performed on the track (and even played it on Saturday Night Live).
Suga
Suga (or Agust D, as he’s sometimes also known) has been as busy as anybody lately. He launched his own concert tour in April 2023, which was the first-ever solo tour from a BTS member. That same month, he released his debut solo album D-Day and became an official ambassador of the NBA.
He also made time to reunite with Halsey (after guesting on her 2019 song “Suga’s Interlude”) on “Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem).” On top of that, he immortalized his solo tour with D-Day: The Movie, a theatrical concert film.
J-Hope
While the hiatus may have initially seemed like a nightmare to fans, it was during this time that J-Hope made a longtime dream come true, when he collaborated with his rap idol, J. Cole, on the joint single “On The Street.”
Beyond that, he pulled the curtain back for fans with the release of his J-Hope In The Box documentary in February 2023. He also dropped his debut solo album Jack In The Box in July 2022 and followed that up with the March 2024 EP Hope On The Street Vol. 1. The latter also served as the soundtrack to a documentary series of the same name.
RM
RM has just gone ahead and had a full solo career during the hiatus. In December 2022, he released his debut solo album, Indigo, then quickly followed that with a second, Right Place, Wrong Person, in May 2024.
Across both projects, RM greatly expanded his professional contact list, as he collaborated with Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, Mahalia, Little Simz, Domi And JD Beck, and Moses Sumney, among others. Indigo single “Wild Flower” also become his first solo song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart, simultaneously topping the World Digital Song Sales chart.
Jimin
Jimin had a similar journey to RM, as he’s also shared two albums during the hiatus: Face in 2023 and Muse just days ago. He one-upped RM in a major way, though: Face single “Like Crazy” went No. 1 on the Hot 100, becoming the first song by a South Korean solo artist to ever do so.
On top of that, fans can soon expect to see a more casual side of Jimin: It was announced earlier this month that he and Jung Kook are teaming up for Are You Sure?!, a new travel show that is set to debut on August 8.
V
V has only put out one album during the hiatus: Layover, from September 2023. It was a good one, though: It managed to peak at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart despite only featuring six tracks; The more songs an album has, the more streams it tends to rack up, and the higher chart potential it has, but Layover still crushed it despite being a short project.
He also just released Type 1, a new 224-page photobook that is described as “a collage of V’s personal taste.”
Jung Kook
Jung Kook has had perhaps the biggest hiatus of them all. His 2023 album Golden was No. 2 in the US, the project spawned the No. 1 single “Seven” (featuring Latto), and he had two top-5 singles beyond that with “3D” (a Jack Harlow collaboration) and “Standing Next To You.” Speaking of the latter song, he also recruited Usher for a remixed version of it.
As far as his future, there’s the aforementioned travel show with Jimin, as well as I Am Still, which we don’t know the true nature of yet, but it has been speculated that the project is some sort of documentary.
Basically, no matter which BTS member is your favorite, there has been adequate solo material to enjoy during the BTS time-out. This break, by the way, could be over soon: The end of the hiatus was initially set for 2025 and band members are starting to get discharged from the military.
This whole hiatus situation has gone to show just how mighty the BTS machine is. Even when the group was on break, there was a plan in place: Let the members show off their solo sides and flesh out the details of the BTS musical universe. It’s saying something that the end of the hiatus could actually be considered bittersweet, for those who have grown attached to what a member or two have been doing on their own.
A hiatus at the peak of their power wasn’t necessarily an ideal scenario for BTS. Given how well the break went, though, it’s not impossible they actually come out of it even stronger than before. That’s a scary/exciting thought.
