The desert they once struggled to survive on is now an ocean filled with the legacy of their hard work. With their talent, efforts and dedication, BTS, also referred to as “The Beatles of the 21st Century”, have dominated both Korean and international music charts and the world.
BTS, a South Korean boy band under Big Hit Entertainment, with 42 Daesang awards, topping the Billboard Hot100 with two of their new released songs “Dynamite” and “Savage love Remix” for consecutive weeks and a Guinness World Records title holder, proved that they are undeniably a global superstar.
But the path they have taken to be where they are right now is not for the weak-willed. By the time the lights and music goes off and the show is over, no one knows what happens behind the stage.
The First Step
Debuted on June 13, 2013, with their first album “2 COOL 4 SKOOL”, BTS, also called Bangtan Sonyeondan which means ‘Bulletproof boy scouts’, consists of seven members, RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. Back then, Big Hit used to be a small company that almost went bankrupt. The group had little to no budget when they started. They even had to record their songs in a garage.
As the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest to take. They were just rookie idols but they have already been told that they were hopeless, received a lot of hate and criticisms, not to mention accusations of plagiarism and even death threats.
However, they lived up to their name of being bulletproof, dodging, and resisting the bullets of discouragement and went on to achieve their dreams. They continued with the belief in mind that tomorrow will be better, little did they know a better tomorrow awaited them.
To Thrive
In 2014, a year after their debut, they held a free concert in Los Angeles called “Show and Prove” with just 200 people in capacity. Wandering around in a foreign country despite being reluctant, the group took the courage, and the members themselves were the ones who endorsed their show, encouraging people from the crowded street of LA to come and see their concert.
The Breakthrough
In 2016, with the help of their ARMY fans, BTS won the Best Album of the Year with their album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever” at Melon Music Awards in Seoul, South Korea. “This is really the biggest award we got since our debut,” RM said.
Finally, after years of proving themselves, they’ve finally got their very first Daesang award. In the same year, during Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) the group also won the Artist of the Year.
Since then, as their popularity grew eminently, their fans ARMY all around the globe became insanely huge. A.R.M.Y. short term for ‘Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth’ have always supported their idol since day 1, they were the people BTS look up to as an inspiration in making their music.
The Biggest Boy Band
February 2017, The Wings Tour prospered and had sold out tickets. While in their world tour, May of 2017, BTS was nominated in Billboard Music Awards and won the Top Social Artist Award. November of the same year, the group made their U.S TV debut performing their hit single ‘DNA’ at the American Music Awards which made a buzz over the west media.
The following year, they started their Love Yourself World Tour where their stadium concerts around the West and Asia sold out in just minutes, as well as their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself Tour in 2019.
BTS achieved more of what they have dreamed of. Hard work did not fail them and they did not fail their fans either. From free concert to sold-out stadium concerts, from nobody to legends. The world that tried to hold them down when they started is now wrapped around their fingers. However, great fame came with great pressure. The ocean they once dreamed of almost drowned them at some point.
The Breakdown
“Earlier this year, we were mentally having a really hard time, so we talked amongst ourselves and thought really hard whether to disband or not,” Jin said during their acceptance speech at MAMA 2018 that was held in Hong Kong.
This left the fans shocked as they did not expect the group of thinking to disband at the pinnacle of their career. Fortunately, the members picked up themselves and chose to continue, trusting, and supporting one another.
B.T.S.
In 2018, Big Hit Entertainment released a BTS documentary film named “Burn The Stage: The Movie” which was based on a docu-series of the same name. The film revolved around the members and their struggles while preparing behind the stage during their Wings World Tour in 2017.
“They think we show our lives without filtering anything but we hide a lot of things. ‘I tried really hard so that my weakness don’t show’ we should get rid of all that and show them the raw side.” Suga said in Burn The Stage episode.
The documentary was brought to life to show and create a deeper connection with their fans by showing them their vulnerable side that everyone was unaware of. The group wanted to make their fans feel that they just like them. That they also struggle, get frustrated, breakdown, and that they are just human too.
The success of their documentary continues as they released another documentary film named Bring The Soul: The Movie which shows their journey on their Love Yourself World Tour that took place in 2018. And recently their new documentary film Break The Silence: The movie released on September 10, 2020, rattled the theaters in selected countries.
To be on top takes a lot of things that are beyond your control and with that, it will mold you into a better shell for the soul of the person you’ll become in the future. BTS is living proof that adversities can make you the brightest star in a midnight sky. They are diamonds that were made under pressure but with grace and passion.
All the efforts they executed, the hard work they bestowed and the sacrifices they made are the stepping stones that brought them to the stage of the world.
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