themselves.

[10][11] Auditions were held in 2010 with plans to launch the

following year.[12][13] The band members lived together, practicing up to 15
hours a day, and first performed before a small crowd of industry insiders in
2013.[14]

We started to tell the stories that people wanted to hear and were ready to
hear, stories that other people could not or would not tell. We said what
other people were feeling—like pain, anxieties and worries. That was our
goal, to create this empathy that people can relate to.

—Suga[15]

BTS's representation by Big Hit, rather than one of the three agencies that
dominated K-pop at the time, allowed the individual members leeway to
express their individuality and have input into the music. [16] On June 12,
2013, BTS released their debut single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, along with
the lead single "No More Dream", neither of which sold particularly well at
the time.[17] On June 13, 2013, BTS made their stage debut on M
Countdown with the single, "No More Dream".[18] Nevertheless, according to
Kathy Sprinkel in her book on BTS, that single was "spotlighting young
people's anxiety in the face of lofty parental expectations, sent shock waves
through the K-pop ranks. Here was a musical act that wasn't pulling any
punches. More specifically, they had a point of view, and they weren't afraid
to take on topics that are considered taboo in South Korean society and
elsewhere."[19] The album reached the top five on South Korea's Gaon Music
Chart.[20] In 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS employed an old-school hip-hop sound from
the 1990s.[21][22] The album's release was followed by appearances on Korean
music shows, which caught the attention of reviewers and viewers. [23][24]

In September 2013, BTS released the second entry in their "school trilogy":
the EP, O!RUL8,2?. The album was released alongside the single "N.O." [25]
[26]
Similarly to 2 Cool 4 Skool, the new release had a theme of students
feeling under pressure and needing to sacrifice their dreams and aspirations.
[25]
According to scholar Kyung Hyun Kim, many of BTS's earlier works such as
"N.O." and "No More Dreams" were "expressions of rebellion against the
establishment that tapped into Korean teenagers' frustrations with the
country's educational system" and, he stated, helped them build a fan base
among young people in North America and Europe. [27] That same month, BTS
starred in their own variety show, SBS MTV's Rookie King Channel Bangtan,
in which members parodied variety shows such as VJ Special
Forces and MasterChef Korea.[28] At the end of the year, BTS was recognized
with several New Artist of the Year awards in South Korea. [29][30][31]
2014–2017

Skool Luv Affair and first concert tour

Exterior of the nightclub Troubadour (photo taken

2006) where BTS held their concert in the US for free

The last entry in BTS "school trilogy", the Skool Luv Affair EP, was released in
February 2014.[32][33] The release topped the Gaon Album Chart,[34] and
appeared on Billboard's World Albums Chart for the first time, peaking at
number three.[32][35] The EP was supported by two singles: "Boy in Luv" and
"Just One Day".[36] Following Skool Luv Affair's release, BTS played at their
first fan meeting in Seoul, selecting the name A.R.M.Y. for the fan club. [37] In
July 2014, BTS hosted a concert in West Hollywood, their first show in the
United States,[38] and in August, they appeared at KCON in Los Angeles.[39]

In August 2014, BTS released the album Dark & Wild, which reached number
two in South Korea.[36][40] It was supported by two singles: "Danger" and "War
of Hormone".[36] The group embarked on their first concert tour, 2014 BTS
Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, which lasted from October to
December 2014.[41] The band launched their first Japanese studio
album, Wake Up, in December 2014; the release peaked at number three on
the Oricon Albums Chart.[42] After the album's release, BTS held their 1st
Japan Tour 2015 Wake Up: Open Your Eyes in February 2015.[43] The Red
Bullet Tour that had begun on October 17, 2014, in South Korea was resumed
on June 6, 2015, in Malaysia and toured Australia, North America and Latin
America before ending in Hong Kong that August. In all, the entire tour
attracted 80,000 spectators at 18 cities in 13 countries. [41][44]

Mainstream breakthrough and commercial success

BTS experimented with other styles of music besides hip-hop in The Most
Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1, released in 2015.[36][45] BTS wanted to express
the beauty and anxiousness of youth and settled on the title of "花樣年華"
(Korean: 화양연화; RR: Hwayangyeonhwa), loosely interpreted to define "youth"
metaphorically as "the most beautiful moment in life". [46] The album served
as an introduction to their youth trilogy, a triptych of albums dedicated to the
struggles of young people.[47] The single "I Need U" was a top-five hit in South
Korea and garnered the group a win on SBS MTV's The Show.[48][49] The
second single "Dope" (Korean: 쩔어; RR: Jjeoreo; lit. It's awesome) reached
number three on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart and its music
video was viewed over 100 million times on YouTube.[50][51] The group began
the world tour extension of their Red Bullet Tour in June, titled 2015 Live
Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, visiting cities throughout Asia, Oceania,
North America, and Latin America.[41] "For You", in Japanese, was released
together with Japanese versions of "War of Hormone" and "Let Me Know" on
June 17, 2015, and immediately topped Oricon's daily chart. [36][52]

BTS performing at KCON France in Paris on June 2,

2016

In November, BTS commenced their third concert tour, 2015 BTS LIVE "The
Most Beautiful Moment in Life: On Stage", beginning with three sold-out
shows in Seoul. The tour marked the debut of their fourth EP, The Most
Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2, and was later extended to Japan.[53]
[54]
Thematically, the EP focused more on the serious and speculative aspects
of youth, touching on the pursuit of success, loneliness, affection for their
origins, and the suffering of the younger generation due to unfavorable
conditions in current society.[55] The album topped the weekly Gaon Album
and Billboard World Albums charts.[56][57] It also marked their first appearance
on the Billboard 200 chart,[58] making it for one week at number 171,[59] and
eight of the tracks appeared on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart.[60]

Their compilation album and the finale to their "youth trilogy", The Most
Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever was released on May 2, 2016. With
300,000 presold copies,[61] it included three new singles: "Epilogue: Young
Forever", "Fire", and "Save Me",[36][62] which debuted in the top three spots on
the Billboard World Digital Charts.[61] The album topped the Gaon Album
Chart in South Korea for two consecutive weeks and reached number 107 on
the Billboard 200.[63][64][65] The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young
Forever won Album of the Year at the 2016 Melon Music Awards.[66] BTS
embarked on their Asia tour extension, 2016 BTS LIVE "The Most Beautiful
Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue" from May to August 2016. Tickets for the
14 shows in 10 Asian cities sold out, some in as little as five seconds. [67]

BTS win their first major Korean award for Album

of the Year at the 2016 Melon Music Awards on November 19, 2016

In September 2016, BTS released their second Japanese studio album Youth.
[68]
The album sold 44,547 copies on the first day of its release, and charted
1st in the Oricon Daily Album Chart.[69][70] The album was eventually certified
Gold with sales of roughly over 100,000 in Japan. [71] It was followed one
month later in October,[36] by their next studio album Wings, which combined
the themes of youth presented in their previous "youth trilogy" with
temptation and adversity.[72] The album and its tracks, including the single
"Blood Sweat & Tears" immediately rose to the top on eight music charts,
including the Gaon Music Chart, and led the iTunes album charts in 23
countries.[73][74] Wings opened at number 26 on the Billboard 200, with
16,000 album-equivalent units in the US for the week of its release, the best
week ever there for a K-pop album.[75] It became the best-selling album in
Gaon Album Chart history.[76]

You Never Walk Alone and Love Yourself: Her

In February 2017, BTS released the repackaged edition of Wings entitled You
Never Walk Alone. The 700,000 pre-orders of it (an increase from the
500,000 pre-orders of Wings) helped break the record for most albums sold
in a month in South Korea, as it reached 1.49 million copies by the end of its
first month.[77][78] The lead single was "Spring Day"[36] and it won Best Song of
the Year at the 2017 Melon Music Awards.[79] BTS's second world tour, 2017
BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour, began in February.[80] On the
tour, BTS played arenas in the US, such as New Jersey's Prudential
Center and California's Honda Center. Tickets for the North American leg sold
out within hours and two shows were added. [81][82] After completing the North
American leg, BTS attended the 24th Billboard Music Awards in May and
won Top Social Artist,[83] the first K-pop group to win a Billboard award. [84] BTS
fans cast over 300 million votes for the band and broke a six-year winning
streak held by Justin Bieber, a performer with 100 million Twitter followers.
 This caused the international media to focus on the ability of BTS's
[85]

fandom to propel the group to such a victory. [85]

BTS at their press conference in Seoul, South

Korea after winning Top Social Artist at the 24th Billboard Music Awards on
May 29, 2017

BTS released a remake of Seo Taiji's "Come Back Home" (1995) in July 2017,
giving it new lyrics but maintaining the theme of urging societal change.
[86]
Later that year, BTS embarked on their "Love Yourself" album series, with
theme of the enlightenment of self-love through the "起承轉結" (Korean:
기승전결; RR: Giseungjeongyeol) narrative sequence of "beginning,
development, turn, and conclusion."[87] BTS released its first part, their fifth
EP, Love Yourself: Her, on September 18.[84][88] RM considered "DNA", the lead
single from that album,[89] as "taking BTS to new ground. We tried to apply
new grammar and perspectives."[36] He said of the album, "I believe it's going
to be the starting point of a second chapter of our career; the beginning of
our Chapter Two."[90] Sonically, the EP served as "a dual exploration of the
group's electro-pop and hip-hop leanings". [89]

BTS at the 45th American Music Awards shortly

before making their US television debut on November 19, 2017

Love Yourself: Her debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200.[91] The
album had 1,664,041 sales in May 2017 to lead the Gaon Chart, [92] and was
the first in 16 years to exceed 1.2 million copies sold since g.o.d's fourth
album Chapter 4 (2001).[93][94] "DNA" was released simultaneously with the
EP, and its music video accumulated 21 million views in its first 24 hours.
[95]
It became BTS's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, charting at number
85, making them the first K-pop boy band to reach that chart. [96] The single
rose to number 67 the following week and became the highest-charting song
on the Hot 100 for any K-pop group.[97] A remix of "Mic Drop" from the album,
featuring Desiigner, was released as a single and peaked at number 28, the
first time a K-pop group had cracked the top forty. [98][99] Both singles attained
Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
in early 2018.[100] "Mic Drop" achieved Platinum status in the US later that
year.[101]