During their recent appearance on tvN’s “You Quiz on the Block”, multi-record breaking group BTS (aka the Bangtan Boys) shared both heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of their early days as a group and how their fans, known as ARMY’s, continuous support is what has helped them grow as a group. Hosted by National MC Yoo Jae-suk and comedian Jo Se-ho, the show focuses on the lives and stories of celebrities and combines both the formats of a talk show and a quiz game show. According to BTS, the show was one of the few that the members agreed that they’d wanted to appear on.
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The talented group – consisting of members Rap Monster (RM), Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook – have seen an immeasurable amount of success in recent years and has become one of the biggest, globally recognised boy groups in history. However, it was not always that way. Speaking to the MCs on “You Quiz”, the members shared that their trainee days were filled with many tearful moments. As trainees, the members were not ‘confirmed’ to debut in the music industry and had entered with only the notion that training would one day lead them to being active as an artists. 25-year old V, whose given name is Kim Tae-hyung, shared:
“When trainee life became too much, I called my dad in tears and said that I wanted to give up. My dad replied, ‘If it’s too hard, you can quit. There are lots of other jobs, so let’s find something else.’ I was at a loss for words. I became embarrassed that I’d even said the words out loud.”
Jimin, who was the last trainee to join, was constantly kept on his toes as he was “always apprehensive about when [he’d] have to leave”. But it was the members themselves who supported each other through the difficult days. Jimin added:
“I called my dad and he said, ‘Even if you don’t make it, just don’t get disappointed in yourself.’ The members filled in what I lacked. I got a lot of help from them.”
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J-hope – who revealed during the groups’ documentary ‘Burn The Stage’ that he had almost quit the group before their debut – shared that the sacrifices he had to make to get to where he is today almost broke his resolve.
“I had to give up on a lot [to be a trainee]. It was something I really wanted to do, so I endured. But it was really hard when people asked me when I was going to debut. “
But, in the end, it was J-Hope’s utmost belief in his BTS members that kept him on until their debut. The same can be said for Jong-kook, who was the youngest, as he shared that the experience would have been difficult without the members:
“I’m who I am today because I ran into a lot of things and was criticized. I’m always thankful to my members who always took care of me. I was so scared when I first came up to Seoul. I missed my parents and I cried.”
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Fast forward almost a decade later, BTS has taken over the global airwaves. They were the first K-Pop group to…
• Perform On a Major U.S. Award Show (the 2017 American Music Awards)
• Be nominated for a Billboard Music Award (‘Top Social Artist’, with which they beat Justin Bieber’s six-year reign in 2017)
• Chart as the first foreign-language No. 1 Album since 2006 (‘Love Yourself:Tear’ beat II Divo’s ‘Ancora’)
• Have a Top 10 Hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (‘Fake Love’ debuted at No.10)
• Hit No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 Chart
• Receive Gold Certification from the RIAA
And, the first group since The Beatles to have 3 Billboard No. 1’s within a year (‘Love Yourself: Tear’, ‘Love Yourself: Answer’, and ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’).
And of course, the members attribute their success to their fans. Suga, who also commented during the episode that “Nothing is forever”, said that their fans are the reason they’ve managed to reach as far as they have:
“Our fans are special to us. In the American music market, radio play is important. Our fans opened that gate for us. We were wondering if it was possible, but they spread word about us by sending in requests to radio DJs.”
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Jimin went on to sweetly share:
“They’re the people we love. I can’t think of any other way to say it. They’re the ones who make us feel a lot of different emotions. Even though we’re young, they helped us grow and told us it was okay when we made mistakes. They’re the ones who make me think of the reasons for love.”
Through the blood, sweat and tears, they never fail to appreciate and return the love their fans have given them over the years. Really, who wouldn’t want to support such kind, hardworking artists?
*Cover image credits: @BTS_official
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