Its has been more than half a year since BTS announced they were “taking a break”. And most recently – the real signal of HUGE change for the BTS boys – the oldest member, Kim Seok-Jin, began his mandatory military service on December 13th. While things have been changing for both BTS and ARMY in 2022, we have still seen quite a few things from the boys since the big hiatus – which means a constant stream of songs, solo albums, shows and concerts to keep us busy!
A quick recap for those of you living under a rock; on the last day of FESTA (BTS’s debut anniversary), at their closing dinner, the band announced they were taking an indefinite amount of time apart to pursue solo endeavors, release solo albums and to do other things. Let’s see what the guys have been up to!
BTS TOGETHER: After the announcement, BTS indicated they would continue to film episodes of their variety show Run BTS. And they didn’t let us down! They filmed and released 6 special episodes in the second half of 2022 – with hopefully more to come! in October, BTS hosted a free concert, in Busan to support the country’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo. This concert has been the only live performance of Run BTS (the song) and of course gave us that epic dance practice video.
RM: In the months since the announcement, RM has been more vocal about the emotional strain and pressure the years in the band took on his mental health. In a recent interview with Pharrell, RM talked candidly about his concerns and gave us some additional insight into all that he must have been shouldering during his years in the band. Thank goodness this didn’t stop him from releasing his first solo debut album Indigo in December, along with several music videos! He also appeared on an episode of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.
JIN: Of course we all know that Jin officially began his mandatory military service on December 13. But before that, he had a pretty busy fall releasing The Astronaut in October, a song co written with Chris Martin from Cold Play. Jin also spent quite a bit of time on the variety show circuit – making appearances on shows like Running Man and rapper Young-ji’s talk show Nothing Much Prepared. In November, Jin also started hosting his new variety show with famous Korean chef Baek Jong-won – Jin’s Traditional Alcohol Journey. Hopefully he has some alcohol fermenting that will be ready to welcome him back from the military in 2024!
SUGA: Suga kicked off the year with a HUGE collaboration with Psy on the song That That. And from there, he has not slowed down. In June, Suga produced a song called “Our Island, which was released with BTS’ newest puzzle game called BTS Island: In the Seom. And maybe one of my favorite solo activities from Suga is his new drinking show, Suchwita, where he hosts special guests while they have drinks and chat. Suga has said he also plans to spend some of the hiatus doing other things like taking dance, vocal, English, Japanese, guitar, keyboard, harmonics, and pilates classes – but when does he have the time!!!???
J-HOPE: J-Hope’s new album, Jack In the Box, was released in July. Shortly following its release, J-Hope took over Lollapalooza, many people renaming the event Hobi-Palooza. J-Hope has gone on to win awards for his solo work this year, including winning Most Popular Male Artist award at the 2022 MAMAs.
JIMIN: Jimin is supposedly working on his solo album. Otherwise, he has been seen supporting his other members, joining several V-Lives and of course supporting J-Hope backstage at Hobi-palooza.
V: Kim Taehyung, AKA V, started his hiatus by joining the In The Soop: Friendcation reality show staring the Wooga squad – Choi Woo-shik, Park Seo-joon, Park Hyung-sik, and Peakboy. Otherwise, V has been teasing new music while jetting off to Europe for several fashion shows (even Paris Fashion week with Park Bo Gum!) during the summer and fall.
JUNGKOOK: Jung Kook released Left and Right with Charlie Puth right after the BTS hiatus was announced. And it was one of the songs of the summer. Now most recently, JK released Dreamers for the latest World Cup in Qatar and performed at the opening ceremony.
The Chatty Enthusiast 