One of them learned English by watching ‘Friends’! Ten surprising facts about K-pop band BTS

Unless you have been living in a cave then you will have heard, and heard of, BTS, the most iconic South Korean K-Pop band of all-time. So, it's no wonder that the news of their upcoming indefinite hiatus has saddened millions of ARMY members. The band members said that they want to rethink the kind of artists they want to be in the future and continue to grow as individuals. Let’s take a look at some fun facts that you probably didn't know about BTS...

While everyone has heard the term BTS, few really know what it stands for. Turns out it is a Korean phrase that means, "bulletproof boy scouts". However, with the intention of giving the music brand a new identity, the group announced in 2017 that they would give it the meaning of “beyond the scene”.

Most Western boy bands have four or five members, but K-Pop bands usually have more than 10 members. In the case of BTS, the band is composed of just seven modest musicians whose stage names are RM, Suga, Jin, Jimin, V, J-Hope and Jungkook.

The famous K-pop band members make all their music by themselves. This means that they compose, write, edit, and record all their songs without any help. They do sometimes collaborate with other artists, of course, including most recently with Coldplay on 'My Universe'.

The band often donates its earnings to help other people. Each member donated about $8.800 to 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and A Safer Society. This organization is linked to the families of the Sewol ferry wreck that occurred in 2014. Best of all: media outlets didn’t even notice their kind action.

After gaining international fame in 2018, the seven members have received many prestigious honors, including Billboard Awards, American Music Awards, People's Choice Awards, Asian Music Awards and many others. In addition, they have set 23 Guinness World Records, an amazing result achieved also thanks to their fandom’s support.

Although now they are hugely popular all over the world, as strange as it sounds, they once lived in a one-room apartment together. BTS were not an instant hit, as it took them three years to achieve chart success and recognition. Big Hit Entertainment held auditions for the group in 2010. However, the band did not debut until 2013.

The number of people who follow BTS is so large that TIME magazine put them on its list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet. The band can certainly be very proud about their social media numbers, especially on Instagram. As of June 2022, BTS has over 65 million followers on the image sharing platform.

Kim Nam-Joon, better known as RM, is one of the members who speaks English the best. And he learned the language in a unique way. In 2019, during an appearance on 'CBS This Morning', he said: "My English teacher was 'Friends'. "Back in the day, when I was like 15, 14, it was quite a done thing for all the Korean parents to make their kids watch 'Friends'. I thought I was kind of like a victim at that time, but right now, I’m the lucky one, thanks to my mother. "She bought me all 10 DVDs — all the seasons. So first, I watched them with the Korean subtitles, and then I watched with the English subtitles, and then I just removed the subtitles.”

Before joining BTS, Suga was an underground rapper under the stage name of Gloss. He chose the name because it was very close to his birth name, Min Yoon-gi, which means 'gloss' or 'shine.’

One of the best dancers in the group, J-Hope has been a remarkable dancer for a very long time. He used to be a street dancer with a group called Neutron. He has won trophies in local dance battles in his hometown of Gwangju, as well as national competitions.