If you don’t know BTS even after the end of 2020, you must be living in a cocoon. Let’s admit it, 2020 sucked. As the world started witnessing a never imagined pandemic, the busiest became bored and the happiest, sad, and depressed. But there are 7 men, somewhere in Seoul who fought the setbacks and taught the Army world how to fight it. Read on to know how!
2020 was a difficult year but as an Army, this is how BTS made last year a little better for me and perhaps for all the Armies around the world:
Comeback Album: Map of The Soul 7
The 4th studio album, a follow-up to Map of the Soul: Persona, was released in February 2020. The album is all about self-reflection, a much-needed exercise in this quarantine. It is my favorite BTS album of all time. From ON, Black Swan, Filter, to We are Bulletproof: Eternal and Your Eyes Tell. Each song is a masterpiece. Not only that we have more than one music video and version for songs like ON and Black Swan. The album has broken several records and rightfully so.
BANG BANG CON
In April 2020, BTS organized Bang Bang Con. The 24 hours show took place as a 2-day event. A free event to lift the spirits of their fans amid the Coronavirus outbreak, it showcased BTS’ concerts and fan meets from 2014 to 2019. BTS followed it up with Bang Bang Con: The Live in June to celebrate their 7th anniversary. It broke the record for virtual attendance with 2.24 million concurrent views and over 50 million views in total.
Dear Class of 2020
On June 7, BTS gave a commencement speech for YouTube’s ‘Dear Class of 2020’ . Dear Class of 2020 is a virtual event that features performances and speeches from eminent personalities for graduates of 2020 as their ceremonies were canceled due to COVID-19. BTS encouraged graduates to have hope, follow their passion, and continue learning. Their message provided comfort not only to graduates but millions of ARMY struggling and suffering through the pandemic. Jimin’s “Remember there is a person here in Korea, in the city of Seoul, who understands you”, stole all our hearts. They even performed Boy With Luv, Spring Day, and Mikrokosmos in the National Museum of Korea.
Black Lives Matter
In June, BTS and Big Hit stood in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter campaign and donated $1 Million. Bigger applause goes to ARMY around the world who started #MatchAMillion and collectively generated and donated $1 Million, all within 24 hours! This moved John Cena, who BTS have expressed love for in the past, and he decided to join the movement. What a fandom!
Stay Gold
On June 26, BTS released an MV for Stay Gold, a lead single for their MOTS:7 album. The song is about finding light in yourself and in BTS’s words, “a song to heal ARMY”. The song tells fans to stay strong and stay gold even in the darkest times.
BTS FESTA
To celebrate their 7th anniversary, BTS announced a 2-week celebration called BTS Festa in June. The celebration unveiled choreography videos, birthday party videos, and a family portrait. This is also where we got Jungkook’s Still With You and a tear-jerking video to We are Bulletproof: The Eternal.
Dynamite
The biggest comeback of the year that broke records and registered BTS in the farthest corners of the earth was their song Dynamite, an all-English lyric track by BTS. With 101 million views, Dynamite holds the record for Most-Viewed YouTube video in 24 hours. The upbeat song is aimed at relaxing listeners amid the ongoing pandemic and talks about appreciating little things in life. BTS has given us enough versions of Dynamite to last a lifetime and it currently has over 1 Billion views!
BTS in the SOOP
After giving us multiple variety shows such as American Hustle Life, Run BTS, Bon Voyage, BTS are in a league of their own. BTS rolled out a new show this August called BTS in the SOOP (SOOP= Forest in Korean). The 8 episode series stars all the 7 members doing fun activities like painting, canoeing, gaming, etc. You get to see their fun, goofy side, and how members stay together and divide their tasks. RM and Jungkook have shown their amazing painting skills. Jin, who is famous for eating, proved that he cooks as well. Suga can mostly be found writing music, gaming, or cleaning/setting the dishes. Jhope can be seen playing with figures, hiking with RM, and painting with Jungkook. Jimin and V are usually canoeing, gaming, or playing some sport. Members can be seen sharing heartfelt conversations by the bonfire. They also share how all 7 members are important and BTS would be incomplete if they were only 6 or fewer.
UN speech
At the 75th UN General Assembly, BTS delivered a message of hope. They talked about their personal struggles with the pandemic and encouraged people to have hope for better days. BTS revealed how COVID-19 was beyond their imagination, how from performing at the biggest stadiums their world shrunk to a room, and how their plans washed away just like everyone else. Affirming positivity, they also added that doing our best, not giving up, and keeping yourself happy are most important. They ended their speech with “Life Goes On, Let’s Live On”.
Map of the Soul ON:E
The concert was initially to be held offline and steamed online. However, it was shifted completely as an online event in the wake of rising coronavirus cases. The 2-day concert held in October featured BTS performing songs from their Album MOTS: Persona and MOTS: 7, latest hit Dynamite, and old tracks like RUN, DOPE, and DNA. What touched our hearts was the moment when members got emotional while looking at the screens and waving at fans.
Countless Interviews
Be it Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, MTV, and Entertainment Weekly, BTS has given countless interviews to the biggest media houses, sometimes within the same day. Their Interviews with Tokopedia and NDTV made fans go crazy in Indonesia and India respectively. The interviews themselves received a lot of coverage as well. BTS appeared on KBS News9, something rare for a K-POP group. Last year, they even started their own 7-second interview.
Countless performance
Be it performing at Grand Central at wee hours, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, a BTS week on Jimmy Fallon, or their performance on James Corden’s (Papa Mochi) show, BTS has given us countless on-stage performances, and they just keep getting bigger and better. All this, while staying in Seoul!
Collaborations
We saw BTS collaborate with multiple artists and give us some amazing BOPs this year. Halsey and Suga’s Interlude, MOTS:7 title track ‘ON’ with SIA, IU’s Eight ft. Suga, Who with Lauv, MAX and Suga’s Burn It and Blueberry Eyes, and lastly the much talked about Savage Love with JAWSH 685 and Jason Derulo.
BE
Their latest album released in November, ‘BE’ features 8 tracks. Although, The Skit is not a song but a recording of BTS’s reaction to Dynamite hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it is included as a track on the album. BE is inspired by the feelings and emotions members have witnessed in the year 2020 due to COVID-19. It serves as a letter of hope to the listeners. Every member is credited for songwriting on at least one of the tracks. What makes this album even more special is that the members were involved in everything- from concept, production, to writing and direction. This marked Jungkook’s directorial debut with the title track ‘Life Goes On’. Life Goes On is a message from BTS that no matter what comes life doesn’t stop.
BTS has given ARMY enough content to watch and re-watch. Even though 2020 has been a year of struggle, BTS has made sure to return all the love they get and deserve. They have time and again reaffirmed their fans to stay hopeful and that they are with them through everything. The song, ‘Life Goes On’ gives hope to not just BTS fans but others as well. During this hard times, we hope you find peace and strength and never lose hope.
We may have come to an end of this list and we might have missed out some other great things that BTS gave us in 2020 but we are all set and looking forward to the second all-English single ‘BUTTER’ releasing on 21st May 2021 at 1 PM KST.
Are you excited for Butter? Which is your favorite moment from the list? Do let us know!
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Written by Snigdha
the moment they started singing spring day in Dear Class of 2020, not gonna lie, I cried.
also the tinydesk concert.. My favourite performance.