The year he turned 19, BTS’s debut single 2 Cool 4 Skool came out, and a debut showcase was held at Ilji Art Hall in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. He had been a street dancer in Gwangju and became a Big Hit Entertainment trainee in late 2010. In August 2014, the group’s first full album, Dark & Wild, came out. In April 2015 BTS released The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1, and in November the group held its own concert at the Handball Stadium at Olympic Park in Seoul.
In October 2016, the second full album, Wings, included his solo song “MAMA,” about his feelings toward his mother. In May 2017, BTS became the first K-pop group to win at the Billboard Music Awards.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 24, on Mar. 2, he released his first mixtape, Hope World. It reached No. 63 on the Billboard 200, the best result for a K-pop solo artist, and rose to No. 38 the next week, making him the first Korean solo artist to chart two weeks in a row. In May, a BTS album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, a first for K-pop.
On Sept. 27, 2019, he released his first solo single “Chicken Noodle Soup,” featuring Becky G, and it entered the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.K. and Canadian singles charts right after release. In August 2020, BTS’s first English-language single, “Dynamite,” became the first by a Korean artist to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100. In July 2021, he put international sign language gestures into the “Permission to Dance” choreography. He says he wanted to share positive energy with the world.
The year he turned 28, on July 15, he released the solo album Jack in the Box, which reached both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 at once. On July 31 he headlined the main stage of Lollapalooza in Chicago, the first time a Korean artist had headlined a major U.S. music festival.
In April 2023, he entered the Army 36th Infantry Division in Wonju, Gangwon, the second BTS member to enlist after Jin. In March 2024, he released the special album Hope on the Street Vol. 1, which he had prepared before enlisting, and it reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200. In October he finished his service and was discharged.
In April 2025, he played two nights at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, and the seats were oversold. In June he released “Killin’ It Girl,” featuring GloRilla, and in July he headlined Lollapalooza Berlin. In 2026, BTS’s fifth full album, Arirang, came out, and the group held a comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.
J-Hope (born Feb 18, 1994) debuted with BTS on Jun 12, 2013, the year he turned 19, and became known with his first mixtape, Hope World, released on Mar 2, 2018, the year he turned 24; it set the best Billboard 200 result for a K-pop solo artist. In 2022, the year he turned 28, he became the first Korean artist to headline Lollapalooza in the U.S.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.