The year he turned 21, BTS’s debut single 2 Cool 4 Skool came out, and a debut showcase was held at Ilji Art Hall in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. In 2014, American Hustle Life, filmed in Los Angeles, aired, and the group released its first full album, Dark & Wild. In 2016, his first composition, the solo song “Awake,” went on the second full album, Wings.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 25, BTS became the first K-pop group to win Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards. “Third man from the left,” a phrase pointing to Jin, trended on Twitter, and Jin says he called himself “Worldwide Handsome” in an interview there.
In 2018, the third full album, Love Yourself: Tear, reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the first foreign-language album to do so in 12 years. In August, he released the solo song “Epiphany.” In 2019, Map of the Soul: Persona gave the group its third No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In 2020, BTS’s first English-language single, “Dynamite,” became the first by a Korean act to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100.
In 2021, he released “Yours,” a track for the drama Jirisan, and on his birthday in December he shared the self-written “Super Tuna,” made with Gye Beom-ju. In October 2022, he released his first solo single, “The Astronaut,” with Coldplay taking part, and in December he became the first member to enlist in the Army.
In June 2024, he was discharged, and in November he released his first solo album, Happy. In 2025, he held his first solo fan concert and solo world tour, the RunSeokjin Ep. Tour.
In 2026, BTS’s fifth full album, Arirang, came out, and the group held a comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. In September, he played the iHeartRadio Music Festival in the U.S.
Jin (born Dec 4, 1992) debuted with BTS on Jun 12, 2013, the year he turned 21, and drew buzz as the “third man from the left” at the Billboard Music Awards on May 21, 2017, the year he turned 25. He released his first solo album, Happy, in 2024, the year he turned 32.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
At a showcase for the debut single at Ilji Art Hall in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, the group performed the title track “No More Dream” for the first time.
Source 01 · Star News (Korean) · Debut showcase · opens in a new tabA reality show following the members as they left for Los Angeles to work on their next album.
Source 03 · OSEN (Korean) · American Hustle Life, episode 1 · opens in a new tabIt was the first full album, one year and two months after debut.
Source 02 · Star News (Korean) · First full album Dark & Wild · opens in a new tabHe introduced it as the first song he composed. He says writing a song was harder than he expected but that he likes how it turned out.
Source 04 · OSEN (Korean) · Wings preview show · opens in a new tabBTS became the first K-pop group to win at the awards, and “third man from the left,” a phrase pointing to Jin, trended on Twitter. Jin says he called himself “Worldwide Handsome” in an interview there.
The third full album reached No. 1 on Billboard’s main album chart. It was the first time in 12 years that a foreign-language album had reached No. 1 on the chart.
Source 07 · iNews24 (Korean) · Love Yourself: Tear tops the Billboard 200 · opens in a new tabA solo song on track 13 of the album, revealed ahead of release in the Aug. 10 comeback trailer.
Source 08 · Newsen (Korean) · Epiphany · opens in a new tabThe album released Apr. 12 reached No. 1 on the chart that Billboard announced on the 15th, local time. It was BTS’s third No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Source 09 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Map of the Soul: Persona tops the Billboard 200 · opens in a new tabBTS became the first Korean act to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s main singles chart, the Hot 100. The music video was recorded by Guinness World Records as the most-viewed YouTube video in 24 hours.
Source 10 · Chosun Ilbo (Korean) · Dynamite earns three Guinness records · opens in a new tabThe song is a track for the drama Jirisan.
Source 11 · TenAsia (Korean) · Jin’s 2021 year in review · opens in a new tabOn his birthday, he shared a song he had made with Gye Beom-ju with fans. In the 24 hours after release, it was the most-viewed video worldwide on YouTube.
Source 11 · TenAsia (Korean) · Jin’s 2021 year in review · opens in a new tabColdplay took part in writing, composing and playing the song. It sold 709,540 copies on release day by Hanteo Chart and reached No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart in 97 countries.
Source 12 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · The Astronaut first-day records · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Star News (Korean) · The connection with Coldplay · opens in a new tabEntered the recruit training center of the Army 5th Infantry Division in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi. He was the first BTS member to enlist.
Source 14 · Maeil Business (Korean) · Enlists in the Army · opens in a new tabFinished his military service and was discharged.
Source 15 · YTN (Korean) · Discharge · opens in a new tabSource 14 · Maeil Business (Korean) · Enlists in the Army · opens in a new tabThe pre-release song “I’ll Be There” reached No. 9 on Spotify’s daily Top Songs Global, his best for a solo song, and No. 1 on Japan’s Oricon daily digital singles ranking.
Source 16 · Newsis (Korean) · A newcomer’s wedding gift, Jin’s thoughts · opens in a new tabThe tour extended the world of his web series Run Jin. It started in Goyang, Gyeonggi, in June and ran 20 shows in 10 cities through an encore in Incheon at the end of October.
Source 17 · Newsis (Korean) · RunSeokjin Ep. Tour encore · opens in a new tabSource 18 · Sports Seoul (Korean) · My One Pick, 88 straight weeks at No. 1 · opens in a new tabThe next day, the group held the concert BTS Comeback Live: Arirang at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. Netflix streamed it to about 190 countries and regions, and 18.4 million people were counted watching on that day alone.
Source 19 · Maeil Business (Korean) · Arirang and the Gwanghwamun concert · opens in a new tabHe played the closing set of the festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and performed four songs including “SWIM.”
Source 20 · Star News (Korean) · 2026 iHeartRadio Music Festival · opens in a new tab The date is Korea time.END OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2013–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Music · South Korea
Dec 4, 1992 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1992: the year of the event minus 1992, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.28 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.