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BTS at the 2020 GRAMMYs

BTS at the 2020 GRAMMYs

Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

News
BTS Cancel 2020 World Tour Due To COVID-19 bts-cancel-2020-map-soul-world-tour-dates-due-covid-19-restrictions

BTS Cancel 2020 Map Of The Soul World Tour Dates Due To COVID-19 Restrictions

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The North American leg of the K-pop superstars' 2020 tour, originally slated to begin in April, was already postponed last month—now all upcoming dates have been put on hold due to the coronavirus crisis
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Apr 28, 2020 - 1:54 pm

All shows for BTS' Map of the Soul 2020 World Tour have been put on hold due to coronavirus concerns. New dates will be announced at a later time, for whenever it is safe to gather huge crowds again. While no one can currently predict exactly when that date will be, the BTS Army received some good news today, in the form of a trailer and release date for the group's new docuseries, "Break The Silence."

"The decision has been made to completely reschedule the 'Map of the Soul' tour, originally scheduled to begin in April 2020," Big Hit Entertainment, the South Korean label who manages the K-pop powerhouse act said today, April 28, via a statement translated by K-pop news outlet Soompi.

Read: BTS Talk New Album 'Map Of The Soul: 7': "The Genre Is BTS"

The tour was originally slated to begin in their home country in April with four nights in Seoul. Per Soompi, these dates were canceled back in February due to the emerging danger of coronavirus. The North American leg of the tour was set to begin in late April, but those dates were put on hold in late March, to be "rescheduled at a later date." The summer dates across Europe and Japan, previously set to wrap up in September, were still on the books until today. 

"This tour involves the participation of staff and crew from around the world as well as global logistics systems. While there are certain countries, regions, and cities where conditions have improved, including Korea, it is difficult to make the decision to begin the tour based on these recent developments. Due to the nature of BTS concerts involving travel by thousands of international fans no matter where the performances are held, it is also difficult to resume the tour with the current strict restrictions on cross-border movement still in place. Moreover, it is impossible at this time to predict when the first performance marking the start of the tour will be able to begin," the statement continued.

"Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to suspend the previously-announced tour schedule and develop a new schedule. Big Hit Entertainment will completely reschedule the tour and provide a new tour schedule to our fans as soon as it becomes clear when the tour can begin. This may require considerable time as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve. However, we will work to ensure that BTS and their fans will be able to meet each other as soon as they can. We will also create new ways for our artists to engage with their fans and respond to the 'New normal' while we wait to resume activities halted by COVID-19."

Related: BTS Announce At-Home Concert Streaming Series, "BANG BANG CON"

Earlier this month, the band brought their energy and music (virtually) to fans homes with their streaming home concert series, "BANG BANG CON," where they aired past concerts as far back at 2014. Today, they revealed more exclusive concert footage and behind-the-scenes content is on the way in the form of their new docuseries, set to air on Korean app WeVerse on May 12. You can see all seven smiling faces in the trailer below—where you also get a taste of how massive the crowds they draw really are.

BTS' latest album is Map Of The Soul: 7, released on Feb. 21, the project the tour is in support of. Less than a month before that highly anticiapted fourth studio album dropped, the lovable septet brought "Seoul Town Road" to the 2020 GRAMMYs stage with their fiery performance during Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" spectacular—rewatch it below.

No Radio, No Problem: How BTS Scored A No. 1 Hit Without Radio's Help

GRAMMYs

BTS at 2019 GRAMMYs

Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

News
BTS Donates $1 Million To Crew Nation bts-donates-1-million-crew-nation-support-out-work-concert-crews

BTS Donates $1 Million To Crew Nation To Support Out Of Work Concert Crews

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The generous contribution comes from the K-pop supergroup and their management company, Big Hit Entertainment, and follows a $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter earlier this month
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jun 23, 2020 - 1:04 pm

BTS and their management company, Big Hit Entertainment, have donated $1 million to Crew Nation, Live Nation's COVID-19 relief fund for out of work live entertainment staff. The K-pop superstars would've been on tour for the majority of the year, before coronavirus turned live music and the rest of the world upside down earlier this year.

https://twitter.com/Michael_Rapino/status/1275158879978962944

Huge thanks to @BTS_twt and @BigHitEnt for their generous $1 million donation to #CrewNation https://t.co/N7GTOYHtFG

— Michael Rapino (@Michael_Rapino) June 22, 2020

Read: BTS Talk New Album 'Map Of The Soul: 7': "The Genre Is BTS"

"This is one of the largest artist donations that has been raised for the Crew Nation fund since its conception," a statement, shared by Variety on June 22, noted.

The event behemoth launched the fund in March with an initial $5 million, pledging to match another $5 million of donations from employees, artists and fans, according to Variety. Event crew personnel who typically make at least half of their income from live events can apply for one-time grants of $1000 via Crew Nation. Individuals living and working in any city/country can apply.

Related: Metallica Launch Month Of Giving, Asking Fans To Support COVID-19 Relief Efforts Together

Over 70 live concert crew members who were originally scheduled to work at BTS’ concerts before the postponement (or cancellation) due to COVID-19 have received funding so far, 20% of whom are veteran crews who have worked in live performance industry for over 16 years. This contribution will help aid 1,000 live concert crews to receive relief, according to the announcement.

"It is very unfortunate that the music industry has to go through such difficult time at the moment," Big Hit's Global CEO Lenzo Yoon wrote in the statement. "We hope our contribution to Crew Nation could help support many live concert crews around the world."

More: BTS, Big Hit Entertainment And The BTS Army Donate Over $2 Million To Black Lives Matter

"If it weren't for COVID-19, we would have been happily touring across the world with many of our live concert crews by now," BTS added. "We are aware that a lot of communities need help due to COVID-19, and we wanted to support the music industry crews by making a donation. We hope to meet again on stage very soon."

The generous contribution comes just several weeks after BTS and Big Hit donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter Foundation, as well as publicly announcing their allyship with the Black community.  

https://twitter.com/bts_bighit/status/1274265838053285890

#BTS #방탄소년단 BANG BANG CON The Live Photo Sketch @ (https://t.co/U9u9KG8dQt)#방방콘더라이브🔎 #BANGBANGCON_TheLive💜 pic.twitter.com/rWFxE9NHZk

— BTS_official (@bts_bighit) June 20, 2020

Earlier this month, on June 14, the talented septet shared a live pay-to-watch virtual concert, BANG BANG CON, with their massive BTS ARMY. They also recently released a new single, "Stay Gold," on June 19.

The MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund is also supporting out-of-work crew and all other music industry folks who have been financially affected by the coronavirus crisis.

Learn more about how you can donate to or apply for assistance via the Recording Academy's and MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Beyoncé Celebrates Juneteenth With "BLACK PARADE" & Epic Black-Owned Businesses Directory

BTS

BTS

Photo: Raymond Hall/GC Images/Getty Images

News
BTS Makes Statement Supporting Black Lives Matter bts-makes-statement-support-black-lives-matter

BTS Makes Statement In Support Of Black Lives Matter

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The K-pop stars took to their official Twitter to call out racism and violence in a powerful, rare political statement
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jun 4, 2020 - 5:39 pm

Today, June 4, K-pop superstars BTS shared a statement of solidarity with the Black community. In a tweet shared with their 26.2 million followers, written in both Korean and English, they said, "We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together. #BlackLivesMatter."

https://twitter.com/BTS_twt/status/1268422690336935943

우리는 인종차별에 반대합니다.
우리는 폭력에 반대합니다.
나, 당신, 우리 모두는 존중받을 권리가 있습니다. 함께 하겠습니다.

We stand against racial discrimination.
We condemn violence.
You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.#BlackLivesMatter

— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) June 4, 2020

The positive message made news as it is a rare political statement from the group. While BTS has broken many records, trends and barriers, they generally adhere to a clean-cut, non-controversial image (as is typical for many in their genre). For the band to take a stand on such an important human rights issue is significant and will certainly be heard loud and clear by their huge fanbase and fellow K-pop artists.

Read: BTS Talk New Album 'Map Of The Soul: 7': "The Genre Is BTS"

The group's tweet follows many loyal fans of BTS, BLACKPINK and other major K-pop acts taking anti-racist action online, most recently, to flood toxic hashtags with memes and other content to drown out hateful messages. The collective fan armies organized online to take over the hashtags associated with racist responses to #BlackLivesMatter—including #WhiteLivesMatter, #BlueLivesMatter and #MAGA—on Twitter yesterday, June 3.

Related: K-Pop Fans Unite On Twitter To Take Over #WhiteLivesMatter Hashtag With Messages Of Anti-Racism

In other BTS news, Jungkook surprise released his debut solo song today as JK, a smooth jam called "Still With You." The group had previously teased the release as part of their Festa 2020 online fan celebration, but without specifying any details. Suga also recently dropped solo music; his second mixtape under his Agust D alias came out on May 22.

Kelis Challenges Labels & Streaming Platforms To Pay Black Artists What They Are Owed

BTS - "Black Swan" Music Video

BTS - "Black Swan" Music Video

News
BTS Release New Music Video For "Black Swan" bts-release-stunning-music-video-map-soul-7-single-black-swan

BTS Release Stunning Music Video For 'Map Of The Soul: 7' Single "Black Swan"

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The striking visual is the latest offering from the South Korean septet's chart-topping album
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
Mar 4, 2020 - 10:19 am

BTS are back with another stunning music video off their newly released, chart-topping album Map Of The Soul: 7. Today (March 4), the global pop superstars released the official music video for "Black Swan," the first single off the album.

Simple yet striking, the "Black Swan" video shows the South Korean septet deliver a gorgeous dance performance inside an equally beautiful theater. Directed by YongSeok Choi and co-directed by Guzza, both from the Lumpens creative collective, the visual depicts the members of BTS transforming from swans into the song's eponymous black swans onstage. 

The "Black Swan" video follows the group's recent cinematic visual for Map Of The Soul: 7 single "ON," which last week (Feb. 28) broke YouTube's record for most views for a video premiere. Last month (Feb. 21), BTS released the Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima, the first visual for "ON" that unfolds like a short film.

BTS On Creativity, Breaking Records & More

Released last month, Map Of The Soul: 7, BTS' fourth studio album, is breaking records around the world. Already the best-selling album of the year worldwide, the album topped the Billboard 200 chart, their fourth No. 1 album in the U.S., while lead single "ON" currently sits at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking their highest record on that chart to date.

Read: BTS Talk New Album 'Map Of The Soul: 7': "The Genre Is BTS"

In an interview with the Recording Academy last month, BTS explained their creative approach to Map Of The Soul: 7, which sees the group exploring everything from pop ballads to hip-hop jams.

"I think it's less and less meaningful to divide music into genres now," BTS member Suga said. 

"The genre is BTS. That's the genre we want to make and the music that we want. New genre," the group's Jungkook, V and J-Hope added. 

Map Of The Soul: 7 follows a dazzling performance from BTS at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards last month. They joined Lil Nas X in a star-studded performance of "Old Town Road" that also featured Billy Ray Cyrus, Diplo and Mason Ramsey. 

Map Of The Soul: 7 marks BTS' first full-length project since their 2018 album, Love Yourself: Tear, which topped the Billboard 200 chart and solidified the group as the first Korean act to accomplish that record-setting feat. It's also the second installment in BTS' ongoing Map Of The Soul series, which launched with the chart-topping Map of the Soul: Persona EP last April.

Why is K-pop's popularity exploding in the United States?

Lil Nas X and BTS perform at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards in 2020

Lil Nas X and BTS perform at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards in 2020

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

News
BTS: New Music Video + Album, 'Map Of The Soul: 7' bts-release-epic-music-video-drop-new-album-map-soul-7

BTS Release Epic Music Video For "On," Drop New Album 'Map Of The Soul: 7'

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The track is the lead single off the fourth studio album from the South Korean pop superstars
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
Feb 21, 2020 - 10:20 am

It's a big day for BTS and the global ARMY. Today (Feb. 21), the South Korean boyband and pop superstars dropped their brand-new album, Map Of The Soul: 7. And as an added bonus, they've just released an epic music video for the lead single, "On."

Dubbed the Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima, the visual for "On" is less of a music video and more of a short film. The clip shows all seven BTS members delivering powerful choreography in an empty bridge channel, as the group is surrounded by a cast of dozens of dancers and a post-apocalyptic marching band. In the middle of the song's breakdown, BTS bust into a dramatic dance performance that'll leave you jaw-dropped. 

"On" will receive an official music video next week (Feb. 28). The new album also features an alternate version of "On," featuring nine-time GRAMMY nominee Sia.

BTS On Creativity, Breaking Records & More

Map Of The Soul: 7, the group's fourth studio album, is the latest development in a busy year for BTS. At the 62nd GRAMMY Awards last month, they joined Lil Nas X in a star-studded performance of "Old Town Road" that also featured Billy Ray Cyrus, Diplo and Mason Ramsey. 

Map Of The Soul: 7 marks BTS' first full-length project since their 2018 album, Love Yourself: Tear, which topped the Billboard 200 chart and solidified the group as the first Korean act to accomplish that record-setting feat. It's also the second installment in BTS' ongoing Map Of The Soul series, which launched with the chart-topping Map Of The Soul: Persona EP last April.

Why is K-pop's popularity exploding in the United States?

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.