BTS in 2017: A Timeline of the Year’s Biggest Highlights

A look back at the year that saw BTS become the most popular Korean act in the world.

As 2017 dwindles away, <a href=”/music/bts”>BTS</a> leaves behind not only their own biggest year ever, but the most impactful year ever in the U.S. for a Korean group. The past 12 months have been eventfully full of releases and exciting moments that propelled the boy band from a fan favorite to major American award shows and the top tiers of Billboard’s most important charts.

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights of BTS’ year:

Jan. 1: RM (formerly known as Rap Monster) released “Always” on Soundcloud.

Jan. 30: BTS appeared at the Idol Star Athletics Championship, an annual Lunar New Year broadcast where K-pop stars face off against one another in a variety of sporting events.

Feb. 12: Release of “Spring Day” from You Never Walk Alone, the extended re-release of 2016′s Wings.

Feb. 19: “Not Today” is released.

Feb. 22: BTS’ Wings recognized as the top-selling Korean physical album of the fourth quarter of 2016 at Gaon Chart K-pop Awards.

March 19: RM teamed up with Wale for “Change.”

March 4: “Spring Day” appeared at No. 15 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, foreshadowing the group’s success later this year at breaking into the Hot 100.

March 17: The septet performed at the opening night of the first-ever KCON Mexico.

March 23: BTS kicked off the U.S leg of 2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour at the Newark Prudential Center in New Jersey. A second show took place on the 24th. They also performed at three more shows in Chicago and Anaheim over the next week. The tour saw them head to several cities throughout Asia in April, May, June and October, and also brought them to Australia for the first time in May for a performance in Sydney.

March 29: Security was increased for BTS’ remaining American concert stops after social media threats were aimed at the band members.

April 10: The septet was revealed to be a nominee for the top social artist award at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards.

April 27: BTS surpassed Miley Cyrus and Rihanna with the third-most weeks at No. 1 on the Social Artist chart.

May 8: Announcement of BTS attending the BBMAs, the first ever for a K-pop boy band.

May 21: The septet wins the top social artist award at the 2017 BBMAs, the first Korean group to ever receive an honor at the ceremony. It was the first time a K-pop group attended a stateside award show.

June 9: RM and V share “4 O’Clock” on Soundcloud as part of BTS Festa, the band’s fourth-anniversary celebration.

June 14: Suga remakes “So Far Away” with Jin and Jungkook. The song was originally released featuring Suran on Suga’s Agust Dmixtape last year.

July 4: BTS extended their branding to include “Beyond the Scene” as part of the band’s identity. Despite it being widely reported as an expansion of their name, Billboard confirmed that BTS’ name in English remains BTS, an acronym for their Korean name, Bangtanseonyeondan, which translates to “Bulletproof Boy Scouts.”

July 5: The band remade Seo Taiji & Boys’ iconic “Come Back Home.”

Aug. 10: Love Yourself series announced via Twitter.

Aug. 23: BTS confirms September release date for Love Yourself: Her EP, their first new music since February.

Sept. 3: K-pop icon Seo Taiji praises BTS, and passes the generational torch to them.

Sept. 4: Jimin-focused video for “Serendipity” released ahead of Love Yourself: Her.

Sept. 12: Love Yourself: Her track list revealed, showing that the group worked with The Chainsmokers‘ Andrew Taggart on “Best of Me” and the inclusion of RM’s BBMA speech as a skit.

Sept. 14: First teaser for “DNA” released.

Sept. 18: Love Yourself: Her dropped.

Sept. 24: The group made K-pop history by becoming the first Korean act to break into the top 10 of the Billboard 200, spurring fans to dub the number seven as BTS’ lucky number of the year: In 2017, the seven-member act peaked at No. 7.

Sept. 29: JJ Ryan discussed on the Billboard Chart Beat Podcast being the one radio station in the U.S. to play “DNA.” BTS’ songs increasingly gained radio play in the country this year, due to the grassroot efforts of fans.

Oct. 2: “DNA” peaked at No. 67 on the Hot 100 chart. The previous week, it debuted at No. 85.

Oct 13-14: Amino App hosted BTS-oriented pop-up gallery in New York City. 

Oct. 17: Line Friends announced BT21 collaborative line featuring characters inspired by BTS’ artwork and creative ideas.

Oct. 31: Unicef and BTS launched Love Myself fundraising campaign.

Nov. 3: BTS confirmed upcoming performance at the AMAs, their first at an American award show.

Nov. 13: RM (Kim Namjoon) changed his stage name formally from “Rap Monster” to the acronym RM.

Nov. 15: BTS appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! While in Los Angeles, the group held a mini-concert for fans, and performances from that show were later aired on Live the following week. They also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Showand The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Nov. 19: The group performed “DNA” at the AMAs.

Nov. 23: BTS teamed up with Steve Aoki and Desiigner for “Mic Drop (Remix).” It went on to become BTS’ most successful song in the United States.

Nov. 28: “Mic Drop (Remix)” debuted at No. 28 on the Hot 100.

Dec. 6: BTS released “Snow Crystal” in Japan along with Japanese versions of “Mic Drop (Remix)” and “DNA.” It went on to become the first song by a non-Japanese artist to ever exceed 300,000 points on Japan’s Oricon Weekly Single Chart.

Dec. 7: The Seoul tourism site crashed after fans descend on it to download BTS’ promotional track “With Seoul.”

Dec. 11: BTS appeared at No. 10 of the Billboard Year-End Artists of the Year chart.

Dec. 12: BTS confirmed rumors that they will perform on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

Dec. 15: Fall Out Boy teamed up with RM for “Champion” remix.

Dec. 16: BT21 brought thousands of fans out to the opening launches of the product line in Seoul and New York City.

Dec. 17: Bloomberg reports that BTS’ label, Big Hit Entertainment, is contemplating going public.

Dec. 31: A performance by BTS will air throughout the United States as part of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.