UPDATE June 15, 2022: The management team for BTS says that the band’s previous statement that it was going on hiatus was a “mistranslation.” Instead, band members will take some time to work on solo projects, according to a statement obtained by TMZ.
Read the original report below.
Days after releasing a new anthology album, K-pop superstars BTS have announced they are taking a hiatus.
During a dinner where members of the group were sitting around the table, Suga casually said, “We’re going on a hiatus now. Should we talk about why were not doing the FESTA or making content?” Billboard reported.
RM said, “We have to accept that we’ve changed,” Billboard reported. “For me, it was like the group BTS was within my grasp until ‘On’ and ‘Dynamite,’ but after ‘Butter’ and ‘Permission to Dance,’ I didn’t know what kind of group we were anymore.”
RM also spoke about the problems he sees as endemic to K-pop and the “idol” system, saying there is too much pressure to create new music that doesn’t give artists the opportunity to grow and mature, Rolling Stone reported.
The group said they’re not disappearing forever, though. “We promise we will return someday, even more mature than we are now,” Jungkook said, E! News reported.
A spokesperson for BTS told Billboard that “BTS will continue to be active in various different formats, including working on solo projects.”
BTS, comprising RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, has been together for nine years, Variety reported.
>> Read: BTS releases new anthology album ‘Proof’
“I think we should spend some time apart to learn how to be one again,” J-Hope said. “I hope you don’t see this as a negative, and see it as a healthy plan. I think BTS will become stronger that way.”
Suga pointed out, “It’s not like we’re disbanding!”
The announced hiatus comes days after “Proof,” a three-disc album featuring 48 tracks curated by band members, was released.
BTS previously took a break from the spotlight for a month in 2019, and again at the end of 2021, Billboard reported.
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