The most googled questions about Korean superstars BTS right now center on their return: "Is BTS still together? Is BTS still in the army? Is BTS coming back in 2025? Is BTS disbanding?"
Longtime ARMY, fans who might have picked up with the group during the early days of the pandemic, and even casual listeners have likely wondered about what's in BTS's future. Jin, the first member to begin his mandatory military service in 2022, returned home in June 2024; since then, J-Hope has joined him. In June 2025, the remaining five members will finish their service — RM, Suga, V, Jimin, and Jungkook.
It feels simultaneously like BTS has been gone for years and that they never left. They've all released solo projects in the intervening years, and several have embarked (or will soon, in Jin's case) on sizable solo tours. BTS rapper and dancer J-Hope recently wrapped up his North American tour Hope on the Stage, and he had no trouble commanding an arena with solo songs like “MORE,” “Airplane,” and “Daydream.” But there was a special energy among fans when he performed BTS songs like “Mic Drop” and “Silver Spoon.” The way all seven BTS members come together creates the vibe that made them unstoppable in the early 2020s.
J-Hope reflected on this question of BTS's future in a new interview on Apple Music 1's The Zane Lowe Show. The full interview is out on April 29, but Teen Vogue has an exclusive clip of the musician talking about what's next for the group.
“I think that over time, we each refined our unique identities as each of us work on their own music, come out with their solo projects and do their own thing,” he said, in translation. “The funny thing for me is when our identities, which have taken shape in various ways, come together as BTS, I'm curious to see how it'll look like.”
And they have each evolved over time, as each performer has gravitated toward a different kind of music — RM, to existential and experimental hip-hop and rock; Jin, to pure pop and Korean ballads; Suga, to analytical rap and continued production for other artists; J-Hope, to old school hip-hop and swagger; V, to jazz and sentimental R&B; Jimin, to a kind of ‘90s/2000s bubblegum electrona-pop; and Jungkook, to hooky radio-friendly earworms. But those personas and inclinations aren't set in stone, and we could see even more evolutions in sound in the future.
“I look forward to June when our members will have completed their service,” J-Hope concluded. “We will quickly get together and talk about what BTS can do in the future. I think it's going to be a massive energy.” In the clip below, you can see how J-Hope grins at the thought.
In March, HYBE CEO Lee Jae Sang told shareholders that BTS “will need time for preparation and production before resuming activities. The company is also preparing by discussing with top-tier composers, but the artists themselves need time for deliberation and preparation … Typically, the process involves working on songs, releasing an album, and then going on tour. However, since BTS has already risen to the level of global top artists, they are continuously discussing their vision and their 'next' phase. It is necessary to consider and align with this direction carefully.”
Needing some time makes sense. Though it could mean there's no new BTS music in 2025, the extra space for BTS to really figure out who they are now and what kind of music they want to make going forward seems like a good plan: just before military service, they were focused on massive scale influence, especially in the west. They achieved that, now what?
“You start your career very early and as part of a group," RM told Spanish outlet El País while promoting his album Indigo. “There’s not a lot of time to be an individual, but that makes K-pop shine: it’s very young people all struggling really hard together.... You generate that energy that you only have in your 20s. You fight day and night to perfect the choreography, the videos, the music, and there’s an explosion, a Big Bang. Throughout our whole 20s we invested all of our energy and time in BTS. You get success, love, influence, power, and what’s next? The root of everything remains: the music.”
Tune in and listen to the full interview live for free on The Zane Lowe Show tomorrow, Tuesday April 29th at 10am PT / 1pm ET on Apple Music 1, or anytime on demand with an Apple Music subscription.
