JIN

South Korean singer and songwriter Kim Seok-jin -- also known to fans as simply Jin -- broke records and topped charts around the world alongside his BTS bandmates. On the side, he also nurtured his own career, starting with solo showcases on BTS releases (2016's "Awake," 2018's "Epiphany," and 2020's "Moon"). In 2022, he issued his official debut solo single, "The Astronaut," co-written with Coldplay and Kygo. Born in 1992 in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, Jin was recruited as one of the vocalists of BTS in 2013. With his wide vocal range -- which stretched from a warm, comforting low end up to a clean falsetto -- he added soul and heart to the BTS equation. Across the septet's Korean-, Japanese-, and English-language catalog, he flexed his songwriting muscles on solo tracks that were included on the group's 2016 album Wings (the heartfelt "Awake"), 2018's Love Yourself: Answer (the standout ballad "Epiphany"), and 2020's Map of the Soul: 7 (the bouncy pop/rock "Moon"). Outside of the band's main activities, he teamed with fellow BTS vocalist V on the piano-backed collaboration "It's Definitely You" (from 2016's Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth soundtrack) and Jungkook and Suga on the latter's "So Far Away" from his rap mixtape Agust D. On his own, Jin issued the acoustic "Tonight" in 2019, following with "Abyss" in 2020. The next year, he contributed the main theme to the television drama Jirisan, "Yours." Later in 2021, he scored an unexpected viral hit with the pulsing dance track "Super Tuna," a track just over a minute long that spawned a social media dance challenge and kept him atop streaming video charts. In 2022, Jin joined "My Universe" collaborators Coldplay and electronic producer Kygo for his official debut solo single, "The Astronaut," a soaring love song backed by vocals from Chris Martin. The song debuted live in Buenos Aires as part of Coldplay's global livestream of that particular Music of the Spheres tour stop.
© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo