Following nine years of successful collaboration, members of the globally popular K-Pop band BTS decided to take a break to focus on solo careers.

The announcement was made during the recently held FESTA dinner, a televised event where BTS members celebrated their debut anniversary. Their hour-long conversation has been uploaded to their official YouTube channel.

Watch them here (click on CC for English subtitles):

The hiatus of the BTS band has sent shares of Hybe, the agency that manages BTS, southbound. Hybe made its trading debut on KOSPI in October 2020. On Wednesday, the stock was down 24.61 percent around 11.15 IST.

Hybe shares opened at South Korean Won (KRW) 168,000 on Wednesday after closing at KRW 193,000 on Tuesday. Within the first hour of trading, Hybe fell as far as KRW 140,000, knocking off about $1.7 billion of market capitalisation before rebounding to KRW 145,5000.

The South Korean band leader Namjoon (also known as RM) said they intend to take a break as "K-Pop Idol thing is a constant work", which doesn't give them time to focus on their careers as solo performers.

He also expressed satisfaction that they have achieved much as a collective. Another BTS member Jimin said "it was a tough decision" and that all band members "feel bad for letting down their fans".

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A statement issued by the band read, “We can’t help but think of our fans no matter what. We want to be the kind of artistes that are remembered by our fans. I think that’s why we are going through a rough patch right now. We are trying to find our identity, and that’s an exhausting and long process.”

The BTS announcement comes after they were named as the world's best-selling artists of 2021 in a chart recently compiled by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a non-profit body founded in Italy and registered in Switzerland.

However, BTS member ‘V’ has clarified that the group was not splitting for good. He said they would reunite later but didn't give any specific timeline for it.

BTS members RM, Jungkook, Jin, Jimin, Suga, J-Hope and V, have all released music as solo artistes. The seven members of BTS are aged between 24 and 29 years. As a band, their most famous hits include — Dynamite, Butter, and the Coldplay collaboration My Universe.

ALSO READ: After J-Hope, BTS member Jungkook tests COVID-19 positive

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)

First Published:Jun 15, 2022 11:26 AM IST