It has finally happened. The members of BTS brought their talents to MTV Unplugged and delivered great performances, including their first English song “Dynamite”.
“It’s really an honor to be a part of the ‘MTV Unplugged’ legacy, where so many legends have performed,” group leader RM said at the start of the 30-minute broadcast. “We’re definitely thankful, honored we got to be a part of this.”
Since the 90s, MTV Unplugged has been a place for artists to showcase their talents in a more intimate way for their fans. There have been memorable performances from artist like Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Nirvana and Shakira to name a few. BTS’ production included all of their original members: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, V, Jimin and Jungkook. The performances showed why BTS deserved to be Time magazine’s 2020 Entertainer of the Year.
One of the biggest surprises of the night was the return of bandmember, Suga who had taken some time off to recovery from shoulder surgery. According to Big Hit Entertainment, BTS’ production company, the surgery was needed because it was “a problem that had constantly been a health and wellness issue” for the singer.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on stage, and I missed it a lot while I was recovering,” Suga said. “It feels good to be performing again together. I’m very happy.”
MTV Unplugged has performances that focus on the visuals and a lot of intimate moments. It also features behind-the-scenes content as well as interviews. BTS also had a musical surprise by covering Coldplay’s “Fix You”.
The creative center of the MTV Unplugged special was a behind-the-scenes look at BTS’ most recent album Be, which released last November. They discussed how the global coronavirus pandemic had an influence on the music, and their unwavering dedication to their fans. “We miss you ARMY so much,” Jungkook said. “We look forward to seeing you again, and until then we will continue to stay by your side this year with good music.”
“Blue & Grey” is one of the songs inspired by the global pandemic. Member V wrote the song and explains “’Blue & Grey’ is a pop ballad track with charming acoustic guitar sounds. I tried to express my inner sadness and uncertainty so I translated the feeling of burning out as ‘blue’ and the sadness of not being able see the ARMY as ‘grey.’ The melody of the song is simple, so I paid closer attention to delivering emotions through the lyrics.”
The show ends with high energy as BTS took the stage to perform “Dynamite”, their first song recorded entirely in English, first to debut No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and first to earn them a Grammy nomination. Throughout the show audiences can see their awards in the background and it underscores why they were selected to appear on MTV Unplugged.
BTS is currently the world’s greatest boyband. However, their success points to something more. There have been many singing groups from South Korea making original music that resonates with people around the world. Their genre of music, K-pop, has a profound impact on today’s generation. It will be interesting to see how far the genre will develop going forward.