Happy birthday Jungkook: BTS singer turns 26 – fans celebrate around the world with ads and charity donations
- Billboards, subway stations and shopping centres around the world have been emblazoned with birthday wishes for BTS singer Jungkook, 26 on Friday
- The singer, the sixth band member to release a solo single, and who sang at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has yet to sign up for military service in South Korea
Jungkook, the youngest member of K-pop boy band BTS, turns 26 today, and his fans around the world want to make sure everyone knows it.
Fan site Jungkook Global Website has paid for a birthday message on a billboard in New York’s Times Square, while Jungkook China delivered well wishes on the screens at the COEX Media Tower in Seoul.
The singer’s Hungarian fans have lit up billboards at the Allee Shopping Centre in Budapest, while his Japanese fans did the same in Shinjuku in Tokyo. Bangkok, too, is celebrating his birthday – with a billboard at the city’s Empire Tower skyscraper.
The pop star’s fan clubs have raised money to make donations in his name for various causes. Jungkook Japan, for example, has donated 10 million won (US$7,500) to Seoul National University’s Children’s Hospital – a place which the singer himself has previously donated money to, to the tune of 1 billion won.
The group’s members have been busy since they announced in June 2022 that they were going on a temporary break.
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They will have to soon – able-bodied South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to serve in the military for two years.
Born in Busan, South Korea, on September 1, 1997, Jungkook has not announced when he will join the military, but it will have to be by 2027, which will be his last year to enlist.
It is safe to say that Jungkook is enjoying a booming career as a member of the superstar group and also as a solo artist.
After dropping his debut solo single, “Seven”, on July 14, he became the first Asian act to top Spotify’s Weekly Top Songs – Global chart for six weeks consecutively.
“Seven” was named the third most streamed song of the summer on Spotify, following “Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma and “Where She Goes” by Bad Bunny.
In 2018, BTS were awarded the prestigious Order of Cultural Merit from the South Korean government in recognition of their efforts to promote Korean culture through their music.
The band have collaborated with many international artists, including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Charlie Puth and Nicki Minaj.
The singer has dipped his toe into sport, too. Jungkook released “Dreamers”, a song featuring Qatari artist Fahad Al Kubaisi, for the 2022 Fifa World Cup football tournament. He performed it during the tournament’s opening ceremony.
