BTS celebrated their 9th anniversary with a BTS Festa, which is a dinner that is a part of their annual founding celebration.
The dinner is based on an honest conversation between the band members, and the group announced that their next step will be solo projects, explaining that they will be needing a very long break.
However, HYBE Entertainment, in a statement, clarified the details, saying that BTS' solo project plan is not an obstacle as they will continue their work on projects as a group as well as individually.
"BTS has not stopped... the members will focus more on individual projects right now."
In the one-hour BTS Festa video, the members ( Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) detail their successful journey together before moving on to discuss their plans to pursue solo business. .
RM stated: "While we've had incredible success as a band, the band's members still need to evolve and mature as individuals and artists,"
J-Hope added, "I think we should spend some time apart to learn how to be one again.. I hope you won't take this as a negative thing, and see it as a healthy plan. I think BTS will get stronger this way."
The group continued, saying that the decision was not easy to make, expressing sadness at the possibility of ARMY -BTS's official fandom name- disappointment.
In an effort to lighten the mood for Jimin, "We can't help but think of our fans no matter what, we want to be the kind of artist our fans remember." Suga returns and comments, "It's not like we're breaking up!"
According to the BTS members, there are plans for solo releases from J-Hope and Suga, who have previously released singles in previous years. Jungkook will also be releasing a solo album.
Although the group hasn't revealed a schedule for solo releases, confirmation of a new project from J-Hope does align with his upcoming performance as the first South Korean artist to headline the main stage at Lollapalooza — or any major American music festival, at the time.
