Jung Kook

Jeon Jung-kook was born on September 1, 1997, in Busan, South Korea. His family consists of his parents and an elder brother. He attended Baekyang Elementary and Middle School in Busan. When he became an idol trainee, he transferred to Singu Middle School in Seoul.

In 2011, Jung Kook auditioned for the South Korean talent show Superstar K during its auditions in Daegu. Though he was not selected, he received casting offers from seven entertainment companies. He eventually chose to become a trainee under Big Hit Entertainment after seeing RM, now his fellow band member and leader in BTS. To work on his dance skills in preparation for his debut, he went to Los Angeles during the summer of 2012 to receive dance training from Movement Lifestyle. In June 2012, he appeared in Jo Kwon's "I'm Da One" music video and was a backup dancer for Glam before his debut.

He graduated from the School of Performing Arts Seoul, an arts high school, in 2017. In November 2016, he decided to forgo taking the CSATs, Korea's nationwide university entrance exam. In March 2022, he received his degree from Global Cyber University's Department of Broadcasting and Entertainment. He received the President's Award, the school's highest honor.

On June 12, 2013, Jung Kook made his debut as a member of BTS with the release of the single 2 Cool 4 Skool. Under BTS, he has sung three solo songs. The first, a pop track titled "Begin", from the 2016 album Wings, tells his story of moving to Seoul at a young age to become an idol and expresses his gratitude towards his bandmates for taking care of him during that time. The second, a future bass song titled "Euphoria", was released with an accompanying nine-minute short film on April 5, 2018, as the introduction to the third part of BTS' "Love Yourself" series. Produced by DJ Swivel, the song charted at number five on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100. Its full studio version was included on BTS' Love Yourself: Answer compilation album, released on August 24. The third solo, "My Time", off the band's 2020 studio album Map of the Soul: 7, is an R&B song about forgoing teenage experiences because of his career and charted at number 84 on the US Billboard Hot 100. "Euphoria" and "My Time" are the first and second longest-charting solo tracks among K-pop singers on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, having spent a record 90 and 85 weeks respectively on the ranking.