V — latest news, discussion & facts

V — latest news, discussion & facts — IJR

2013–present: BTS

Pre-debut, V was the "secret member" of BTS: fans were unaware of his existence as his agency wished to keep him a surprise. He later stated that the concept made him feel lonely and uneasy at the time as he thought it was because he might be cut from the lineup. On June 13, 2013, he made his debut as a member of BTS on Mnet's M Countdown with the track "No More Dream" from the band's debut single album 2 Cool 4 Skool. V was first credited for music composition on The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 (2015) extended play (EP), as a co-writer and producer of the song "Hold Me Tight"; he also contributed lyrics for the song "Fun Boyz". On the band's follow up EP, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2, V's melody was used for the song "Run". He co-wrote and composed his first solo track "Stigma" for BTS's 2016 studio album Wings. He also released, unofficially, a cover of "Hug Me" with bandmate J-Hope, and "Someone Like You" by Adele.

In May 2018, V's second solo song, "Singularity", was released as a trailer for BTS's then-upcoming third studio album, Love Yourself: Tear. The track made its UK radio debut on BBC Radio on October 25. One month after its release, The Guardian added "Singularity" to its "Top 50 songs for the month of June 2018" playlist, and Billboard included it in their critics' list of the "Top 50 BTS songs" at number 28. Overall, "Singularity" was generally well received by critics and mentioned on several year-end critic's lists. The New York Times ranked it twentieth on its list of "The 65 Best Songs of 2018" alongside "Fake Love", Los Angeles Times critic Mikael Wood named it the fourth "best and most replay worthy song of 2018", and Guardian critic Laura Snapes included it as one of her favourite tracks in her "Best Music of 2018: Albums and Tracks" list.

On October 24, 2018, V became one of the youngest recipients of the fifth-class Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit medal, awarded to him by Moon Jae-in, the President of South Korea alongside his BTS bandmates for their role in the spread of Korean culture.

V and J-Hope collaborated with Swedish singer Zara Larsson on the song "A Brand New Day" for the soundtrack album of the BTS World mobile game. It was released as a single on June 14, 2019, and debuted at number one on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart. He next collaborated with bandmate Jimin on the song "Friends"—later used in the 2021 Marvel film Eternals—and helped compose and write his third solo song "Inner Child", both of which were included on BTS's 2020 studio album Map of the Soul: 7.

In July 2021, V was appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, alongside his bandmates, to help "lead the global agenda for future generations" and "expand South Korea's diplomatic efforts and global standing" in the international community.

2016–present: Solo activities

In 2016, V made his acting debut with a supporting role in KBS2's historical drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth under his real name. He also collaborated with bandmate Jin on the duet single "It's Definitely You" for the show's soundtrack. In celebration of BTS's fourth anniversary, V released "4 O'Clock" on June 8, 2017, a song he co-produced with bandmate RM.

V released his first independent song, "Scenery", on January 30, 2019, through the BTS SoundCloud page. V wrote and composed the ballad and photographed the cover art himself. The track was produced by Big Hit producer Docskim, with additional contributions from Pdogg and Hiss Noise. It reached 100 million streams from 20 million in over fourteen days, a new record on the platform. Over the course of the two weeks following its release, "Scenery" broke the daily streaming record nine times. Seven months later, V released his second solo and first all-English song, "Winter Bear", through SoundCloud, accompanied by a self-directed music video via BTS's YouTube channel on August 9. He co-produced the track with RM, Hiss Noise, and Adora, and photographed the cover artwork under his pseudonym Vante.

In 2020, V contributed the indie pop single "Sweet Night" to the soundtrack of the JTBC drama Itaewon Class, released on March 13. Self-written and produced, it received generally favorable reviews for its composition, vocal performance and warm lyrics, debuting at number two on Billboard's Digital Songs chart in the United States. On December 25, he released the Christmas-themed song "Snow Flower" featuring Peakboy. A second holiday song, "Christmas Tree", followed in December 2021 as part of the original soundtrack for the Studio N television series Our Beloved Summer. Released as a digital single on December 24, it debuted at number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning V his first solo entry on the chart.

Switching over to television in 2022, V starred in the Disney+ reality series In the Soop: Friendcation with Peakboy, Park Seo-joon, Choi Woo-shik, and Park Hyung-sik; it premiered in July and ended in August.

He appeared in a second reality series, the Prime Video exclusive cooking-travel show Jinny's Kitchen, alongside Park Seo-joon and Choi, in February 2023. The following month, he was announced as a brand ambassador for the Indonesian investment company SimInvest and a global ambassador for the French luxury brand Celine. He became a brand ambassador for Cartier and the face of the Panthère de Cartier campaign in July. After that, Seoul Tourism announced V as the honorary tourism ambassador of Seoul 2023. "Scenery", "Winter Bear", and "Snow Flower" were made available on digital download and streaming platforms worldwide as official singles on August 28, ahead of V's debut solo EP Layover, which was released on September 8. Per Hanteo Chart, Layover recorded the highest first-week sales by a K-pop solo artist in history, with 2.1 million copies sold. In the US, it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, tying V with bandmates Jimin and Suga as the highest-charting Korean solo artists in Billboard chart history. In December, Compose Coffee officially announced V as its brand ambassador. In the same month, the single "Wherever U R" by UMI featuring V was released.

He became a global ambassador for electronics company Nothing in September 2026.