BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they expanded their musical style to incorporate a wide range of genres, while their lyrics have focused on subjects including mental health, the troubles of school-age youth and coming of age, loss, the journey towards self-love, individualism, and the consequences of fame and recognition. Their discography and adjacent work has also referenced literature, philosophy and psychology, and includes an alternate universe storyline.

BTS debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool. BTS released their first Korean and Japanese-language studio albums, Dark & Wild and Wake Up respectively, in 2014. The group's second Korean studio album, Wings (2016), was their first to sell one million copies in South Korea. By 2017, BTS had crossed into the global music market and led the Korean Wave into the United States, becoming the first Korean ensemble to receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their single "Mic Drop", as well as the first act from South Korea to top the Billboard 200 with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018). In 2020, BTS became one of the few groups since the Beatles (in 1966–1968) to chart four US number-one albums in less than two years, with Love Yourself: Answer (2018) becoming the first Korean album certified Platinum by the RIAA; in the same year, they also became the first all-South Korean act to reach number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 with their Grammy-nominated single "Dynamite". Follow-up releases "Savage Love", "Life Goes On", "Butter", and "Permission to Dance" made them the fastest act to earn four US number-one singles since Justin Timberlake in 2006.

, BTS is the best-selling artist in South Korean history according to the Circle Chart, having sold in excess of 40 million albums. Their studio album Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) is the third best-selling album of all time in South Korea, as well as the first in the country to surpass both four and five million registered sales. They are the first non-English-speaking and Asian act to sell out concerts at Wembley Stadium and the Rose Bowl (Love Yourself World Tour, 2019), and were named the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) Global Recording Artist of the Year for both 2020 and 2021. The group's accolades include multiple American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and nominations for five Grammy Awards. Outside of music, they have addressed three sessions of the United Nations General Assembly and partnered with UNICEF in 2017 to establish the Love Myself anti-violence campaign. Featured on Time international cover as "Next Generation Leaders" and dubbed the "Princes of Pop", BTS has also appeared on Time lists of the 25 most influential people on the internet (2017–2019) and the 100 most influential people in the world (2019), and in 2018 became the youngest recipients of the South Korean Order of Cultural Merit for their contributions in spreading the Korean culture and language.

On June 14, 2022, the group announced a scheduled pause in group activities to enable the members to complete their mandatory South Korean military service, with a reunion planned for 2025. Jin, the oldest member, enlisted on December 13, 2022, followed by J-Hope on April 18, 2023, and Suga on September 22, 2023.

Name
BTS stands for the Korean phrase  (), which translates literally to 'Bulletproof Boy Scouts'. According to member J-Hope, the name signifies the group's desire "to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets". In Japan, they are known as . In July 2017, BTS announced that their name would also stand for "Beyond the Scene" as part of their new brand identity. This extended the meaning of their name to encompass the idea of growth "from a boy to an adult who opens the doors that are facing forward".

History

2010–2014: Formation and early years

BTS was formed in 2010, after Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk wanted to form a hip hop group around RM (Kim Nam-joon), an underground rapper well known on the music scene in Seoul. At the time, physical album sales were on the decline and digital revenues were not yet high enough to compensate. Seeing a need for diversified income streams, Bang decided to form an idol group instead, because of the potential for live concert performances and passionate support from fans of such groups. Many trainees refused to become part of an idol group, but J-Hope, RM, and Suga remained. Bang chose to vary from the usual, highly regimented idol groups and create one where the members would be individuals rather than an ensemble and free to express themselves. Auditions were held in 2010 with plans to launch the following year. The band members lived together, practicing up to 15 hours a day, and first performed before a small crowd of industry insiders in 2013.

BTS's representation by Big Hit, rather than one of the three agencies that dominated K-pop at the time, allowed the individual members leeway to express their individuality and have input into the music. On June 12, 2013, BTS released their debut single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, along with the lead single "No More Dream", neither of which sold particularly well at the time. On June 13, 2013, BTS made their stage debut on M Countdown with the single, "No More Dream". Nevertheless, according to Kathy Sprinkel in her book on BTS, that single was "spotlighting young people's anxiety in the face of lofty parental expectations, sent shock waves through the K-pop ranks. Here was a musical act that wasn't pulling any punches. More specifically, they had a point of view, and they weren't afraid to take on topics that are considered taboo in South Korean society and elsewhere." The album reached the top five on South Korea's Gaon Music Chart. In 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS employed an old-school hip-hop sound from the 1990s. The album's release was followed by appearances on Korean music shows, which caught the attention of reviewers and viewers.

In September 2013, BTS released the second entry in their "school trilogy": the EP, O!RUL8,2?. The album was released alongside the single "N.O." Similarly to 2 Cool 4 Skool, the new release had a theme of students feeling under pressure and needing to sacrifice their dreams and aspirations. According to scholar Kyung Hyun Kim, many of BTS's earlier works such as "N.O." and "No More Dreams" were "expressions of rebellion against the establishment that tapped into Korean teenagers' frustrations with the country's educational system" and, he stated, helped them build a fan base among young people in North America and Europe. That same month, BTS starred in their own variety show, SBS MTV's Rookie King Channel Bangtan, in which members parodied variety shows such as VJ Special Forces and MasterChef Korea. At the end of the year, BTS was recognized with several New Artist of the Year awards in South Korea.

2014–2017

Skool Luv Affair and first concert tour

The last entry in BTS "school trilogy", the Skool Luv Affair EP, was released in February 2014. The release topped the Gaon Album Chart, and appeared on Billboards World Albums Chart for the first time, peaking at number three. The EP was supported by two singles: "Boy in Luv" and "Just One Day". Following Skool Luv Affairs release, BTS played at their first fan meeting in Seoul, selecting the name A.R.M.Y. for the fan club. In July 2014, BTS hosted a concert in West Hollywood, their first show in the United States, and in August, they appeared at KCON in Los Angeles.

In August 2014, BTS released the album Dark & Wild, which reached number two in South Korea. It was supported by two singles: "Danger" and "War of Hormone". The group embarked on their first concert tour, 2014 BTS Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, which lasted from October to December 2014. The band launched their first Japanese studio album, Wake Up, in December 2014; the release peaked at number three on the Oricon Albums Chart. After the album's release, BTS held their 1st Japan Tour 2015 Wake Up: Open Your Eyes in February 2015. The Red Bullet Tour that had begun on October 17, 2014, in South Korea was resumed on June 6, 2015, in Malaysia and toured Australia, North America and Latin America before ending in Hong Kong that August. In all, the entire tour attracted 80,000 spectators at 18 cities in 13 countries.

Mainstream breakthrough and commercial success
BTS experimented with other styles of music besides hip hop in The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1, released in 2015. BTS wanted to express the beauty and anxiousness of youth and settled on the title of "花樣年華" (), loosely interpreted to define "youth" metaphorically as "the most beautiful moment in life". The album served as an introduction to their youth trilogy, a triptych of albums dedicated to the struggles of young people. The single "I Need U" was a top-five hit in South Korea and garnered the group a win on SBS MTV's The Show. The second single "Dope ()" reached number three on Billboards World Digital Song Sales chart and its music video was viewed over 100 million times on YouTube. The group began the world tour extension of their Red Bullet Tour in June, titled 2015 Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, visiting cities throughout Asia, Oceania, North America, and Latin America. "For You", in Japanese, was released together with Japanese versions of "War of Hormone" and "Let Me Know" on June 17, 2015, and immediately topped Oricon's daily chart.

In November, BTS commenced their third concert tour, 2015 BTS LIVE "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: On Stage", which began with three sold-out shows in Seoul, and was extended to Japan. Thematically, the EP focused more on the serious and speculative aspects of youth, touching on the pursuit of success, loneliness, affection for their origins, and the suffering of the younger generation due to unfavorable conditions in current society. The album topped the weekly Gaon Album and Billboard World Albums charts. It also marked their first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart, making it for one week at number 171, and eight of the tracks appeared on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart.

Their compilation album and the finale to their "youth trilogy", The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever was released on May 2, 2016. With 300,000 presold copies, it included three new singles: "Epilogue: Young Forever", "Fire", and "Save Me", which debuted in the top three spots on the Billboard World Digital Charts. The album topped the Gaon Album Chart in South Korea for two consecutive weeks and reached number 107 on the Billboard 200. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever won Album of the Year at the 2016 Melon Music Awards. BTS embarked on their Asia tour extension, 2016 BTS LIVE "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue" from May to August 2016. Tickets for the 14 shows in 10 Asian cities sold out, some in as little as five seconds.

In September 2016, BTS released their second Japanese studio album Youth. The album sold 44,547 on the first day of its release, and charted 1st in the Oricon Daily Album Chart. The album was eventually certified Gold with sales of roughly over 100,000 in Japan. It was followed one month later in October, by their next studio album Wings, which combined the themes of youth presented in their previous "youth trilogy" with temptation and adversity. The album and its tracks, including the single "Blood Sweat & Tears" immediately rose to the top on eight music charts, including the Gaon Music Chart, and led the iTunes album charts in 23 countries. Wings opened at number 26 on the Billboard 200, with 16,000 album-equivalent units in the US for the week of its release, the best week ever there for a K-pop album. It became the best-selling album in Gaon Album Chart history.

You Never Walk Alone and Love Yourself: Her
In February 2017, BTS released the repackaged edition of Wings entitled You Never Walk Alone. The 700,000 pre-orders of it (an increase from the 500,000 pre-orders of Wings) helped break the record for most albums sold in a month in South Korea, as it reached 1.49 million copies by the end of its first month. The lead single was "Spring Day" and it won Best Song of the Year at the 2017 Melon Music Awards. BTS's second world tour, 2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour, began in February. On the tour, BTS played arenas in the US, such as New Jersey's Prudential Center and California's Honda Center. Tickets for the North American leg sold out within hours and two shows were added. After completing the North American leg, BTS attended the 24th Billboard Music Awards in May and won Top Social Artist, the first K-pop group to win a Billboard award. BTS fans cast over 300million votes for the band and broke a six-year winning streak held by Justin Bieber, a performer with 100million Twitter followers. This caused the international media to focus on the ability of BTS's fandom to propel the group to such a victory.

BTS released a remake of Seo Taiji's "Come Back Home" (1995) in July 2017, giving it new lyrics but maintaining the theme of urging societal change. Later that year, BTS embarked on their "Love Yourself" album series, with theme of the enlightenment of self-love through the "起承轉結" () narrative sequence of "beginning, development, turn, and conclusion." BTS released its first part, their fifth EP, Love Yourself: Her, on September 18. RM considered "DNA", the lead single from that album, as "taking BTS to new ground. We tried to apply new grammar and perspectives." He said of the album, "I believe it's going to be the starting point of a second chapter of our career; the beginning of our Chapter Two." Sonically, the EP served as "a dual exploration of the group's electro-pop and hip-hop leanings".

Love Yourself: Her debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200. The album had 1,664,041 sales in May 2017 to lead the Gaon Chart, and was the first in 16 years to exceed 1.2 million copies sold since g.o.d's fourth album Chapter 4 (2001). "DNA" was released simultaneously with the EP, and its music video accumulated 21 million views in its first 24 hours. It became BTS's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, charting at number 85, making them the first K-pop boy band to reach that chart. The single rose to number 67 the following week and became the highest-charting song on the Hot 100 for any K-pop group. A remix of "Mic Drop" from the album, featuring Desiigner, was released as a single and peaked at number 28, the first time a K-pop group had cracked the top forty. Both singles attained Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in early 2018. "Mic Drop" achieved Platinum status in the US later that year.

In November 2017, BTS became the first K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards. BTS won Artist of the Year at the 19th Mnet Asian Music Awards in December, winning for the second consecutive year. They released "DNA" and "Mic Drop" together with a new song "Crystal Snow" as a single album in Japan on December 6, 2017, though the songs were made digitally available elsewhere. It topped the Oricon Chart for the week of its release. It was the only album by a foreign artist to be certified Double Platinum in Japan in 2017.

Later that month, they made their Japanese television prime time music show debut on Music Station Super Live, and ended the year performing on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

In 2017, BTS partnered with UNICEF on the "Love Myself" campaign, intended to help end violence, abuse and bullying, and to promote self-esteem and well-being among young people. Both Big Hit and the group pledged money to promote the campaign, and BTS sold special "Love Myself" merchandise and set up dedicated booths at concert venues. The campaign was renewed in 2021, with UNICEF deeming it to have been successful.

2018–2020

Love Yourself album series
BTS won major awards at the Golden Disc and Seoul Music Awards in January 2018. In March, the group premiered an eight-episode documentary titled Burn the Stage that offered a behind-the-scenes look at their 2017 Wings Tour, exclusively on YouTube Premium. Their third Japanese studio album, Face Yourself, was released on April 4, 2018, and quickly reached the top 5 of the U.S iTunes Albums chart. A nine-minute short film, titled Euphoria: Theme of "Love Yourself: Wonder" and featuring the song "Euphoria", followed the next day as a prelude to the group's third Korean-language studio album, Love Yourself: Tear. BTS promoted Tears May 18, 2018, release with an appearance at the 25th Billboard Music Awards two days later, where they made their initial BBMA performance with their single, "Fake Love". The group also won Top Social Artist for a second consecutive time. The album coincided with the "" or "turn" of the series, touching on the tortuous enlightenment of loving without being loved, the pains and sorrows of separation, and providing encouragement to those without dreams.

Love Yourself: Tear debuted at number one its first week on the Billboard200, becoming BTS's first number-one album in the US and the first K-pop album to top the US albums chart. It also became BTS's first top-10 release in Britain, reaching number eight on the UK Albums Chart. "Fake Love" became BTS's top-10 single on the Hot100, the first time a song sung mostly in a language other than English had debuted in the top 10. BTS released their compilation album Love Yourself: Answer in August, 2018. The album was supported by the single "Idol" and its alternative digital release featuring Nicki Minaj.

Love Yourself: Answer sold over 1.9 million copies on the Gaon Album Chart in August2018. The album became BTS's second number-one on the Billboard 200 and led to their highest US sales week in the country to that point with 185,000 album equivalent units. In November 2018, Love Yourself: Answer became the first Korean language album to be certified Gold by the RIAA. "Idol" and Love Yourself: Answer both received Platinum certifications in the US, with sales of more than 1million.

In conjunction with Love Yourself: Answers release in August2018, BTS commenced their world tour, BTS World Tour: Love Yourself, with two concerts in the Seoul Olympic Stadium, which sold out in a matter of seconds, as did others of the 22 shows in 12 countries. In October, BTS released their collaboration with Steve Aoki "Waste It on Me", their first all-English language feature. For the final stop of the North American leg, the group performed at Citi Field in New York City, marking the first time a Korean act performed at a US stadium. According to StubHub, BTS was the second best-selling concert act outside the US, behind only Ed Sheeran. That October, BTS renewed their contract with Big Hit Entertainment through 2026.

In early November 2018, a popular Japanese music show cancelled BTS's performance, citing a T-shirt a member wore the year before, bearing a photograph of a mushroom cloud following the bombing of Nagasaki. In the same month, the Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) stated that BTS owed an apology for that shirt, and for clothing and flags with Nazi symbolism. Big Hit Entertainment issued an apology, explaining that the images were not intended to be hurtful to the victims of Nazism or atomic bombings and that the group and management would take steps to prevent future mistakes. They also stated the flags were meant to be a commentary on the Korean school system. The apology was accepted by SWC and the Korean Atomic Bomb Victim Association. John Lie, in his scholarly article on BTS, opined that the Nazi incident showed that the group is not tightly controlled, as are other K-pop ensembles, whose every move seems scripted, and that the members have opinions and are not afraid to express them.

At the 20th Mnet Asian Music Awards, BTS won Artist of the Year and ranked number eight on Billboard's year-end Top Artist Chart and were also the number two act of the year in the Duo/Group ranking, only behind Imagine Dragons. They were also listed as one of the 50 most influential people by Bloomberg for their "willingness to address social issues, mental health, and politics, despite being in a genre often painted as bubble gum pop".

Map of the Soul: Persona, stadium world tour and BTS World
In February 2019, BTS, for the first time, were presenters at the Grammy Awards. In April, Time named them one of the Time 100, the most influential people of 2019. Their EP, Map of the Soul: Persona, was released on April12 with the single "Boy with Luv" (), featuring American singer Halsey. The EP's release was followed by a performance on Saturday Night Live, the first K-pop act to appear there. Map of the Soul: Persona became the first Korean-language album to reach the number one position in both the UK and Australia, and the group's third album to top the Billboard200 in less than a year. Map of the Soul: Persona became the best-selling album ever in South Korea in terms of physical copies sold, with more than 3.2 million sales in less than a month. "Boy with Luv" debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2019, the highest placement ever for a K-pop song.

Following their two wins at the 26th Billboard Music Awards in May, including for Top Duo/Group, BTS embarked on their world tour stadium extension, Love Yourself: Speak Yourself. Due to the demand, BTS added more shows after tickets for the first dates sold out within two hours. In the lead up to the release of their mobile game BTS World, in June 2019 BTS released "Dream Glow" featuring Charli XCX, "A Brand New Day" with Zara Larsson, and "All Night" with Juice Wrld. The group released the song "Heartbeat" with a music video from the game's official soundtrack, titled BTS World: Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack was certified Double Platinum by Gaon. On July 3, 2019, pre-orders for the single "Lights" crossed one million copies, marking the first time a foreign artist had accomplished this in Japan since Celine Dion in 1995. "Lights" debuted at number 81 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for the chart issue date of July 8, 2019, and reached number one the following week. On August 8, 2019, "Lights" received Million certification from the RIAJ, denoting shipments of one million copies.

Love Yourself: Her and Love Yourself: Tear both crossed 2 million copies in August. All three albums of the Love Yourself series have sold more than 2 million copies each in South Korea. Love Yourself: Tear gained silver certification by the BPI for sales in the UK, becoming their third album to do so following Love Yourself: Answer and Map of the Soul: Persona. For the final stop of their record-breaking Love Yourself: Speak Yourself World Tour, the group played Seoul's Olympic Stadium. BTS was the third top-grossing touring musical act of 2019. That same month, they released a remix version of the song "Make It Right" featuring Lauv. In November, BTS won three times at the 2019 American Music Awards, for Best Tour, Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock, and Favorite Social Artist (the second consecutive year).

In December, they attended both the 2019 Melon Music Awards and 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards. In each case, they became the first group to sweep the four major awards. At the 34th Golden Disc Awards, BTS became the first artists in history to win grand prizes in both the physical and digital categories in a single year. Map of the Soul: Persona was named the second best-selling physical album of 2019 in the US by Nielsen Music behind Taylor Swift's Lover and was ranked sixth overall on the chart of Top10 Albums (Total Sales) in the US. BTS wrapped 2019 as the fourth-highest-ranked group on Billboards Top Billboard 200 Artists–Duo/Group ranking, behind Queen, Imagine Dragons and the Beatles. Map of the Soul: Persona was named as the third best-selling album of 2019 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), making BTS the first Korean artist to be listed on the Global Top10 Album Chart in consecutive years.  The IFPI named BTS as one of the best-selling artists of 2019 for a second consecutive year, making them the first non-English speaking act to achieve this.

Map of the Soul: 7, "Dynamite" and Be
In January 2020, BTS released "Black Swan" along with a choreography art film performed by MN Dance Company of Slovenia as the first single from their album Map of the Soul: 7. Album distributor Dreamus reported that stock pre-orders of the album reached a record-breaking 4.02 million. Later that month, BTS performed at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, making BTS the first Korean act to perform at the Grammys. Map of the Soul: 7 was released on February 21 to favorable reviews. The album was supported by the single "On" and an alternative digital release of it featuring Australian singer Sia. According to Gaon Chart, Map of the Soul: 7 sold over 4.1 million copies in nine days after its release, surpassing Map of the Soul: Persona to become the best-selling album in South Korean history and the first album to be certified quadruple million. The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200, making BTS the fastest group to earn four number one albums since the Beatles in 1966–1968. "On" debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, giving BTS its first top-five hit, and the most Hot 100 top-10 entries of any Korean act, with three. BTS planned to support the Map of the Soul album series with a concert series, Map of the Soul Tour, beginning in April, but this was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2020, BTS became the first K-pop artist to sell more than 20 million albums cumulatively, making them the best-selling artist in South Korean history. That month, amid the pandemic restrictions, BTS held a two-day online streaming concert event titled Bang Bang Con, where the group shared footage of past concerts on their YouTube channel. On June 7, BTS headlined YouTube's Dear Class of 2020 online graduation event, performing "Boy with Luv", "Spring Day", and "Mikrokosmos". Their commencement speeches highlighted their own graduations and offered "messages of hope and inspiration for the class of 2020 in both Korean and English". On June 14, BTS held an online live concert, Bang Bang Con: The Live, as part of the seventh anniversary of their debut. It garnered peak viewership of  756,000live viewers in 107countries and territories, setting the record for the largest audience for a paid virtual concert. On June 19, BTS released the Japanese single, "Stay Gold", from their fourth Japanese album, Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey, which was released worldwide on July 14. It surpassed 564,000copies in its first week, breaking the record for highest first week album sales by male foreign artists in Japan.

BTS released their first English-language single, "Dynamite", on August 21. "Dynamite" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, earning BTS their first chart topper and making them the first all-South Korean act to earn a number one single in the US. The single also topped Billboard new Global 200 for the week ending September 24, as well as Global Excluding US charts, becoming the first single to top both simultaneously. "Dynamite" peaked at number five on the US Mainstream Top 40 and on the. Billboard Pop Singles chart, becoming their first Top 10 on each and the former the highest-charting entry by a Korean act. On August 31, BTS made their MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) debut with the first live performance of "Dynamite" and won four awards: Best Group, Best Choreography, Best Pop Video, and Best K-pop (the last three for their music video for "On"). On October 14, they performed the single at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards and won the Top Social Artist award for a fourth consecutive year.

On October 2, 2020, BTS released a remix of Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo's single "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)". It topped the Hot 100. On October 10 and 11, BTS hosted a two-day virtual pay-per-view concert at KSPO Dome in Seoul, called Map of the Soul ON:E, which drew 993,000 viewers from 191 countries and territories. On November 20, BTS released their fifth Korean studio album Be, led by the single "Life Goes On". "Life Goes On" debuted at number one on the Hot 100, BTS's third consecutive US number-one single in three months and the first song performed primarily in Korean to top the chart.

On November 24, 2020, BTS became the first Korean pop artists recognized by the Recording Academy when "Dynamite" received a nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The group won the Special International Music Award at the 62nd Japan Record Awards. Kim, in his book on the influence of Korean popular culture, suggested that 2020, the worst year in many people's lives, was a noteworthy one for Korean culture, with Parasite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture and BTS posting three number-one hits on the Billboard Global 200.

 2021–present
"Butter", "Permission to Dance" and Proof

On March 4, 2021, the IFPI named BTS its Global Recording Artist of the Year for 2020, the first Asian and first non-English speaking act to top the ranking. BTS occupied three spots in the Global Album Sales Chart of 2020, with Map of the Soul: 7 at number one, Be (Deluxe Edition) at number two, and Map of the Soul: 7–The Journey at number eight. On the newly launched Global Album All Format Chart, Map of the Soul: 7 claimed first place and Be (Deluxe Edition) claimed fourth. On March 14, 2021, BTS performed "Dynamite" at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, becoming the first Korean nominee to perform, though they did not win the award. On April 1, BTS released "Film Out", the first single from their then-upcoming Japanese compilation album, BTS, the Best. BTS held a two-day online streaming event on their YouTube channel beginning April 17, titled Bang Bang Con 21, and aired three of their previous in-person concerts.

On May 21, BTS released their second English-language single, "Butter". It debuted at number one on the Hot 100—their fourth number one in nine months—making them the quickest act to achieve four chart-toppers since Justin Timberlake in 2006, and the fastest group since the Jackson 5 in 1970. Their next English-language single, "Permission to Dance", was released on July 9. It became BTS's eighth number-one on the Digital Songs chart, extending their record as the group with the most number-one entries on the ranking. On September24, 2021, the band released the single "My Universe" with Coldplay. The single debuted at number one on the Hot 100, making it the first collaboration between two groups to debut at number one. The band held an online concert, titled Permission to Dance on Stage, on October 24, 2021, in Seoul. On November 23, "Butter" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Between November 27 and December 2, BTS held their first live performances before an in-person audience since before the pandemic. The band played four sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as a continuation of their Permission to Dance on Stage concert series.

On January 15, 2022, a fictional webtoon based on BTS, titled 7Fates: Chakho, was released. The comic surpassed 15million views globally in its first two days of availability and became the highest-viewed title ever launched by Webtoon. The band held three limited-capacity concerts at Seoul Olympic Stadium on March 10, 12, and 13—the largest music gatherings approved by the South Korean government since the pandemic restrictions were imposed—with a total audience of 45,000people. On April 3, BTS performed "Butter" at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, though the song did not win the award for which it was nominated. On April 8, the band earned seven nominations at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards and won three, making them the most-nominated and the most-awarded group in the show's history.

On June 10, 2022, BTS released their three-CD anthology album Proof . On June 14, during their ninth anniversary celebrations, the band announced a temporary suspension of group activities to focus on solo projects and other endeavors. Hybe Corporation, which owns Big Hit, clarified in subsequent statements that BTS was neither disbanding nor going on hiatus, but would be actively furthering their individual careers with the label's full support while still participating in group activities, including the filming of Run BTS. The incident caused Hybe Corporation's stock to decline rapidly, resulting in a decrease in market value of US$1.7billion. On August 24, Billboard magazine reported that BTS would be performing in Busan on October 15 in a benefit concert in support of the city's efforts to have a World Exposition in 2030, participating under the banner Yet to Come.

 Military service and contract renewal
In spite of the announcement of the October 2022 benefit concert, Hybe Corporation's stock prices dropped to below its original IPO amid continuing market speculation about the implications of the upcoming mandatory military enlistment of the band's members. Under South Korean laws, all able-bodied males must complete between 18 and 21 months of military service, usually by age 28. Bloomberg News reported the concert as a success, but also indicated that there were no further concert dates scheduled. It estimated that if the band members completed their service, Hybe Corporation would lose nearly US$10 billion dollars over ten years, with the loss to the South Korean economy at nearly US$39 billion.

In October 2022, Big Hit confirmed that Jin, the band's oldest member, aged 29, had withdrawn his enlistment deferral request. The other members planned to enlist later, with the group planning to reunite in 2025 following discharge. At the end of October 2022, BTS earned five nominations for the 2022 MAMA Awards, with the band members receiving eight further nominations as solo artists. On November 15, BTS earned three nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including a nomination for Best Music Video for "Yet to Come". "My Universe" was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, making BTS the only act to be nominated three years in a row in this category since its introduction in 2011. The band was also nominated for Album of the Year as featured artists on Coldplay's Music of the Spheres. Jin enlisted as an active duty soldier on December 13. On February 26, 2023, Big Hit Music announced that J-Hope had requested cancellation of the postponement of his military service.

Following their scheduled separation, the band's BTS 'Yet to Come' in Busan concert film was released on February 1, 2023. During a trip to Spain, RM told EFE that BTS "will come together again when we finish our military service, and we will look for new synergies between us to enter a second phase." Hybe chairman Bang Si-hyuk stated on March 15, 2023, that their comeback might not occur in 2025 since it was hard to target a specific date, and that they had not discussed their contract renewal yet. J-Hope enlisted as an active duty soldier on April 18. On May 12, BTS released a soundtrack "The Planet" for the South Korean animated series Bastions. To commemorate their tenth anniversary, the group released the song "Take Two" on June 9.

On September 20, 2023, Hybe confirmed through a press release that BTS will renew their exclusive contracts. The members will sign these agreements sequentially, considering their military service, after a board resolution with Big Hit Music, solidifying their commitment to future projects starting from 2025 onwards. Hybe expressed their anticipation for supporting BTS' group endeavors and pledged unwavering support to enhance their worldwide influence, ensuring the group's continuity even after completing their military service. Additionally, Big Hit Music announced a donation of  to the Korean Committee for UNICEF in appreciation of BTS and their fanbase, ARMY. The contribution is part of the "Love Myself" campaign, a joint effort launched with BTS in November 2017. On September 22, 2023, Suga enlisted as a social worker.

Artistry
Influences

BTS have cited Seo Taiji and Boys, Nas, Eminem, Kanye West, Drake, Post Malone, Charlie Puth, and Danger as musical inspirations. They have also cited Queen as an influence, saying they "grew up watching videos of Live Aid". During their concert at Wembley Stadium in London, Jin paid tribute to Queen by leading the crowd in a version of Freddie Mercury's "ay-oh" chant. "Hip Hop Phile" which was released when BTS's hip-hop concept was at its height, pays homage to the artists who influenced them, including the South Korean group Epik High, Jay-Z, Biggie, CL Smooth, and others.

Their 2016 album Wings was inspired by Hermann Hesse's coming of age novel, Demian. Their song "Blood Sweat & Tears" quotes Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and its music video features visual references to Herbert James Draper's The Lament for Icarus, Pieter Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, and Bruegel's The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Among the literary and other sources that have inspired their works are those by Haruki Murakami, Ursula K. Le Guin, Carl Jung, George Orwell and Nietzsche. The Love Yourself series was influenced by Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving, and their 2018 song "Magic Shop" from Love Yourself: Tear was inspired by James R. Doty's memoir Into the Magic Shop.

Musical style
Since their inception, BTS have emphasized hip hop as their musical base, largely due to the influence of RM and Suga's background as underground rappers; during early visits to the US, the group received mentoring from American rappers. Bang Si-hyuk previously acknowledged that K-pop as a whole draws from black music, and author Crystal S. Anderson stated, "BTS's rising popularity in the US represents the continuation of the ways that K-pop functions as part of a global R&B tradition." T.K. Park and Youngdae Kim of Vulture deemed the track "Outro: Her" from Love Yourself: Her as the best example of the group's understanding of old-school hip hop, with raps inspired by Chuck D and Tupac and jazzy chords from the 1990s to create a classic hip hop sound.

The release of "Blood Sweat & Tears" in 2016 accelerated BTS's transition from a hip hop to a pop group. Park and Kim noted that the song draws from dancehall, reggaeton, and moombahton but opts for a "baroque mysticism" rather than the "partylike atmosphere of its influences". The group also began incorporating traditional Korean elements into their music. For example, their single "Idol" (2018) features an adlib from Pansori, a Korean form of operatic storytelling, and vocal imitations of the sounds of Korean janggu drums.

While BTS maintains roots in hip hop, their sound has diversified. They first experimented with R&B, rock and jazz hip hop on Dark & Wild in 2014; EDM in their The Most Beautiful Moment in Life album series; moombahton and tropical house on Wings and You Never Walk Alone ; future bass and Latin pop in their Love Yourself album series; slow-dance ballads, emo rap, Afro pop, funk, trap, pop rock, and hip pop in their Map of the Soul album series; and disco in their single "Dynamite". The band members have explored different genres on solo tracks, such as neo soul on V's "Stigma" and flowing R&B on Jimin's "Lie".

Lyrical themes
Since their formation, BTS have believed that telling their own stories is the best way for the younger generation to relate to their music. Writing many of their own lyrics, the group discusses universal life experiences such as sadness and loneliness in their work and turn them into something lighter and more manageable. RM stated that BTS tries to avoid a preaching or reprimanding tone in their songs "because that's not the way that we want to spread our message ... We're born with different lives, but you cannot choose some things. So we thought that love, the real meaning of it, starts with loving ourselves and accepting some ironies and some destinies that we have from the very start." When asked if it is difficult to write about things like mental health, Suga responded,We feel that people who have the platform to talk about those things really should talk more, because they say depression is something where you go to the hospital and you're diagnosed, but you can't really know until the doctor talks to you ... More and more, I think artists or celebrities who have a voice should talk about these problems and bring it up to the surface.

Themes explored in BTS's discography range from exploring "the troubles and anxieties of school-age youth" to "themes like love, friendship, loss, death, and more." Early BTS songs, such as "No More Dream" and "N.O" from their school trilogy, were described by Tamar Herman as motivated by personal experiences with South Korea's rigid approach to education and called for change to the educational system and societal expectations. The members' experiences with South Korean youth culture also inspired the songs "Dope" and "Silver Spoon" () from their youth trilogy. These songs reference generational disparity and millennials giving up romantic relationships, marriage, children, proper employment, homes, and social life in the face of economic difficulties and societal ills while facing condemnation from the media and older generations. The group's label dubbed The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, the conclusion to their youth trilogy, "a special album that marks the conclusion of the epic journey of the series, containing the last stories told by young people who, despite an uncertain and insecure reality (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1) continue to surge forward (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2)." Wings focused on mental health, criticisms of the K-pop "idol" scene, and delivering a female empowerment message. The Love Yourself series introduced new themes regarding youth culture in South Korea, including the excitement of love, pain of farewell, and enlightenment of self-love. According to Kathy Sprinkel, BTS's 2020 "quarantine album" Be "chronicles the group's coming to terms with a suddenly new reality and offers support for their listeners going through the same upheaval and uncertainty".

BTS's lyrics have also addressed topics outside youth culture. The song "Am I Wrong" from Wings questioned societal apathy towards changing the status quo; the lyric "We're all dogs and pigs / we become dogs because we're angry" appeared to reference South Korean Ministry of Education official Na Hyang-wook, who advocated a caste system for the country and who reportedly described average people as "dogs and pigs". BTS released the song amid the 2016 South Korean political scandal that resulted in the impeachment of president Park Geun-hye. RM and Suga's personal struggles with mental health have inspired some of their music. "Not Today" from 2017's You Never Walk Alone is an anti-establishment anthem, urging "all the underdogs in the world" to keep fighting, and "Spring Day" honored the victims of the Sewol Ferry tragedy. Journalist Jeff Benjamin praised BTS in Fuse for "speak[ing] honestly about topics they deem important, even in a conservative society". Former South Korean president Moon Jae-in said: "Each of the seven members sings in a way that is true to himself and the life he wants to live. Their melody and lyrics transcend regional borders, language, culture, and institutions."

 Impact

On April 29, 2019, Time magazine named BTS one of the 100 most influential people of the year, labeling them the "Princes of Pop". Billboard executive Silvio Pietroluongo compared the group's influence to that of the Beatles. MRC Data executive Helena Kosinski noted that "although BTS weren't the first to open the doors to K-Pop worldwide, they were the first to become mainstream. They don't just appeal to young people but also to the 50s and 60s age demographic." The first non-English speaking artist to make the Global Artist Chart in 2018, BTS was the second best-selling artists worldwide across multiple media platforms, second only to Drake. In 2020, BTS became the first non-western and non-English speaking artist to be named IFPI's Global Recording Artist of the Year. In South Korea, BTS accounted for 41.9 percent of album sales in the first half of 2019, up from their market share of 25.3 percent the previous year.

In 2022, Youna Kim described BTS as having spearheaded the Korean Wave, representing the global expansion of Korean culture as effectively as Psy did in the previous decade and with the strength of influence that the Academy Award-winning South Korean film Parasite had in 2020. South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea, found in 2021 that BTS, including a "ripple effect" that included increased tourism to South Korea; increased interest in Korean culture, movies, and study of the Korean language; and added approximately US$5billion per year to South Korea's economy, a growth of about 0.5 percent. A 2018 study showed that, on average, 800,000foreigners per year had visited South Korea over the past four years for BTS-related reasons.

Writers identified BTS as leaders even among other highly influential K-pop groups such as Girls' Generation, Super Junior, Exo, Twice, and Blackpink and note that BTS's success shows the importance of a strong, active fan base in the age of social media, where fan campaigning can be as important as musical quality to a song's success. The group has also distinguished themselves at the forefront of the business side of the K-pop industry by pursuing less restrictive contracts with their management company to maximize their artistic originality and creativity. With this newer approach to career management, BTS created closer ties to the South Korean youth and encourage individuality and authenticity among their audience.

Diplomacy

In his 1990 essay Soft Power, political scientist Joseph Nye developed the concept of a second type of power different from traditional authoritarianism. Nye wrote, "This second aspect of power – which occurs when one country gets other countries to want what it wants – might be called co-optive or soft power in contrast with the hard or command power of ordering others to do what it wants.". Researchers such as Maud Quessard have applied the concept of soft power to BTS and their influence on entertainment diplomacy and international relations.  Youna Kim and Maud Quessard all read the currency of soft power as including culture, political values, and foreign policy, which applies to BTS's ability to be co-optive in their approach to spreading their message of harmony, acceptance, and addressing life's setbacks via their broad appeal on the international stage.

BTS was invited to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2018. That same year they performed in Paris before an audience of 400, including President Moon Jae-in and other officials, at the 2018 Korea-France Friendship Concert, a summit celebrating the friendly relations between France and South Korea. That year, BTS became the youngest recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit. Despite cultural medals traditionally being given to recipients with over 15 years of achievement, Moon recognized the group, five years into their career, for their contributions in spreading Korean culture and language worldwide. In September2019, BTS were mentioned by Moon while announcing strategies for the content industries, for having pioneered innovative business models through direct communication with fans. In 2020, BTS received the James A. Van Fleet Award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the promotion of US-Korea relations, the youngest honorees to receive the award. In July2021, they were appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture by President Moon. In their role as envoys, they help to "raise awareness on global agendas, such as sustainable development, to our future generations and to strengthen the nation's diplomatic power across the world" and appear at international events such as the 76th United Nations General Assembly. On May 31, 2022, BTS visited US President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination.

 Fandom

According to Kyung Hyun Kim, BTS's rise was facilitated by a great increase in music video programming and consumption on YouTube and the coming of an idol empire, including merchandising of nonmusical products, games, and fantasy fiction, as well as an expansion of online music fandom. The group has a large, highly organized, online community of fans known as ARMY (Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth), which translates the group's lyrics and social media posts into other languages and matches charitable contributions of BTS's members. As of 2020, some 40million ARMY members subscribe to the band's YouTube channel, with more than 30million following the official BTS Twitter and Instagram accounts. The fan community helps generate BTS's number-one chart rankings via coordinated campaigns on streaming platforms, as well as pushes to feature BTS's music on radio stations and television. Some ARMY members may even surpass the group itself in influence among BTS fans.

BTS interacted and engaged with their followers from their earliest days via social media, as well as via BTS Universe, an alternate storyline involving the members told through music videos, mobile games, books, short films, and more that gives fans room to theorize. Kim suggested that ARMY are drawn to BTS since the members are seen as underdogs, originating from the Korean countryside and a relatively minor Korean entertainment company, which allows young fans to identify with them. BTS's lyrics speak to social values, and fans respond by trying to improve the world. As a result, the fandom regularly embraces activism on charitable causes and socio-political issues such as refugee crises, racial discrimination, children's rights, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Feedback from ARMY to BTS affects the group's actions and lyrics; BTS has eliminated certain Korean words that sound like American racial slurs from their songs and ended collaboration with a Japanese producer when Korean ARMY members deemed his views extreme.

Per South Korean author Jiyoung Lee, the relationship between BTS and ARMY is "a mutual exchange between artists and their fans" that is about more than merely "ensuring the band's primacy", but also "extending the band's message of positivity into the world". Lee opines that BTS and ARMY are "a symbol of change in zeitgeist, not just of generational change". The band members themselves agree and have long acknowledged their fans' role in their success. According to Sarah Keith, "BTS embody a moment of generational transformation. ARMY represents a 'coming of age' for the young, in which cultural production and influence are global and meaningful, and where the youth are politically and socially engaged."

Endorsements

BTS partnered with Puma beginning in 2015, initially as Puma Korea's brand ambassadors before expanding to global ambassadors in 2018, and promoting the remix of Puma's "Turin" and "Sportstyle" line worldwide. In 2019, BTS signed with Fila to endorse its sportswear. BTS has also served as global brand ambassadors for LG Electronics' smartphones, and Hyundai Motors' 2019 flagship SUV the "Palisade" and hydrogen fuel cell electric SUV, the "Nexo". BTS became global ambassadors of the electric street racing series Formula E to promote how electric vehicles can help combat climate change. In 2020, BTS partnered with Samsung Electronics, releasing a limited BTS-themed version of the Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy Buds+. As the first male pop group ever to collaborate with Dior, BTS sported ensembles from Kim Jones' Pre-Fall 2019 collection at their concert at Stade de France. The band became global brand ambassadors for Louis Vuitton in April 2021.

Members
 Jin () vocalist
 Suga () rapper
 J-Hope () rapper
 RM () leader, rapper
 Jimin () vocalist
 V () vocalist
 Jungkook () vocalist

DiscographyKorean-language studio albums Dark & Wild (2014)
 Wings (2016)
 Love Yourself: Tear (2018)
 Map of the Soul: 7 (2020)
 Be (2020)Japanese-language studio albums Wake Up (2014)
 Youth (2016)
 Face Yourself (2018)
 Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey (2020)

FilmographyFilms Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018)
 Love Yourself in Seoul (2019)
 Bring the Soul: The Movie (2019)
 Break the Silence: The Movie (2020)
 BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – LA (2022)
 BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas (2023)Online shows'''
 Run BTS (2015–present)
 BTS In the Soop'' (2020–2021)

Concert tours

 The Red Bullet Tour (2014–2015)
 Wake Up: Open Your Eyes Japan Tour (2015)
 The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage Tour (2015–2016)
 The Wings Tour (2017)
 Love Yourself World Tour (2018–2019)
Map of the Soul Tour (2020; cancelled)
Permission to Dance on Stage (2021–2022)

See also
 Philanthropy of BTS

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

2013 establishments in South Korea
Articles containing video clips
Asia Game Changer Award winners
Hybe Corporation artists
Columbia Records artists
Universal Music Group artists
South Korean electronic dance music groups
English-language singers from South Korea
K-pop music groups
Japanese-language singers of South Korea
Melon Music Award winners
MAMA Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 2013
Musical groups from Seoul
Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (South Korea)
Shorty Award winners
South Korean boy bands
South Korean contemporary R&B musical groups
South Korean dance music groups
South Korean hip hop groups
World record holders
MTV Video Music Award winners
NME Awards winners
Korean Music Award winners
Musical septets

BTS


Alien Crime Syndicate, often abbreviated to ACS, were a rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1997. From 1999 to the band's breakup in 2005, the lineup consisted primarily of Joe Reineke (vocals, guitar), Jeff Rouse (bass, backing vocals), Nabil Ayers (drums), while guitarists Jason Krevey, Mike Squires and Mike Davis were also members of the band.

Following the breakup of previous band The Meices, Joe Reineke formed Alien Crime Syndicate with Jeff Rouse in San Francisco, before they relocated to Los Angeles following a deal with Revolution Records. After recording their debut album, the label folded, with the band relocating to Seattle, adding Nabil Ayers, formerly of The Lemons, and Jason Krevey to the lineup. They released one EP in 1999 before releasing their debut album titled Dust to Dirt in 2001. Will Records then acquired the Revolution recorded album, titled From the Word Go, issuing it the same year.

By 2001, Jason Krevey departed the band and was replaced by former Nevada Bachelors guitarist Mike Squires. XL from Coast to Coast was released the following year, through Ayer's The Control Group label, with the album's first single "Ozzy" becoming a minor hit on local radio. The album was re-released, following a deal with V2 Records, while an EP titled Break the Record was released in 2003.

The band released their fourth and final album, titled Ten Songs in the Key of Betrayal, in 2004 through The Control Group, after leaving V2, with Mike Davis joining the band in place of Squires. A tour supporting Tommy Stinson followed, while they also performed as his backing band. However, by 2005, Alien Crime Syndicate disbanded with the members going on to various projects.

History

Formation (1997–1999)
Joe Reineke was previously a member of The Meices. After releasing four studio albums, The Meices disbanded in 1997, with Reineke forming Alien Crime Syndicate with bassist Jeff Rouse in San Francisco, California the same year. By the summer, they relocated to Los Angeles and were signed to Revolution Records. The band, with Shawn Trudeau, recorded their debut album with producer Gil Norton at Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood. However, by 1998, Alien Crime Syndicate were dropped from the label following the folding of Revolution Records.

The band relocated to Seattle, Washington adding drummer Nabil Ayers, formerly of The Lemons, and guitarist Jason Krevey to the lineup before performing live shows locally. Originally intended to be a 7", the band released a five-song EP titled Supernatural in 1999 through Ayer's Collective Fruit label. Supernatural was well received, earning comparisons to U2 while Mike DaRonco of Allmusic stated that the EP was "in a league of its own." The band continued to play locally, including a show with The Western State Hurricanes while they also toured California.

Dust to Dirt and From the Word Go (1999–2001)
Alien Crime Syndicate recorded their new album, titled Dust to Dirt, at Orbit Audio and Jupiter Studios in Seattle. Produced by Reineke, the album featured new material, as well as re-recorded songs from their unreleased album, and it was released by the Collective Fruit label on February 8, 2000. The band toured in support and with their music receiving decent radio play. When the rights to their unreleased album, titled From the Word Go, were acquired by Will Records, Collective Fruit stopped pressing the Dust to Dirt CD so the band could tour in support of the Will album, which was released on July 18 the same year.

Reviewing From the Word Go, Stewart Mason of Allmusic said that "Joe Reineke's brand of lightly psychedelicized, guitar-heavy power pop rockers is more appropriate for the kind of pop/rock obsessives who will appreciate the jangly strums, vintage synth sounds, and appealingly retro-feeling fondness for singalong choruses repeated once or twice too often." He also stated that "[t]hose who like Carl Newman's pre-New Pornographers band Zumpano might consider Alien Crime Syndicate a kindred spirit with an outer space preoccupation replacing Zumpano's '60s fixation." The band continued to play live shows in the Northwest in support of the album. The same year, Rouse joined Loaded, at the invitation of drummer Geoff Reading, replacing previous bassist Dave Dederer for the band's tour of the US and Japan in support of Dark Days.

XL from Coast to Coast (2001–2003)

The band spent a year writing and recording their third album. However, Krevey departed and was replaced by Rouse's Loaded bandmate and former Nevada Bachelors guitarist Mike Squires. The album was recorded at Orbit Audio Studios in Seattle and was produced by Reineke. To release the album, titled XL from Coast to Coast, Ayers founded The Control Group record label with the album released in January 2002. It received some positive reviews, with critics noting Urge Overkill and The Replacements influences. The first single "Ozzy" received regular radio play on Seattle's KNDD, becoming a minor hit, while the single and album were both listed in the top-selling records at local independent record stores in Seattle Weekly.

The band subsequently signed a deal with V2 Records, who re-released the album three months after its initial release. The European and Japanese, released through Toshiba EMI, editions of the album included a cover of Elton John's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" which featured Duff McKagan, formerly of Guns N' Roses, and Kim Warnick, of Visqueen and formerly of the Fastbacks. The cover was also included on the Break the Record EP released in 2003. The band toured in support, playing at the Fremont Fair while they also supported Sugar Ray on their tour of Six Flags amusement parks.

Ten Songs in the Key of Betrayal and Tommy Stinson (2003–2005)

Despite the label picking up the option for their next album, Alien Crime Syndicate left V2 Records and returned to The Control Group. The band entered pre-production with producer Gil Norton who helped with arrangements and songs. The album was recorded at Orbit Audio and was produced by Reineke, with Norton serving as executive producer. Squires left the band prior to the recording of the album and was replaced by Mike Davis, who recorded additional guitars on three songs. Ten Songs in the Key of Betrayal was released on April 20, 2004 to positive reviews, with John D. Luerssen of Allmusic stating that the album was "a kickass rock & roll record" and that "when they hit their marks [...] ACS is as immediate as it is fun."

Alien Crime Syndicate toured the West Coast in support of the album, before touring with Guns N' Roses, former The Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson, in support of his solo album Village Gorilla Head, both as the supporting act and Stinson's backing band, replacing The Figgs. They toured both the US and Europe with Stinson, while they also recorded the live shows for a possible DVD. By 2005, Alien Crime Syndicate disbanded.

Post-breakup activities (2005–present)
Rouse joined Vendetta Red, before forming Sirens Sister with Vendetta Red members Zach Davidson and Leif Anderson as well as Ben Libay following the breakup of the band. They released one album titled Echoes from the Ocean Floor, in 2006, before Rouse left the group. He also reunited with Loaded, along with Mike Squires, in 2006, going on to release an EP, Wasted Heart, in 2008 and album, Sick, in 2009 while they also completed the recording of their third, The Taking, in 2010. He also formed a solo project titled To the Glorious Lonely.

Ayers joined John Roderick's The Long Winters, touring with Keane and releasing the album Putting the Days to Bed. His music store, Sonic Boom, was also named the top independent music store in the US by Rolling Stone magazine in 2006.

Musical style
Alien Crime Syndicate's music have often been described as a space rock, power pop, hard rock, indie rock, pop rock and pop punk. The band has also seen their music compared to U2, Zumpano, Urge Overkill, The Replacements, Weezer and Fountains of Wayne.

Band members
Joe Reineke – vocals, guitar (1997–2005)
Jeff Rouse – bass, backing vocals (1997–2005)
Nabil Ayers – drums (1999–2005)
Sean Trudeau - drums  (1997-1999)
Jason Krevey – guitar, backing vocals (1999–2001)
Mike Squires – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2003)
Mike Davis – guitar (2004)

Discography
Studio Albums
 Dust to Dirt (2000)
 From the Word Go (2000)
 XL from Coast to Coast (2002)
 Ten Songs in the Key of Betrayal (2004)

EPs
 Supernatural (1999)
 Break the Record (2003)

References

External links

Musical groups established in 1997
Musical groups disestablished in 2005
Musical groups from Seattle
Rock music groups from California
Rock music groups from Washington (state)
V2 Records artists

Alien Crime Syndicate


is a Japanese bank that is headquartered in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture.  The name "Michinoku" is distinctive in that it was the first use of hiragana in the name of a Japanese bank.  Michonoku Bank, while focused on the Tōhoku region, has a network of branches and subsidiary companies that expands beyond the region.  In Japan, Michinoku has offices in Hokkaidō, Akita, Iwate, Miyagi, and Saitama Prefectures, as well as a branch in Tokyo.  Outside Japan, Michinoku has established Michinoku Finance (Hong Kong) Ltd in Hong Kong, established representative offices in Wuhan and Shanghai, China, and has opened three branches throughout Russia in Moscow, Khabarovsk, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, through a subsidiary corporation, The Michonoku Bank (Moscow), though expansion into Russia has met with some controversy.

Profile
As of March 31, 2005

Assets: approximately 1.8 trillion yen (approximately US$16.3 billion)
Employees: 1,212 (excluding subsidiary corporations)
Branches: 111 (87 in Aomori Prefecture, 21 outside of Aomori, 3 in Russia)
President: Yasuo Sugimoto
Member: Regional Banks Association of Japan

History
The current Michinoku Bank can trace its origins to 1894, when the Aomori Shogyo Bank was established.  In 1976, Seiwa Bank, the successor to the Aomori Shogyo Bank, merged with the Hirosaki Sogo Bank to form the current Michinoku Bank.  In January 1980, Michinoku adopted the use of Tom and Jerry as mascots for the bank.  These mascots were used until 2004, when the bank decided to stop using the characters in order to rehabilitate its image as the "Tom and Jerry Bank."  In 1995, Michinoku opened a representative office in Yuzhno-Sakhalin, and four years later established a subsidiary in Moscow.

Points of interest
Kappei Ina, a local radio talk show host, allegedly claimed that when customers withdrew money at Michinoku automatic teller machines (ATMs), the display did not display the honorific suffix "-sama" that is often used with a company's customers.  However, the ATMs used this suffix when customers deposited money.  Ina speculated that the reason for this was that those customers that deposited money into the bank were true customers, while those who withdrew money were not customers.  One week after this was aired, the Michinoku ATMs displayed the honorific "-sama" suffix.

Michinoku Bank was the bank that was used in the "Anita Scandal."  This scandal involved a Japanese businessman for the Aomori Prefectural Public Housing Corporation who was arrested for funneling funds in excess of 13 million US dollars to his Chilean wife, Anita Alvadoro.  Some of this money was used to build a lavish house in Chile.

In April 2005, Michinoku came under fire for losing information over an estimated 1.3 million customers.  This prompted a response from the Japanese Financial Services Agency that Michinoku reform its business practices.  In May, the company's long serving president, Kosaburo Daidōji, left the company.  Daidōji died on July 21, 2005, at the age of 80.

Russian Business Expansion
One distinctive feature of Michinoku is its expansion into the Russian financial market.  This has been said to be one legacy from former president Kosaburo Daidōji.  Daidōji was said to have developed an interest in Russia after hearing from his father, who had studied in Europe, say that Russians were different from other Europeans in that they did not discriminate against Japanese.

Daidōji had eyed the Russian market since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and finally established the subsidiary on July 7, 1999, becoming the first subsidiary of a Japanese bank to open in Russia.  Following this, Michinoku opened a branch in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on August 12, 2002, and then a branch in Khabarovsk on July 7, 2003.  Presently, the Russian operations are said to have a scale of around 10 billion yen and around 7,300 personal accounts, including an account held by Russian pop group t.A.T.u.

There is some controversy behind this move, however.  When Daidōji first initiated the Russian operations, he said that he did not expect to turn profits for 5–10 years.  Industry experts and former employees have criticized this move, claiming that "while the reason for the expansion was that the market in the prefecture was saturated, it was a really risky move," and "the expansion of business into Russia has come at the expense of the development of the firm."  While the Russian subsidiary claimed a 240 million yen in pretax profits in December 2004, Michinoku injected 2.1 billion yen of capital into the subsidiary in August of that year.  One former employee said that Michinoku was using capital injections to eliminate the losses by the subsidiary.

References
Corporate data

External links
  Official site
  English part of official site
   Michinoku Bank: Fate of the Specialty Russian Business
   Michinoku Bank Investigation: Legacy of the Daidoji System (part 4) – the Maverick Path

Regional banks of Japan
Government-owned companies of Japan
Companies based in Aomori Prefecture

Michinoku Bank


Surge was a soft drink manufactured (made) by The Coca-Cola Company. The product was made mostly in the United States beginning in early 1997. The soda was marketed as a substitute to Mountain Dew. It was created because Coca-Cola wanted to take customers from Pepsi. The brand was very popular at first, but that didn't last.

Surge stopped being made in 2003. Surge was re-released by Coca-Cola as an Amazon exclusive in packs of 12 16oz cans because of the success of the "Surge Movement" campaign on September 15, 2014.

References

Coca-Cola
Soft drinks

Surge


The Alabama red-bellied cooter (Pseudemys alabamensis) or Alabama red-bellied turtle, is native to Alabama. It belongs to the turtle family Emydidae, the pond turtles. It is the official reptile of the state of Alabama.

Life history
The red-belly inhabits the fresh to brackish waters of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta in Mobile and Baldwin counties. It feeds on aquatic vegetation and can be found sunning itself on logs.
Nesting of the red-bellied turtle occurs from May through July. Female turtles lay their eggs on dry land, digging nests in sandy soil, where 4 to 9 eggs are laid. Hatchlings usually emerge during the summer. When the turtles nest in late July, hatchlings may overwinter in the nest and emerge the following spring.

A mature female can be , while a mature male can be .

Location
As of June 2009 the turtle has been seen in the central part of Alabama, in the Elmore County region.

This turtle has also been found in south-eastern Mississippi, in Harrison and Jackson counties.

Protection
In 2007, a  chain-link fence has been constructed along part of the US 98 causeway (Battleship Parkway) that separates the Mobile-Tensaw delta from Mobile Bay. Hatchling deaths dropped 80% from 2007 to 2008.

Gallery

References

External links

Save the Alabama Red-bellied turtle—Alabama red-bellied turtle alliance

Pseudemys
Endemic reptiles of the United States
Reptiles described in 1893
ESA endangered species
Taxa named by Georg Baur
Symbols of Alabama

Alabama red-bellied cooter


Máel Ruba ( 642–722) is an Irish saint of the Christian Church who was active in Scotland. Originally from Bangor, County Down, Ireland, he was a monk and founded the monastic community of Applecross in Ross, one of the best attested early Christian monasteries in what is now Scotland. Forms of his name include Máelrubai (Old Irish spelling), Maol Rubha (MoRubha/MaRuibhe) (Scottish Gaelic spelling), or Malruibhe, and it is sometimes latinised as Rufus,

Life
Máel Ruba was descended from Niall, King of Ireland, via his father Elganach.  His mother, Subtan, was a niece of Saint Comgall (d. 597 or 602) of Bangor.  Máel Ruba was born in the area of Derry and was educated at Bangor.  In 671, when he was thirty, he sailed from Ireland to Scotland with a group of monks.

For two years he travelled around the area, chiefly in Argyll, perhaps founding some of the many churches still dedicated to him, before settling at Aporcrosan (Applecross) in 673, in Pictish territory in the west of Ross opposite the islands of Skye and Raasay.  Thence he set out on missionary journeys: westward to the islands Skye and Lewis, eastward to Forres and Keith, and northward to Loch Shin, Durness, and Farr.

The monastery at Applecross
The Gaelic name of Applecross, "A' Chomraich", 'The Sanctuary', derives from an area of inviolate ground which surrounded the monastery.  Its limits were originally marked by crosses.  Unfortunately, only a fragment of one of these has survived, within the farmyard at Camusterrach, south of Applecross village.

Both Máel Ruba's voyage to 'Scotland' and his foundation of Applecross are recorded in contemporary Irish annals, implying that they were considered of great significance at the time. Máel Ruba's monastery was a major Christian centre and instrumental in the spread of both Christianity and Gaelic culture amongst the Picts of northern Scotland.

The succession of the abbots ceases to be recorded in the Irish annals during the course of the ninth century. It is likely that this is the result of (unrecorded) raids by Vikings.

A setting of two small stones in the graveyard at Applecross is still pointed out as the (supposed) site of his grave.

Death
According to local tradition, on his last journey he was killed by Danish vikings, probably at Teampull, around nine miles up Strathnaver from Farr, where he had built a monastic cell, and was buried near the River Naver, not far from his cell, where his grave is still marked by "a rough cross-marked stone".  However, 722 may be too early for Scandinavian raiders to have been involved, as the first historically recorded Viking attacks on Scotland and Ireland date to the 790s.

Another tradition, found in the Aberdeen Breviary, is that he was killed at Urquhart and buried at Abercrossan.  This is probably a mistake arising from a confusion of Gaelic place-names.

The most reliable sources, contemporary Irish annals, record that he 'died' at Applecross in his 80th year.

Cult
Máel Ruba was, after St Columba, perhaps the most popular saint of north-west Scotland. At least twenty-one churches are dedicated to him, and Dean Reeves enumerates about forty forms of his name.  His death occurred on 21 April, and in Ireland his feast has always been kept on this day; however, in Scotland (probably owing to the confusion with Saint Rufus) it has also been kept on 27 August. On 5 July 1898, Pope Leo XIII restored his feast for the Catholic Church in Scotland, to be kept on 27 August. In the calendar of saints of the Scottish Episcopal Church he is honoured on 20 April. Because his feast day was on 25 August, folk etymology led some people to confuse "Summereve's Fair" with a secular fair celebrating the season.

Máel Ruba's name has given rise to numerous corruptions; for example in Keith, Moray, he is referred to as "St Rufus", and St Rufus Church is dedicated to him. In other parts of Scotland, his name was variously rendered as "Maree" (as in the Loch), "Summereve" (i.e., St Maol Rubha) etc.  There are several locations named after Máel Ruba such as Loch Maree. In the 17th century the Presbytery of Dingwall was disturbed by reports of several rituals, evidently of pagan origin, such as the sacrificing of bulls, on an island in Loch Maree.  These revolved round a debased memory of Máel Ruba, whose legacy had perhaps become mixed with an ancient pre-Christian cult of 'God Mourie'.

Areas where he was celebrated
 Applecross and the Loch Broom area.
 Keith, Moray, sometimes referred to anciently as 'Kethmalruff' (Cèith Mhaol Rubha)
 Loch Maree, which has Isle Maree/Eilean Maree in it. The island has a well dedicated to the saint.
 Dingwall and Tain, in Easter Ross both of which held fairs celebrating the saint.
 Amulree Ath Maol Rubha (= Maol Rubha's ford), Perthshire
 Ashaig, on the Isle of Skye
 Contin Island, a river islet in Ross and Cromarty; the parish church of Contin is dedicated to Máel Ruba. There has probably been a church on this site since the 7th or 8th century.
 The chapel of Kilmarie at Kirkton on the Craignish peninsula in Argyll; the chapel is said to have been founded by Máel Ruba, from whom the name Kilmarie is derived.
 The medieval church of Kirkden (formerly Idvies), near Letham, Angus; dedicated to Ruffus or Maelrubha in 1243
 The medieval church of Kinnell, near Friockheim; dedicated to "St Malruib, Confessor"

See also

 Wish Tree: associated with the saint's well.

External links
 St Maol Rubha

References

Reeves, William, 'Saint Maelrubha: His History and Churches', in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, III (1857–60), pp. 258–96
 Thomson, Derick S. The Companion to Gaelic Scotland, (Blackwell Reference 1987),
 The Chronicles of Keith

8th-century Christian saints
642 births
722 deaths
8th-century Irish people
8th-century Scottish people
Irish Christian monks
8th-century Christian martyrs
Medieval Irish saints
Medieval Scottish saints
Canonizations by Pope Leo XIII
People from Bangor, County Down

Máel Ruba


Wakeboarding is a water sport that involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. The rider is usually towed behind a motorboat. This sport, that appeared in the beginning of the eighties, has been inspired by surfing, water skiing and snowboarding.

To practice wakeboarding, a boat, a rope and a board are necessary. If the rider wants to do bigger jumps or tricks, he needs a tower. The waves created by the boat act like a ski jump for the surfer.

Timeline

In 1985, Tonny Finn, a surfer, marketed the "Skurfer". It was a board inspired by surfing and water skiing. The "Skurfer" was thick and it had an aileron at his back.

In 1987, the "Skurfer" board was introduced in France by Maurice Lejeune.

In 1989, Jimmy Redmond founded the World Wakeboard Association (WWA).

In 1990, the first official competition was taking place in Orlando, Florida, United States, while the first wakeboard was marketing.

In 1993, the first world wakeboard championship was organised in United States by the WWA.

In 1994, the riders Gilles Becker, Franck Ropéro and Pierre Bergia established the ANW (Association Nationale de Wakeboard).

In 1995, it was the apparition of the "twin tips". The principle of this board has still used today. The "twin tips" has one or more ailerons in its back and its front.

In 2001, wakeboarding became a discipline in the Akita's World Games of Japan.

In 2004, the first magazine dedicated to the wakeboard, Unleashed Wakeboard Magazine, was published in France.

Characteristics of equipment

Boat: The speed of the boat should be from 28 to 35 kilometers.
Boots: these have an important role, because they are responsible for the control and performance of the surfer. Also, they have to be as comfortable as possible.
Rope: The best length for the rope is between 16 and 24 meters.
Board: There are two different kinds of wakeboards; the "surf" or the "twin tips". The first one is an asymmetric board that is suitable for beginners. The "twin tips" board is more used than the type "surf" because it allows more difficult jumps. Normally, the size of the board is about 130-147 cm by 45 cm.

References

Other websites

Water sports
Board sports

Wakeboarding


Sandy Parker (born March 2, 1952) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. She debuted in 1969, wrestling in Canada, the United States, and Japan. In Japan, she worked for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, holding numerous titles. She also had an unofficial NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship reign with partner Sue Green.

Professional wrestling career
After attending a professional wrestling match, Parker became addicted to the sport. At first, she went to the matches several times every week. She then decided to try the profession at the suggestion of a friend. Although she lived in Ontario, she traveled to Michigan three times a week to train with Lou Klein, Mary Jane Mull, and Lucille Dupree. She officially debuted in the early 1970s at the age of 23. She later went to The Fabulous Moolah's training school in South Carolina for further training, but left when she began having problems with Moolah. After leaving the school, Parker worked for Mildred Burke.

Parker worked under her real name instead of a ring name, because she was once unable to cash a check when it was written for her under the wrestling name; she could not provide identification for it, so she vowed never to use a ring name again.

In the early 1970s, Parker formed a partnership with Sue Green, with whom she defeated Donna Christanello and Toni Rose in November 1971 for the NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Christanello and Rose in February 1972. The title change is unrecognized. In August of that year, Parker competed at the Superbowl of Wrestling, where she teamed with Debbie Johnson to take on Rose and Christanello, but they failed to defeat them for the championship.

She began a tour of Japan also in the early 1970s. In 1973, she held All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling's WWWA World Single Championship for approximately two months. Between June of that year and July 1974, she also held the promotion's WWWA World Tag Team Championship eight times, twice with Masked Lee, twice with Jean Antoine, and four times with Betty Niccoli. It is possible, however, that only six of the tag title reigns are officially recognized.

Back in the United States in 1975, Parker wrestled against Antoine in the first women's wrestling match in the state of Oregon in 50 years. Parker retired in 1986. In 2004, she was honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club, a society of retired professional wrestlers.

Personal life
Parker was raised by her grandmother, as her mom was unable to take care of her. As a child, she considered herself a "tomboy", participating in fights, baseball, and tree climbing. Parker is a lesbian. She, however, was once married to a man. After leaving the business, Parker worked as a bartender, store manager, and security guard.

Championships and accomplishments
 All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
 WWWA World Single Championship (1 time)
 WWWA World Tag Team Championship (8 times) – with Betty Niccoli (4), Jean Antoine (2) and Masked Lee (2)
 Cauliflower Alley Club
 Ladies Wrestling (2004)
 National Wrestling Alliance
 NWA United States Women's Championship (1 time)
 NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Susan Green
 Other titles
 California Women's Championship (1 time)

References

External links

1952 births
Living people
Black Canadian sportspeople
Black Canadian sportswomen
Canadian female professional wrestlers
Lesbian sportswomen
Canadian LGBT sportspeople
LGBT professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from Vancouver
Black Canadian LGBT people
20th-century female professional wrestlers
WWWA World Tag Team Champions
WWWA World Single Champions

Sandy Parker


A high-volume low-speed (HVLS) fan is a type of mechanical fan greater than  in diameter. HVLS fans are generally ceiling fans although some are pole mounted. HVLS fans move slowly and distribute large amounts of air at low rotational speed– hence the name "high volume, low speed."

Typical applications for HVLS fans fall into two classifications—industrial and commercial. In industrial applications, HVACR is often cost prohibitive or impractical, and is usually only used for refrigerated warehouses or the manufacture of refrigerated or frozen foods. Fans installed in spaces like warehouses, barns, hangars and distribution centers can prevent heat stress, increase worker comfort and the productivity of both workers and livestock. HVLS fans are also used in commercial spaces, where air conditioning is more common, but increased air movement from ceiling fans can cost-effectively augment occupant comfort or prevent stratification. Typical commercial applications include shopping malls, churches, office buildings, airport terminal buildings, fitness centers and schools.

History

In the late 1990s, William Fairbank, a professor at the University of California at Riverside, and Walter K. Boyd, founder of MacroAir Technologies, invented and patented a new type of circulator fan, first called a High-Volume, Large-Diameter (HVLD) fan. This type of fan was originally developed for agricultural applications, so early research focused on the benefits of HVLS fans on dairy production.

How HVLS fans work

HVLS fans work on the principle that cool moving air breaks up the moisture-saturated boundary layer surrounding the body and accelerates evaporation to produce a cooling effect. Ceiling fans produce a column of air as they turn. This column of air moves down and out along the floor. Called a horizontal floor jet, this deep wall of horizontal moving air is relative to the diameter of a fan, and to a lesser degree, the speed of a fan. Once the floor jet reaches its potential, it migrates outward until it meets a side wall or other vertical surface.

Under ideal conditions, an  fan produces a floor jet of air approximately  deep. A  fan produces a floor jet  deep, tall enough to engulf a human standing on the floor or a cow, its initial development purpose.

Commercial HVLS fans differ from residential ceiling fans with regard to diameter, rotational speed, and performance. While some fans use contemporary blades to move air, other methods are being used to make it more efficient such as using airfoils.

Large fans versus small fans

Larger diameter fans can move more air than smaller fans at the same speed. A turbulent, high velocity air jet dissipates very quickly. A large column of air, however, "travels" farther than a small one due to the friction between moving air and stationary air, which occurs at the periphery of the moving column.

The perimeter of an air column varies directly with column diameter. While the cross-sectional area varies with the square of the diameter, the large column has proportionately fewer peripheries, and therefore less drag. The air column from a  fan, therefore, has more than six times as much friction interface per volume of air moved as does the air column from a  fan.

When the down column of air from an HVLS fan reaches the floor, the air turns in the horizontal direction away from the column in all directions. The air flowing outward is called the "horizontal floor jet." Since the height of the floor jet is determined by the diameter of the column of air, a larger diameter fan naturally produces a larger air column and thus a higher floor jet.

Smaller high-speed fans of equivalent displacement are incapable of producing the same effect.

The power to drive a fan increases roughly with the cube of the average air speed through the fan. A commercial fan delivering air at 20 miles per hour (mph) requires about 64 times as much power as a similar sized fan delivering air at five mph.

Airspeed, combined with fan "effectiveness," means that when the objective is to cool people or animals, very large, low-speed commercial fans are more efficient and effective than small high-speed fans.

Measuring fan performance

In general, Air Movement and Control Association Standard 230 sets uniform testing procedures for determining ceiling fan performance.

AMCA 230 establishes uniform methods of laboratory testing for air circulating fans in order to determine performance in terms of thrust for rating, certification or guarantee purposes. The 1999 version described a method to determine the thrust developed and used a simple equation to convert the measured thrust to airflow. During the periodic review process, it was determined that the calculated airflow was too high; therefore this version no longer artificially calculates airflow, but leaves the measured performance in units of thrust.

The current version, AMCA 230–12, reintroduced airflow rate with a revised equation, and new efficiency metrics. The official scope of the standard was limited to ceiling fans under  in diameter.  Therefore, the current standard does not apply to HVLS fans. A new version of the standard is currently under review.

Heating and cooling benefits
Air movement can have a significant influence on human thermal comfort. Wind chill in cold conditions is considered detrimental, but air movement in neutral to warm environments is considered beneficial. This is because normally under conditions with air temperatures above about 74 °F (23.3°C), the body needs to lose heat in order to maintain a constant internal temperature.

Unlike air conditioners, which cool rooms, fans cool people. Ceiling fans increase air speed at the occupant level, which facilitates more efficient heat rejection, cooling the occupant, rather than the space. Elevated air speed increases the rate of convective and evaporative heat loss from the body, thus making the occupant feel cooler without changing the dry bulb temperature of the air.

Hot air is less dense than cold air, which causes hot air to naturally rise to the ceiling level through a process called convection. In still air, layers of constant temperature form, the coldest at the bottom and the warmest at the top. This is called stratification. The most efficient and effective way of mixing the air in a stratified space is to push the hot air down to the occupant level. This allows for complete mixing of the air in the space while decreasing both heat loss through the building walls and roof, and building energy consumption. To avoid causing a draft, fans need to be run slowly so that air speed at the occupant level does not exceed .

References

External links

Air Movement and Control Association

American inventions
Ventilation fans
Cooling technology

High-volume low-speed fan


John Bradley & Co was a company established in 1800 by John Bradley at Stourbridge in the West Midlands area of England. The company developed into a large industrial concern with furnaces, ironworks and mines. Under James Foster, John Bradley's half brother, it was instrumental in bringing the first commercial steam locomotive into the Midlands area in 1829. The firm stayed under family control until the early years of the 20th century when first the mining (1913) and then the ironworks (1919) were sold off. Part of the business continued to trade under the name John Bradley & Co. (Stourbridge) Ltd until after the Second World War.

History

Founding and early years
John Bradley (1769-1816) was the son of Gabriel and Mary Bradley (née Haden) of the town of Stourbridge, where they ran an iron business including Stourbridge Forge on the River Stour. After Gabriel's death in 1771, Mary married Henry Foster and had seven further children, six of whom survived infancy. The youngest of their sons was James Foster. Henry Foster died in 1793.

John Bradley founded his firm in 1800 in Stourbridge with the financial assistance of Thomas Jukes Collier, a wine merchant from Wellington. Bradley leased land by the Stourbridge Canal. where he set up a forge, a furnace and a rolling and slitting mill. The company produced wrought iron using the puddling process. In 1802 the company was set up as a partnership divided into three: one third held by John Bradley, one third by Thomas Jukes Collier and a third held in trust for the children of the late Henry Foster (John Bradley's six half-brothers and sisters). A steam engine owned by the company, Murray's Hypocycloidal Engine, built in 1805, has been preserved and is now in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum. It is the world's third-oldest working steam engine. At this stage the company didn't make iron from ore but bought in pig iron to be turned into wrought iron at the Stourbridge Ironworks.

By 1807 the Foster family share of the company was concentrated in the hands of the brothers James and William Foster.

In 1809 the company acquired Eardinton Forge near the River Severn to the south of Bridgenorth.

William Foster left the partnership in 1813, subsequently running the Stourbridge Forge as an independent business, and, as Thomas Jukes Collier had already sold his share of the company to the other partners, this meant that the company was co-owned by John Bradley and James Foster after this date.  John Bradley died 1816.

The company under James Foster

After his half-brother's death, James Foster took control of the enterprise, which included the Stourbridge Iron Works. He was not the sole owner at this stage, however, since a proportion of the company was held in trust for the Bradley children.

In 1823 John Bradley & Co., took a lease of land at Shut End, Kingswinford from J.H.H. Foley with the aim of exploiting the coal and other minerals found there as well as building furnaces. An agreement to construct a rail line to link the Shut End area to a purpose-built canal basin at Ashwood on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal was signed in 1827 by James Foster and Francis Downing, the mineral agent of John William Ward, the 4th Viscount Dudley and Ward. The locomotive that ran on this line Agenoria was constructed by Foster, Rastrick and Company which was a partnership between James Foster and the engineer John Urpeth Rastrick. Agenoria was housed on a siding at Shut End and remained the property of John Bradley & Co.

The Foster, Rastrick & Co business was wound up by mutual consent on 20 June 1831, its assets being absorbed into John Bradley & Co.

A guide to Stourbridge and its vicinity published in 1832 gave the following description of the company: "on the left bank of the canal, occupying a space intervening between its channel and that of the Stour, being the south side of the wharf; stands the vast range of buildings denominated Stourbridge Iron Works, conducted under the firm of John Bradley and Co. This extensive concern, generally considered as belonging to James Foster, Esq. comprehends all the various parts of the iron processes with the exception of the incipient one of smelting the ore, the pigs being obtained from distant localities." The same source reported: "every species of requisite machinery, from the potent Leviathan of the mechanic arts, to the minutest instrument, is here in full operation, and the multiform articles demanded by the artisan, are completely prepared and supplied. Under the same firm, large works in the county of Salop and elsewhere are carried on; as also extensive collieries at Shutt-end, Kingswinford, and in the vicinity of Dudley."

By 1835 Foster had constructed furnaces and developed a colliery at Shut End. John Bradley & Co. had also an ironworks at Brockmoor by this date.

On 27 February 1836, Henry Bradley, John's only surviving son decided to leave the business (he had been involved in the company since 1827) and sold his share to Foster. The four daughters of John Bradley had already sold their own shares in the company and so James Foster became sole owner of John Bradley & Co. At this time the company was described as having premises at: Stourbridge, Eardington, Hampton's Load, Shutt End, Brettell Lane, Baptist End, Scott's Green, and Brockmoor in the counties of Worcestershire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire.

In 1840, the 2-mile long Stourbridge Extension Canal opened, linking Bradley's Shut End works with the canal network.

In a Parliamentary report from 1843, Foster was described as a 'large proprietor of iron-works and collieries, employing about 5000 hands'.

On James Foster's death in 1853, John Bradley & Co. passed to James's nephew William Orme Foster. He was the son of William Foster, who had left the Bradley partnership in 1813, and Charlotte Foster (née Orme).

William Orme Foster as owner

The company continued to be a very large industrial concern under William, although its profits came under pressure as steel manufacturers competed with the traditional iron products of John Bradley & Co.

In the mid-1860s an agreement was reached between the company and the Earl of Dudley's estate to upgrade the railway track between Shut End and the Ashwood Basin and to re-align the steep incline at the canal end of the line such that it could be worked by a locomotive instead of a stationary engine. As part of the agreement, John Bradley & Co. undertook to purchase a new locomotive to replace the outdated Agenoria. In 1865 the company bought the locomotive Prince of Wales from the Leeds firm Manning Wardle followed by Queen (1867) and Princess of Wales (1879) from the same manufacturer.

The 1860s were good years for the company. In 1869 the company was valued at around £250,000 (an increase from around £150,00 on James Foster's death). It was operating 95 wrought iron-producing puddling furnaces at this time.

However, the subsequent fortunes of the company were less bright as the iron trade declined generally in the 1870s. By 1882 the number of wrought iron-producing furnaces had reduced to 29. In 1884, William Orme Foster attempted but failed to sell the company. In 1885 some of the original land leases obtained by James Foster in order to build the Kingswinford Railway were set to expire.  It was decided that the link to the Ashwood Basin was no longer necessary for Bradley's Shut End works, which were by then connected to the canal and mainline rail network. It was then arranged for the Dudley Estate to take over the leases, which included the Ashwood Basin itself.

During the final years of the nineteenth century, William Orme Foster contracted the company.  At the end of the century just the Shut End and Stourbridge industries remained active, although the furnaces at Shut End had closed in the 1890s.

On William Orme's death on 29 September 1899, his son, William Henry Foster, inherited John Bradley & Co.

Final years
The Shut End collieries were sold to H.S. Pitt & Company in 1913. The collieries were worked using the railway network built by John Bradley & Co until around 1937. The land now forms part of the Pensnett Trading Estate.

In 1919 the Stourbridge Iron Works were sold to a company owned by Edward J. Taylor, which ran the business under the name John Bradley & Co. (Stourbridge) Ltd. In the interwar period, N. Hingley & Sons Ltd acquired John Bradley & Co. (Stourbridge) Ltd but it still continued to trade under that name until 1963. The company was finally wound up in 1966  although the Stourbridge Ironworks continued as a rolling mill within the F.H. Lloyd Group until 1982. One of the last firms to operate on the site was Sidney Smith & Sons (Stourbridge) Ltd. The works became derelict by 2005. The main surviving building on the site is the New Foundry of 1821, originally built for the Foster, Rastrick and Company partnership but part of John Bradley & Co. after 1831. This building has been converted into a medical centre known as Lion Health.

References

British companies established in 1800
Coal companies of the United Kingdom
Manufacturing companies established in 1800
Energy companies established in 1800

John Bradley & Co