Membership Dues 600 January 1 2016- December 31 2016: Fill & Download for Free

SPre - Debut Days (Joining the Group):RMJune 2007RM started to rap in the underground scene under a few names such as the well-known Runch Randa, Largo, The Nexist, and Stealo as he mentioned in Bon Voyage 2. RM was active on Jungle Radio and occasionally on Hiphopplaya where he posted his early raps, only later to delete them in 2010. Thankfully, people were able to repost the raps before they were erased.May 2010RM got called by a fellow friend named Sleepy to go and meet with Bang PD at Big Hit Entertainment. Namjoon was accepted on the spot and became the first male trainee and later the first resident in the dorms under Big Hit Entertainment.SUGA2007-2010Suga was active like RM in the underground rap scene all throughout his high school career giving himself the stage name `Gloss”. After seeing a flyer promoting a rap competition for Big Hit, he decided to give it a shot and came in second place. Sources say that he only signed up to become a producer but was convinced into joining BTS in 2010.J-HOPE< 2013J-Hope has always impressed us with his beautiful dancing skills. He eventually joined a group named 'Neuron’ in his hometown. At first, Hoseok auditioned for JYP and made it a few rounds in before he was cut off. After JYP, Hoseok decided to audition for Big Hit and was accepted for his dance skills and became a trainee. Even as a trainee, J-Hope was active with being a backup dancer and was even featured in Jo Kwon’s track “Animal.” Originally, J-Hope was not going to debut with the boys until RM convinced Big Hit that they needed someone like J-Hope.JIN< 2013Kim Seokjin had a different story than the rest, originally he was cast on the streets by SM Entertainment but allegedly never followed through because he thought it was a scam. Jin was cast again during college and was convinced to audition for Big Hit Entertainment. The funny part is that Jin had no prior singing or dancing skills and intended to become an actor, and most people say he has become a singer and dancer through years of practice and hard work.JUNGKOOK< 2013Our baby of the group first auditioned for the third season of Superstar K yet was eliminated in the audition rounds. Yet, Jungkook was scouted by 7 different companies, including huge ones such as JYP, FNC, and Starship Entertainment, but Jungkook went with Big Hit Entertainment. The reason behind this is Jungkook’s fascination with RM’s rap skills and wanted to train and debut with RM and became a trainee.V< 2013Ever since a kid, Taehyung has always wanted to pursue a life of music. One day he followed his friend to a Big Hit audition and was urged to audition too. Taehyung called his dad, got permission, and auditioned. He was the only person to pass the audition in Daegu and he became a trainee under Big Hit.JIMIN< 2013The last member to join BTS, Jimin attended the Busan High School of Arts. Due to his natural talents at dance, his dance teacher urged him to audition for Big Hit, seeing the potential in him. He passed the audition in Busan and flew to Seoul to live there as a trainee. Due to his skills and talent, he had the shortest training time out of the 7.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆Pre - Debut:FIRST TWEETDec 17, 2012Although joining Twitter in 2011, BTS first sent out their first tweet on December 17th, 2012 with the following:워썹! 방탄소년단입니다.드디어 방탄소년단 트위터를 공식 오픈하네요~짝짝짝!데뷔 전까지 상상 그 이상의 이상하고 재미난 것들이 업로드됩니다.According to the translation by @btspersonaltranslations it reads:”Wassup! This is BTS. Finally, BTS opens the official Twitter account~ *Clap clap clap*! Until the debut fun things beyond your imagination will be uploaded here.”FIRST YOUTUBE VIDEO POSTEDDecember 17, 2012On the same day of the first tweet, BTS uploaded their first video onto YouTube on the channel BANGTAN TV. The title read - ‘RAP MONSTER of 방탄소년단’ and it was an original song performed by RM named Vote.FIRST INTRODUCTORY VIDEODecember 22, 2012Only after a couple of days from the last upload, RM and Jin make an appearance in the new video which displays RM’s rapping style and his room.This video was also accompanied by BTS' first English tweet on Twitter.FIRST PHOTO ON TWITTERDec 23, 2012Of course, the first photo shared with us was the one and only Kim Seokjin and his beautiful selcas. The caption read: “lower lip charm.jpg”.FIRST DANCE PRACTICEJan 12, 2013This amazing dance practice was a video of Jimin dancing to some instrumentals showcasing his amazing dance skills.DEBUT TRAILERMay 26, 2013On May 26th, a few days after the initial debut countdown on Twitter, Big Hit released the debut trailer including the names of all the members over a hip hop beat.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆Debut - 2013FIRST MUSIC VIDEOJune 12, 2013On June 12, 2013, prior to the showcase, BTS uploaded their main title track “No More Dream’ from their album ‘2 Cool 4 Skool’ with a running time of 4:49. Along with this, BTS also had a conference and showcased the songs ‘No More Dream’ and' We Are Bulletproof Pt.2’ on the same day.FIRST BANGTAN BOMBJune 19, 2013The first-ever Bangtan Bomb included director Jungkook and Jimin goofing around in a dressing room perhaps at a music show, Jungkook filming Jimin as he makes handsome faces. This is the first Bangtan Bomb of over 600.ARMY WAS BORNJuly 9, 2013The birth of our fandom’s name! The fandom name was announced roughly a month after the boy's debut and it was officially confirmed by them on July 9 in the fan cafe. ARMY also stands for Adorable Representative MC of Youth.'WE ARE BULLETPROOF PT.2'July 16/26, 2013A month after, BTS released the official MV for the song. Also, BTS released the dance practice of ‘We Are Bulletproof Pt.2’ to ARMY’S with their incredibly hard choreograph.FIRST TV SHOWSeptember 02, 2013BTS made their very first TV appearance on a show named ‘Rookie King’ that aired on SBS that lasted about 50 minutes. They continued to appear on the show for around 8 episodes.N.O MV/ O! RUL8,2?September 10/11, 2013A little over a week from their TV appearance, Big Hit dropped the official music video for their new comeback title track ‘N.O’. A day after the release of the MV, they released their first mini-album titled ‘O! RUL8,2?’ with a running time of 30:36. They went on to showcase the new album the day after on Mnet’s M Countdown.FIRST WINNovember 14, 2013During the Melon Music Awards, BTS managed to win the award ‘Best New Artist’, their first-ever win since their debut in June. They went on to win a couple more similar type rookie awards in the following months.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆2014BOY IN LUV/SKOOL LUV AFFAIRFebruary 11/12, 2014BTS’ fourth MV ‘Boy In Luv’ was released, peaking on the Billboard World Albums in 3rd, making it their first biggest milestone on this chart. The following day, they won their third rookie award and released the full album named ‘Skool Luv Affair’ with a running time of 35:30.FIRST JAPANESE DEBUTAPRIL 24, 2014BTS had their first Japanese debut with the song ‘Wake Up’ expanding and building up their Japanese fanbase.FIRST REPACKAGED ALBUMMay 14, 2014BTS released their first ever repackaged album named ‘Skool Luv Affair Special Edition’ to all ARMY’s.AMERICAN HUSTLE LIFEJuly 1-14, 2014BTS starred in their second TV show called ‘American Hustle Life’ that led to many iconic moments such as the ultimate ship between Jimin and Tony.FIRST CONCERTJuly 14, 2014BTS had their first concerts in 2014 called the SHOW & PROVE, often forgotten about.DANGER/DARK & WILDAugust 19, 2014BTS released their sixth MV ‘Danger’, along with the MV BTS dropped their new album ‘Dark & Wild’ with a running time of 51:36 making it their longest album of that time.RED BULLET TOUR ANNOUNCEDSeptember 4, 2014The Red Bullet tour was announced on September 4th, and sold out in minutes for their Korean show, making them add more dates and venues across Asia.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆2015ARMY BOMB VER 1March 10, 2015March 10th, BTS finally confirms the ARMY Bomb, the lightstick made for all ARMY’s to purchase for concerts, events, etc. A month after in April, it went on sale for the general public to buy. This would be the first edition of the lightstick.I NEED U/THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT IN LIFE PT.1April 29, 2015Their eight MV ‘I Need U’ was released and was getting the attention of ARMY’s overseas, BTS becoming more popular than ever. The MV was also released with the new album ‘The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Pt.1’ with a running time of 31:27. The title also referred to a Pt.2 which was to be released a few months after.FIRST WIN FOR TITLE TRACKMay 5, 2015BTS won their first ever award for one of their songs. The song they won for was ‘I Need U’ on SBS MTV’s The Show.DOPEJune 23, 2015On the 23rd, BTS’ ninth MV ‘Dope’ was released and became one of their most popular singles. It is also the first song many ARMY’s listened to, including myself!FIRST RUN!BTS EPISODEAugust 1, 2015On the 1st, only a week after the ‘Dope’ MV was released, BTS released the first Run!BTS episode to all ARMY’s starting one of the most popular TV series in K-POP.FIRST VLIVE ?August 7, 2015This date is a bit wonky as on the same day they had a conference but they recorded their first VLIVE around this time period.LAST CONCERT - THE RED BULLETAugust 29, 2015BTS held their last concert for their RED BULLET tour in AsiaWorld-Arena in Hongkong with 4,000 attendees.2015 MELON MUSIC AWARDSNovember 7, 2015They won their second award at the Melon Awards held in 2015 for the ‘Best Dance Male’.RUN/THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT IN LIFE PT.2November 29/30Run was released on the 29th, a day after their fourth mini album "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2" was released.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆2016KPOP STAR AWARDFebruary 17, 2016On this day BTS won "World K-Pop Star Award" at the 5th Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards.MOST RETWEETED ARTISTMarch 2016In March of 2016, BTS was named by Forbes as the most retweeted artist on Twitter.YOUNG FOREVERApril 19, 2016BTS’ eleventh MV ‘Young Forever’ was released.FIRE MVMay 1, 2016On the 1st, BTS released their twelfth MV, getting more and more popularity and inspired many to join the fandom.ARMY AMINO WAS BORNJune 29, 2016The holy amino was born on this day. To this day we have over 2 million members and is still slowly growing!FIRST BON VOYAGEJuly 5, 2016BTS went on their first ever Bon Voyage trip across Northern Europe and was aired on the 5th. They went on to go to Hawaii and many other places for future Bon Voyage trips.SECOND JAPANESE ALBUMSeptember 7, 2016Their Second Japanese Album "Youth" was released.BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS + ACHIEVEMENTSOctober 10, 2016Their fourteenth MV ‘Blood Sweat & Tears’ was released, achieving All-Kill, Peaking No.1 at Melon, MNET, BUgs, etc. The album went on to take the top 15 spots on Melon, Genie, MNET, and Naver Music. It charted at #1 on iTunes in over 26 countries. It also debuted at 26 on the bIllboard 200, marking the highest chart rank for a KPOP album. South Korea also sold 681, 924 albums in the first month, breaking the record for highest first month sale at the time. "Blood Sweat and Tears" became the group's first domestic number best hit on the Gaon Digital Chart.WINGS TOUR ANNOUNCEDNovember 18, 2016BTS announced the WINGS Tour that would go on to tour across Asia and 5 cities across South & North America. Sources reported that that BTS' Wings Tour sells out 18,711 tickets in only 4 minutes. As of now, it is reported that the tour made over 6.6 million dollars.FIRST DAESANGNovember 19, 2016On November 19, BTS won their very first daesang through the Melon Music Awards 2016 for Best Album of the Year category for their album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever. Most people confuse this album for the Wings album.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆2017ARMY BOMB VER.2February 10, 2017BTS released a new version of their ARMY Bomb to ARMY's with brand new features and a new look.SPRING DAYFebruary 12, 2017"Spring Day" was released, also withYou Never Walk Alone, the extended re-release of 2016's Wings.FIRST WINGS CONCERTFebruary 18, 2017The first Wings concert was held in Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome for two days, over 40000 people attending.NOT TODAYFebruary 19, 2017Not Today is released, BTS becoming more and more successful with more views, etc.CHANGE - RMMarch 19, 2017A month after Not Today, RM teamed up with Wale for the song ‘Change’.TOP SOCIAL ARTIST - AMERICAMay 21, 2017BTS won the Top Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards after Justin Bieber's long reign of 6 years. They went on to hold the title, winning in 2018 and 2019. This is the first time BTS has been recognized for a big award in the United States, exposing them to the American music industry.4 O'CLOCKJune 9, 2017RM and V upload "4 O'Clock" on Soundcloud for BTS Festa, for their fourth-anniversary celebration.BEYOND THE SCENEJuly 4, 2017BTS included 'Beyond the Scene' to their identity as a group. Most people think that it is correlated to their name, Billboard confirms that BTS, an acronym for their Korean name, Bangtanseonyeondan, which translates to "Bulletproof Boy Scouts."COME BACK HOMEJuly 5, 2017A day after the expansion of 'Beyond the Scene', BTS remade Seo Taiji & Boys popular song 'Come Back Home'.LOVE YOURSELF SERIES ANNOUNCEDAugust 10, 2017VIA Twitter, BTS announced their new Love Yourself series, only for short films to be released throughout the month. (Fun Fact - This is the first comeback I was there for.)SERENDIPITYSeptember 4, 2017A Jimin-focused MV for his solo "Serendipity" was released roughly two weeks before the album 'Love Yourself: Her'.SEOUL CITY TVCSeptember 13, 2017BTS promotes the city of Seoul with videos doing fun activities and highlighting tourist areas and fun things to do in Seoul.DNA/LOVE YOURSELF: HERSeptember 18, 2017DNA was released after a couple of teasers of the MV a week prior. DNA went on to reach 21 million views in 24 hours, becoming the most viewed video in 24 hours by a K-Pop group. It was also the fastest K-Pop video to reach 100 million views which BTS did in 24 days and approximately one hour. The same day, BTS released the first part of the Love Yourself series, the album 'Love Yourself: Her' with a running time of 30:33.AMINO POP UP GALLERYOctober 13-14, 2017Amino hosted a BTS pop-up gallery in New York, featuring the work of many ARMY's and it was a safe space for everyone to get together and share their passion of BTS.BT21 ANNOUNCEDOctober 17, 2017LINE Friends announced BT21 which was a line featuring BTS' characters they made up. They were also known as: Cooky, TATA, Chimmy, Koya, Mang, Shooky, RJ, and VAN.UNICEF LAUNCHOctober 31, 2017BTS and UNICEF launch the #EndViolence #LoveMyself Campaign.RAP MONSTER TO RMNovember 13, 2017RM officially changed his stage name that was formally "Rap Monster" to simply RM. (He said that he was not a monster 🤭)JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!, ELLEN, JAMES CORDEN< November 15, 2017BTS appeared on Jimmy Kimmel while in LA, they also held a mini concert that was aired the following week. Over the next few months, they met up with Ellen and even James Corden to appear on their shows.AMERICAN STAGE DEBUTNovember 19, 2017BTS made their US television debut at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles performing their newest title track ‘DNA’.MIC DROP (REMIX)November 23, 2017BTS collaborated with Steve Aoki and Desiigner for the remix of one of their songs ‘Mic Drop’. This song was English based and became one of BTS’ most successful songs in the United States.ELLEN SHOWNovember 27, 2017BTS was invited to the Ellen show to interview the boys about their life. To this date the video has over 19 million views.2017 MAMA WINDecember 1, 2017BTS won the Daesang at the 2017 MAMA awards, they also received the Best Music Video award for ‘Spring Day’ also with a special award for Best Asian Style. They also won four other awards at the Melon Music Awards the same month.SNOW CRYSTALDecember 6, 2017BTS BTS released "Snow Crystal" in Japan along with Japanese versions of "Mic Drop (Remix)" and "DNA."LAST WINGS CONCERTDecember 19, 2017BTS held their last concert of their Wings Tour in Seoul at the Gocheok Sky Dome with over 60000 people attending.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆2018LOVE YOURSELF TOUR ANNOUNCED + INFOApril 26, 2018BTS announced the new Love Yourself Tour only a couple months after their Wings tour concluded. A video was released showing each venue BTS was going to, from Asia to North America to Europe, the hype for the tour was intense with tickets selling out in less than hours. BTS then began a new leg of the tour, the ‘Speak Yourself’ tour beginning on May 4, 2019. By October 7, it was estimated that BTS sold a total of over 800 000 tickets and at the end was attended by over 2 million people.RUN! BTS EPISODE 50April 28, 2018Two days after their grand tour was announced, BTS aired their grand 50th anniversary of their popular series, ‘RUN!BTS’.FAKE LOVE/LOVE YOURSELF: TEARMay 15, 2018BTS came back with the second edition of the Love Yourself series ‘Love Yourself: Tear’ with a new dark edgy concept. It debuted at 10 on the US Billboard hot 100 with around 29000 digital sales becoming BTS first ever top ten entry. Fake Love had around 35.9 million views in 24 hours breaking their previous record. The MV reached 100 million views in just eight days, eight hours and 45 minutes breaking the record set at 24 days by ‘DNA’.ARMY BOMB VER. 3July 5, 2018BTS released a teaser video of the new lightstick that included bluetooth technology, a new design, and photocards promoting their new album. The ARMY Bomb was released later in the month for the public on July 27th, 2018, just a month before their first LYS concert in Seoul.IDOL/LOVE YOURSELF: ANSWERAugust 24, 2018BTS released their new MV for ‘Idol’, along with their album repackaged with a couple of songs from their last, and new remixes. This album had more than 1.5 million pre-orders and sold 800000+ copies in the first week of release. Answer debuted at number 1 on BIllboard 200 which led to the first time a K-POP act to have two albums at the top of the charts in the same year. The MV broke their past record and the record held by Taylor Swift by becoming the most viewed video in 24 hours and by becoming the fastest video to get 100 million views which took less than six days.FIRST LOVE YOURSELF CONCERTAugust 25, 2018A mere day from their album release, BTS went on and had their first concert of the Love Yourself tour in the Seoul Olympic Stadium with 90 000 people attending both days. It is also reported they made over 8 million dollars in the two Seoul concerts at the beginning of the tour.UN SPEECHSeptember 27, 2018BTS’ RM gave an inspirational speech at the UN meeting, becoming an inspiration for many, urging themselves to love themselves and others.TIME NEXT GENERATION LEADER LIST HONOREESOctober 11, 2018BTS was chosen to be featured on the cover of TIMES magazine for the next generation leaders. They were announced to be featured earlier and the magazine would be for sale after a few weeks.SEOUL CITY TVCOctober 28, 2018Like last year, BTS again came out with a series of videos promoting tourists to come visit South Korea.FIRST MOVIENovember 2018BTS released their first full length film, Burn The Stage: The Movie for everyone to see in the theaters.MAMA 2018December 10, 2018BTS dominated the MAMA awards, winning 8 awards including ‘Best Male Group’, and ‘Song and Album of the Year’. BTS confessed to even disbanding at the beginning of the year, making their speech emotional and powerful.PROMISEDecember 31, 2018Jimin released his first self composed song called ‘Promise’ and within 24 hours broke SoundCloud’s record for the highest number of streams on a debut since Drake.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆2019BTS LOVE YOURSELF IN SEOUL MOVIEJanuary 26, 2019This movie was shot at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul during the BTS tour `Love Yourself'. It hit movie theaters worldwide for a one-day only type of event.SCENERYJanuary 20, 2019Kim Taehyung shocked everyone with his beautiful vocals in his new self composed song only released a month after Jimin’s.GRAMMY’SFebruary 11, 2019BTS may have not won any awards but they still were able to make history to be the first ever KPOP group to present at the Grammys.BOY WITH LUV/MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA + INFOApril 12, 2019BTS released their new series ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’ with the title track of ‘Boy With Luv ft. Halsey’. Persona went to become the best-selling album of the year and biggest debut worldwide for an album since Adele. This new MV also became the fastest youtube video to reach 100 million views in less than 2 days. It became the most viewed YouTube music video with 74.6 million views.BRING THE SOUL: THE MOVIE TRAILERJuly 3, 2019BTS released a trailer for their new movie during their European leg of their ‘Love Yourself’ tour. The movie premiered on August 7th for everyone and stayed in theatres for a few days.WINTER BEARAugust 9, 2019Taehyung came back with his new solo song he composed called ‘Winter Bear’. It features a video of what seems to be Taehyung travelling the world for concerts.SEOUL CITY TVCSeptember 12, 2019Like the past two years, BTS released a series of videos and compilations of them traveling around Seoul promoting the city to all tourists.MAKE IT RIGHT FT LAUVOctober 18, 2019They dropped a new version of ‘Make It Right’ with Lauv. This song hit NO.1 on U.S iTunes which made it BTS’ fifth track to top the tally.THE LAST SYS CONCERTOctober 29, 2019BTS held the last concert of the ‘Love/Speak Yourself Tour’ at Seoul in the Seoul Olympic Stadium. This concert led to the finale of the ‘Love Yourself’ era that started two years ago.MAMA 2019December 4, 2019One of the most iconic BTS performances of all time, BTS performed many of their old songs and took home 9 awards, including Artist of the Year, Best Music Video, Best Male Group, etc.2019 was jammed with many awards and concerts, and it shocked all ARMY’s when they composed every award that BTS won that year.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆2020 (Jan 1st - Feb 28th)NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCEDJanuary 7, 2020BTS finally announced the new album coming soon along with the announcement that the pre-orders for the album start on Janirary 9th. BTS surprised us with the name ‘Map of The Soul: 7’ as ARMY’s were expecting ‘Shadow’ or ‘Ego’ which turned out to be solo songs.SHADOWJanuary 9, 2020BTS released the official comeback trailer for their album that featured the solo of Suga named ‘Interlude: Shadow’.BLACK SWANJanuary 17, 2010BTS’ first single of the album ‘Black Swan’ was released along with an ‘art film’ which included the choreography performed by a Solvenian team called MN Dance Company.TOUR DATES ANNOUNCEDJanuary 21, 2020BTS shocked us all by dropping the tour dates and venues to ARMY’s. It became famous and ARMY’s started to sign up for the first ever presale BTS incorporated. The tour would go on to tour Asia, North America, and Europe.BTS PERFORMS AT THE GRAMMYSJanuary 26, 2020Unlike last year, BTS performed at the Grammys with ‘Old Town Road’ alongside Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus and MAson Ramsey which led some fans to be furious as to why they did not get a solo stage.BTS PERFORMS BLACK SWANJanuary 28, 2020BTS performed one of their songs ‘Black Swan’ for the very first time on the The Late Late Show with James Corden. Also, they released a fun video of them playing Hide & Seek and of course an interview.EGOFebruary 2, 2020BTS released their second comeback trailer this time featuring J-Hope’s song ‘Ego’.BTS TICKETS - NORTH AMERICAFebruary 5-7, 2020BTS released all tickets to ARMY’s in North America, with Souncheck being sold out in less than one hour for ARMY Membership users. THe tickets went on to sell out shortly after they were all released.TIKTOK - ONFebruary 20, 2020BTS posted a 30 second clip of their new title track ‘ON’ and ended up crashing the site as thousands of fans logged on to listen.ON/MAP OF THE SOUL: 7February 21, 2020The first music video for On (a Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima) was released on the same day of the album. It was said that BTS sold over 2 million copies of the album in simply one day. The real music video was scheduled to be released a week after.ON" - GRAND CENTRAL TERMINALFebruary 25, 2020BTS performs their new single ‘ON’ during the The Tonight Show in the Grand Central Terminal. The video as of now has over 16 million views.CARPOOL KARAOKEFebruary 25, 2020BTS had their first ever carpool karaoke with James Corden. In the video they talk about the album, mochis, and even taught James how to dance to their new song ‘ON’.ON MVFebruary 27, 2020BTS released the official MV for ‘ON’ a week after the Kinetic Manifesto Film. BTS reached over 10 million views in less than one hour. Boy With Luv still holds the record for the most viewed video in 24 hours.BTS CANCELS SOUTH KOREAN CONCERTFebruary 27, 2020BTS unfortunately cancels their concerts in Seoul due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in South Korea. Over 200 000 people were expected to attend. Information about future cancellations have not been made public just yet.edit-May 22, 2020: Released D-2, Suga’s Second MixtapeAlmost four years after releasing his first solo mixtape as Agust D, Suga dropped D-2. The album hit No. 11 on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest-ranking album by a Korean solo artist on the chart. In an interview from earlier this year, TIME asked about the difference between Agust D the solo rapper and Suga the BTS member. “There is a lot more that I can openly express and that I can show a more raw side to myself [with Agust D],” he had said. “What’s similar is that both sing of dreams and hope.”June 6, 2020: Donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter“We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence,” BTS posted on June 4, using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter as protests over George Floyd’s death and police brutality spread across the U.S. Shortly after, the boy band and their label Big Hit Entertainment donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter. A little over 24 hours later, ARMY, the group’s dedicated fanbase, matched the donation.June 7, 2020: Gave Commencement Speech at YouTube’s “Dear Class of 2020” CeremonyAs the Class of 2020 attended virtual commencement in place of in-person ceremonies, BTS delivered a speech at YouTube’s online graduation event alongside speakers including Barack and Michelle Obama. “If any of you feel lost in the face of doubt or uncertainty, or the pressure of starting anew, don’t rush, take a deep breath,” Jin said.July 14, 2020: Released Japanese album Map of the Soul: 7 – The JourneyThe album featured Japanese versions of tracks mostly from Map of the Soul: Persona and Map of the Soul: 7. It also included two new original songs: “Stay Gold,” the lively pop number that is also featured on the soundtrack for the Japanese drama series Spiral Labyrinth – DNA Forensic Investigation, and “Your eyes tell,” a delicate ballad co-written by Jungkook.Aug. 31, 2020: Topped Billboard Hot 100 Chart With “Dynamite”BTS became the first all-South Korean act to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The vibrant disco-pop track “Dynamite” scored the largest digital sales in one week since Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” in 2017. In a congratulatory message, South Korean President Moon Jae-in wrote that BTS was “writing a new chapter in K-pop history.”Sept. 23, 2020: Spoke at the 75th U.N. General AssemblyFollowing their participation at the U.N. General Assembly in 2018, where BTS became the first K-pop group to address the United Nations, the members returned to speak—this time on how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their lives as artists. They also shared a message of hope: “The night is always darkest before the first light of dawn,” RM said.Oct. 10-11, 2020: Performed for a Virtual Audience of Nearly 1 Million at “Map of the Soul ON:E”After their virtual concert in June, “Bang Bang Con: The Live,” set the world record for the most viewers in a music concert live stream with more than 750,000 fans tuning in, “Map of the Soul ON:E” attracted an even larger audience. The two-day online event held in October gained 993,000 viewers across 191 countries and regions.NOV 20, 2020- BE release(i’ll update later)

Jump to navigationJump to searchFor other uses, see A cappella (disambiguation).A cappellaStylistic originsChurch musicGregorian chantingmadrigalsCultural originsJewish and Christian worshipTypical instrumentsVocalsvocal percussionbeatboxingbody percussionlive loopinginstrument mimicrySubgenresBarbershop musiccollegiate a cappellapuirt à beulA cappella (/ˌækəˈpɛlə/ US: /ˌɑːkə-/,Italian:[a kapˈpɛlla]; Italian for "in the manner of the chapel")[1]music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is usually accompanied singing. The term "a cappella" was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music.[1]The term is also used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.[2]Contents1Religious origins1.1Christian1.1.1Byzantine Rite1.1.2Opposition to instruments in worship1.1.3Acceptance of instruments in worship1.2Jewish2In the United States2.1Recording artists2.2Musical theatre2.3Barbershop style2.4Amateur and high school3In other countries3.1Pakistan3.2Sri Lanka3.3Sweden3.4United Kingdom4Collegiate5Emulating instruments6See also7Notes8Footnotes9References10External linksReligious origins[edit]A cappella music was originally used in religious music, especially church music as well as anasheed and zemirot. Gregorian chant is an example of a cappella singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from the Renaissance. The madrigal, up until its development in the early Baroque into an instrumentally-accompanied form, is also usually in a cappella form. Jewish and Early Christian music was largely a cappella,[3]although as noted by the Psalms some songs were accompanied by string instruments[4][citation needed]and this practice has continued in both of these religions as well as in Islam.Christian[edit]The polyphony of Christian a cappella music began to develop in Europe around the late 15th century AD, with compositions by Josquin des Prez.[5]The early a cappella polyphonies may have had an accompanying instrument, although this instrument would merely double the singers' parts and was not independent. By the 16th century, a cappella polyphony had further developed, but gradually, the cantata began to take the place of a cappella forms.[5]16th century a cappella polyphony, nonetheless, continued to influence church composers throughout this period and to the present day. Recent evidence has shown that some of the early pieces by Palestrina, such as what was written for the Sistine Chapel was intended to be accompanied by an organ "doubling" some or all of the voices.[5]Such is seen in the life of Palestrina becoming a major influence on Bach, most notably in the Mass in B Minor.Other composers that utilized the a cappella style, if only for the occasional piece, were Claudio Monteverdi and his masterpiece, Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata (A lover's tears at his beloved's grave), which was composed in 1610,[6]and Andrea Gabrieli when upon his death it was discovered many choral pieces, one of which was in the unaccompanied style.[7]Learning from the preceding two composeres, Heinrich Schütz utilized the a cappella style in numerous pieces, chief among these were the pieces in the oratorio style, which were traditionally performed during the Easter week and dealt with the religious subject matter of that week, such as Christ's suffering and the Passion. Five of Schutz's Historien were Easter pieces, and of these the latter three, which dealt with the passion from three different viewpoints, those of Matthew, Luke and John, were all done a cappella style. This was a near requirement for this type of piece, and the parts of the crowd were sung while the solo parts which were the quoted parts from either Christ or the authors were performed in a plainchant.[8]Byzantine Rite[edit]In the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, the music performed in the liturgies is exclusively sung without instrumental accompaniment. Bishop Kallistos Ware says, "The service is sung, even though there may be no choir... In the Orthodox Church today, as in the early Church, singing is unaccompanied and instrumental music is not found."[9]This a cappella behavior arises from strict interpretation of Psalms 150, which states, Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.[10]In keeping with this philosophy, early Russian musika which started appearing in the late 17th century, in what was known as khorovïye kontsertï (choral concertos) made a cappella adaptations of Venetian-styled pieces, such as the treatise, Grammatika musikiyskaya (1675), by Nikolai Diletsky.[11]Divine Liturgies and Western Rite masses composed by famous composers such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Arkhangelsky, and Mykola Leontovych are fine examples of this.Opposition to instruments in worship[edit]Present-day Christian religious bodies known for conducting their worship services without musical accompaniment include some Presbyterian churches devoted to the regulative principle of worship, Old Regular Baptists, Primitive Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, Churches of Christ, Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma), the Old German Baptist Brethren, Doukhobors the Byzantine Rite and the Amish, Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites. Certain high church services and other musical events in liturgical churches (such as the Roman Catholic Mass and the Lutheran Divine Service) may be a cappella, a practice remaining from apostolic times. Many Mennonites also conduct some or all of their services without instruments. Sacred Harp, a type of folk music, is an a cappella style of religious singing with shape notes, usually sung at singing conventions.Opponents of musical instruments in the Christian worship believe that such opposition is supported by the Christian scriptures and Church history. The scriptures typically referenced are Matthew 26:30; Acts 16:25; Romans 15:9; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 2:12, 13:15; James 5:13, which show examples and exhortations for Christians to sing.[12]There is no reference to instrumental music in early church worship in the New Testament, or in the worship of churches for the first six centuries.[13][14]Several reasons have been posited throughout church history for the absence of instrumental music in church worship.[nb 1]Christians who believe in a cappella music today believe that in the Israelite worship assembly during Temple worship only the Priests of Levi sang, played, and offered animal sacrifices, whereas in the church era, all Christians are commanded to sing praises to God. They believe that if God wanted instrumental music in New Testament worship, He would have commanded not just singing, but singing and playing like he did in the Hebrew scriptures.The first recorded example of a musical instrument in Roman Catholic worship was a pipe organ introduced by Pope Vitalian into a cathedral in Rome around 670.[16][nb 2]Instruments have divided Christendom since their introduction into worship. They were considered a Catholic innovation, not widely practiced until the 18th century, and were opposed vigorously in worship by a number of Protestant Reformers, including Martin Luther (1483–1546),[18]Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin (1509–1564)[19]and John Wesley (1703–1791).[20]Alexander Campbell referred to the use of an instrument in worship as "a cow bell in a concert".[21]In Sir Walter Scott's The Heart of Midlothian, the heroine, Jeanie Deans, a Scottish Presbyterian, writes to her father about the church situation she has found in England (bold added):The folk here are civil, and, like the barbarians unto the holy apostle, have shown me much kindness; and there are a sort of chosen people in the land, for they have some kirks without organs that are like ours, and are called meeting-houses, where the minister preaches without a gown.[22]Acceptance of instruments in worship[edit]Those who do not adhere to the regulative principle of interpreting Christian scripture, believe that limiting praise to the unaccompanied chant of the early church is not commanded in scripture, and that churches in any age are free to offer their songs with or without musical instruments.Those who subscribe to this interpretation believe that since the Christian scriptures never counter instrumental language with any negative judgment on instruments, opposition to instruments instead comes from an interpretation of history. There is no written opposition to musical instruments in any setting in the first century and a half of Christian churches (AD 33 to 180).[23]The use of instruments for Christian worship during this period is also undocumented. Toward the end of the 2nd century, Christians began condemning the instruments themselves.[24]Those who oppose instruments today believe these Church Fathers had a better understanding of God's desire for the church,[citation needed]but there are significant differences between the teachings of these Church Fathers and Christian opposition to instruments today.Modern Christians typically believe it is acceptable to play instruments or to attend weddings, funerals, banquets, etc., where instruments are heard playing religious music. The Church Fathers made no exceptions.[24] Since the New Testament never condemns instruments themselves, much less in any of these settings, it is believed that "the church Fathers go beyond the New Testament in pronouncing a negative judgment on musical instruments."[25]Written opposition to instruments in worship began near the turn of the 5th century.[26] Modern opponents of instruments typically do not make the same assessment of instruments as these writers,[nb 3] who argued that God had allowed David the "evil" of using musical instruments in praise.[29] While the Old Testament teaches that God specifically asked for musical instruments,[30] modern concern is for worship based on the New Testament.Since "a cappella" singing brought a new polyphony (more than one note at a time) with instrumental accompaniment, it is not surprising that Protestant reformers who opposed the instruments (such as Calvin and Zwingli) also opposed the polyphony.[31]While Zwingli was destroying organs in Switzerland – Luther called him a fanatic – the Church of England was burning books of polyphony.[32]Some Holiness Churches such as the Free Methodist Church opposed the use of musical instruments in church worship until the mid-20th century. The Free Methodist Church allowed for local church decision on the use of either an organ or piano in the 1943 Conference before lifting the ban entirely in 1955.Jewish[edit]While worship in the Temple in Jerusalem included musical instruments (2 Chronicles 29:25–29:27), traditional Jewish religious services in the Synagogue, both before and after the last destruction of the Temple, did not include musical instruments[33]given the practice of scriptural cantillation.[34]The use of musical instruments is traditionally forbidden on the Sabbath out of concern that players would be tempted to repair (or tune) their instruments, which is forbidden on those days. (This prohibition has been relaxed in many Reform and some Conservative congregations.) Similarly, when Jewish families and larger groups sing traditional Sabbath songs known as zemirot outside the context of formal religious services, they usually do so a cappella, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations on the Sabbath sometimes feature entertainment by a cappella ensembles. During the Three Weeks musical instruments are prohibited. Many Jews consider a portion of the 49-day period of the counting of the omer between Passover and Shavuot to be a time of semi-mourning and instrumental music is not allowed during that time.[35]This has led to a tradition of a cappella singing sometimes known as sefirah music.[36]The popularization of the Jewish chant may be found in the writings of the Jewish philosopher Philo, born 20 BC. Weaving together Jewish and Greek thought, Philo promoted praise without instruments, and taught that "silent singing" (without even vocal chords) was better still.[37]This view parted with the Jewish scriptures, where Israel offered praise with instruments by God's own command (2 Chronicles 29:25). The shofar is the only temple instrument still being used today in the synagogue,[38]and it is only used from Rosh Chodesh Elul through the end of Yom Kippur. The shofar is used by itself, without any vocal accompaniment, and is limited to a very strictly defined set of sounds and specific places in the synagogue service.[39]However, silver trumpets, as described in Numbers 10:1-10, have been made in recent years and used in prayer services at the Western Wall.[40]In the United States[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2013)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)The Hullabahoos, an a cappella group at the University of Virginia, were featured in the movie Pitch PerfectPeter Christian Lutkin, dean of the Northwestern University School of Music, helped popularize a cappella music in the United States by founding the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906. The A Cappella Choir was "the first permanent organization of its kind in America."[41][42]An a cappella tradition was begun in 1911 by F. Melius Christiansen, a music faculty member at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.[43]The St. Olaf College Choir was established as an outgrowth of the local St. John's Lutheran Church, where Christiansen was organist and the choir was composed, at least partially, of students from the nearby St. Olaf campus. The success of the ensemble was emulated by other regional conductors, and a tradition of a cappella choral music was born in the region at colleges like Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota), Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois), Wartburg College(Waverly, Iowa), Luther College (Decorah, Iowa), Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, Minnesota), Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), and Augsburg University (Minneapolis, Minnesota). The choirs typically range from 40 to 80 singers and are recognized for their efforts to perfect blend, intonation, phrasing and pitch in a large choral setting.[44][45]Movements in modern a cappella over the past century include barbershop and doo wop. The Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines International, and Harmony Inc. host educational events including Harmony University, Directors University, and the International Educational Symposium, and international contests and conventions, recognizing international champion choruses and quartets.Many a cappella groups can be found in high schools and colleges. There are amateur Barbershop Harmony Society and professional groups that sing a cappella exclusively. Although a cappella is technically defined as singing without instrumental accompaniment, some groups use their voices to emulate instruments; others are more traditional and focus on harmonizing. A cappella styles range from gospel music to contemporary to barbershop quartets and choruses.The Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA) is a membership option for former students, whose funds support hosted competitions and events.[46][47]A cappella music was popularized between the late 2000s and the early to mid-2010s with media hits such as the 2009–2014 TV show The Sing-Off and the musical comedy film series Pitch Perfect.Recording artists[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)In July 1943, as a result of the American Federation of Musicians boycott of US recording studios, the a cappella vocal group The Song Spinners had a best-seller with "Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer". In the 1950s, several recording groups, notably The Hi-Los and the Four Freshmen, introduced complex jazz harmonies to a cappella performances. The King's Singers are credited with promoting interest in small-group a cappella performances in the 1960s. Frank Zappa loves Doo wop and A cappella, so Zappa released The Persuasions' first album from his label in 1970.[48]In 1983, an a cappella group known as The Flying Pickets had a Christmas 'number one' in the UK with a cover of Yazoo's (known in the US as Yaz) "Only You". A cappella music attained renewed prominence from the late 1980s onward, spurred by the success of Top 40 recordings by artists such as The Manhattan Transfer, Bobby McFerrin, Huey Lewis and the News, All-4-One, The Nylons, Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, and *NSYNC.[citation needed]Contemporary a cappella includes many vocal groups and bands who add vocal percussion or beatboxing to create a pop/rock/gospel sound, in some cases very similar to bands with instruments. Examples of such professional groups include Straight No Chaser, Pentatonix, The House Jacks, Rockapella, Mosaic, Home Freeand M-pact. There also remains a strong a cappella presence within Christian music, as some denominations purposefully do not use instruments during worship. Examples of such groups are Take 6, Glad and Acappella. Arrangements of popular music for small a cappella ensembles typically include one voice singing the lead melody, one singing a rhythmic bass line, and the remaining voices contributing chordal or polyphonic accompaniment.A cappella can also describe the isolated vocal track(s) from a multitrack recording that originally included instrumentation.[citation needed]These vocal tracks may be remixed or put onto vinyl records for DJs, or released to the public so that fans can remix them. One such example is the a cappella release of Jay-Z's Black Album, which Danger Mouse mixed with The Beatles' White Album to create The Grey Album.On their 1966 album titled Album, Peter, Paul and Mary included the song "Norman Normal." All the sounds on that song, both vocals and instruments, were created by Paul's voice, with no actual instruments used.[49]In 2013, an artist by the name Smooth McGroove rose to prominence with his style of a cappella music.[50]He is best known for his a cappella covers of video gamemusic tracks on YouTube.[51]in 2015, an a cappella version of Jerusalem by multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier was selected for Beats by Dre "The Game Starts Here" for the England Rugby World Cup campaign.[52][53]Musical theatre[edit]A cappella has been used as the sole orchestration for original works of musical theatre that have had commercial runs Off-Broadway (theatres in New York City with 99 to 500 seats) only four times. The first was Avenue X which opened on 28 January 1994 and ran for 77 performances. It was produced by Playwrights Horizons with book by John Jiler, music and lyrics by Ray Leslee. The musical style of the show's score was primarily Doo-Wop as the plot revolved around Doo-Wop group singers of the 1960s.[54][55]In 2001, The Kinsey Sicks, produced and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway hit, "DRAGAPELLA! Starring the Kinsey Sicks" at New York's legendary Studio 54. That production received a nomination for a Lucille Lortel award as Best Musical and a Drama Desk nomination for Best Lyrics. It was directed by Glenn Casale with original music and lyrics by Ben Schatz.[56]The a cappella musical Perfect Harmony, a comedy about two high school a cappella groups vying to win the National championship, made its Off Broadway debut at Theatre Row's Acorn Theatre on 42nd Street in New York City in October, 2010 after a successful out-of-town run at the Stoneham Theatre, in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Perfect Harmony features the hit music of The Jackson 5, Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, Marvin Gaye, Scandal, Tiffany, The Romantics, The Pretenders, The Temptations, The Contours, The Commodores, Tommy James & the Shondells and The Partridge Family, and has been compared to a cross between Altar Boyz and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.[57][58]The fourth a cappella musical to appear Off-Broadway, In Transit, premiered 5 October 2010 and was produced by Primary Stages with book, music, and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth. Set primarily in the New York City subway system its score features an eclectic mix of musical genres (including jazz, hip hop, Latin, rock, and country). In Transit incorporates vocal beat boxing into its contemporary a cappella arrangements through the use of a subway beat boxer character. Beat boxer and actor Chesney Snow performed this role for the 2010 Primary Stages production.[59]According to the show's website, it is scheduled to reopen for an open-ended commercial run in the Fall of 2011. In 2011, the production received four Lucille Lortel Award nominations including Outstanding Musical, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominations, as well as five Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical and won for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.In December 2016, In Transit became the first a cappella musical on Broadway.[60]Barbershop style[edit]Main article: Barbershop musicThis section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2018)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)Barbershop music is one of several uniquely American art forms. The earliest reports of this style of a cappella music involved African Americans. The earliest documented quartets all began in barber shops. In 1938, the first formal men's barbershop organization was formed, known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A), and in 2004 rebranded itself and officially changed its public name to the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Today the BHS has about 22,000 members in approximately 800 chapters across the United States and Canada,[61][62]and the barbershop style has spread around the world with organizations in many other countries.[63]The Barbershop Harmony Society provides a highly organized competition structure for a cappella quartets and choruses singing in the barbershop style.In 1945, the first formal women's barbershop organization, Sweet Adelines, was formed. In 1953, Sweet Adelines became an international organization, although it didn't change its name to Sweet Adelines International until 1991. The membership of nearly 25,000 women, all singing in English, includes choruses in most of the fifty United States as well as in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the organization encompasses more than 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses.In 1959, a second women's barbershop organization started as a break off from Sweet Adelines due to ideological differences. Based on democratic principles which continue to this day, Harmony, Inc. is smaller than its counterpart, but has an atmosphere of friendship and competition. With about 2,500 members in the United States and Canada, Harmony, Inc. uses the same rules in contest that the Barbershop Harmony Society uses. Harmony, Inc. is registered in Providence, Rhode Island.Amateur and high school[edit]The popularity of a cappella among high schools and amateurs was revived by television shows and movies such as Glee and Pitch Perfect. High school groups have conductors or student leaders who keep the tempo for the group.In other countries[edit]This section needs expansion.You can help by adding to it.(May 2013)Pakistan[edit]The musical show Strepsils Stereo is credited for introducing the art of a cappella in Pakistan.[64]Sri Lanka[edit]Composer Dinesh Subasinghe became the first Sri Lankan to write a cappella pieces for SATB choirs. He wrote "The Princes of the Lost Tribe" and "Ancient Queen of Somawathee" for Menaka De Shabandu and Bridget Halpe's choirs, respectively, based on historical incidents in ancient Sri Lanka.[65][66][67]Voice Print is also a professional a cappella music group in Sri Lanka.[68]Sweden[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)The European a cappella tradition is especially strong in the countries around the Baltic and perhaps most so in Sweden as described by Richard Sparks in his doctoral thesis The Swedish Choral Miracle in 2000.[69]Swedish a cappella choirs have over the last 25 years won around 25% of the annual prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (EGP) that despite its name is open to choirs from all over the world (see list of laureates in the Wikipedia article on the EGP competition).The reasons for the strong Swedish dominance are as explained by Richard Sparks manifold; suffice to say here that there is a long-standing tradition, an unsusually large proportion of the populations (5% is often cited) regularly sing in choirs, the Swedish choral director Eric Ericson had an enormous impact on a cappella choral development not only in Sweden but around the world, and finally there are a large number of very popular primary and secondary schools ('music schools') with high admission standards based on auditions that combine a rigid academic regimen with high level choral singing on every school day, a system that started with Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm in 1939 but has spread over the country.United Kingdom[edit]The Oxford Alternotives, the oldest a cappella group at the University of Oxford in the UKThis section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)The Sweet Nothings are one of the University of Exeter's eight a cappella groups. They are one of the oldest and most successful girl groups in the UKA cappella has gained attention in the UK in recent years, with many groups forming at British universities by students seeking an alternative singing pursuit to traditional choral and chapel singing. This movement has been bolstered by organisations such as The Voice Festival UK.Collegiate[edit]Main articles: Collegiate a cappella, List of collegiate a cappella groups, and List of collegiate a cappella groups in the UKThis section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "A cappella" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)It is not clear exactly where collegiate a cappella began. The Rensselyrics of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (formerly known as the RPI Glee Club), established in 1873 is perhaps the oldest known collegiate a cappella group.[70][additional citation(s) needed]However the longest continuously-singing group is probably The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University,[71]which was formed in 1909 and once included Cole Porter as a member.[71]Collegiate a cappella groups grew throughout the 20th century. Some notable historical groups formed along the way include Colgate University's The Colgate 13 (1942), Dartmouth College's Aires (1946), Cornell University's Cayuga's Waiters (1949) and The Hangovers (1968), the University of Maine Maine Steiners (1958), the Columbia University Kingsmen (1949), the Jabberwocks of Brown University (1949), and the University of RochesterYellowJackets (1956).All-women a cappella groups followed shortly, frequently as a parody of the men's groups: the Smiffenpoofs of Smith College(1936), The Shwiffs of Connecticut College (The She-Whiffenpoofs, 1944), and The Chattertocks of Brown University (1951). A cappella groups exploded in popularity beginning in the 1990s, fueled in part by a change in style popularized by the Tufts University Beelzebubs and the Boston University Dear Abbeys. The new style used voices to emulate modern rock instruments, including vocal percussion/"beatboxing". Some larger universities now have multiple groups. Groups often join one another in on-campus concerts, such as the Georgetown Chimes' Cherry Tree Massacre, a 3-weekend a cappella festival held each February since 1975, where over a hundred collegiate groups have appeared, as well as International Quartet Champions The Boston Common and the contemporary commercial a cappella group Rockapella. Co-ed groups have produced many up-and-coming and major artists, including John Legend, an alumnus of the Counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania, and Sara Bareilles, an alumna of Awaken A Cappella at University of California, Los Angeles. Mira Sorvino is an alumna of the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones of Harvard College, where she had the solo on Only You by Yaz.A cappella is gaining popularity among South Asians with the emergence of primarily Hindi-English College groups. The first South Asian a cappella group was Penn Masala, founded in 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania. Co-ed South Asian a cappella groups are also gaining in popularity. The first co-ed south Asian a cappella was Anokha, from the University of Maryland, formed in 2001. Also, Dil se, another co-ed a cappella from UC Berkeley, hosts the "Anahat" competition at the University of California, Berkeley annually. Maize Mirchi, the co-ed a cappella group from the University of Michigan hosts "Sa Re Ga Ma Pella", an annual South Asian a cappella invitational with various groups from the Midwest. Another South Asian group from the Midwest is Chai Town who is based in the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign.Jewish-interest groups such as Queens College's Tizmoret, Tufts University's Shir Appeal, University of Chicago's Rhythm and Jews, Binghamton University's Kaskeset, Ohio State University's Meshuganotes, Rutgers University's Kol Halayla, New York University's Ani V'Ata and Yale University's Magevet are also gaining popularity across the U.S.[72][73][74]Increased interest in modern a cappella (particularly collegiate a cappella) can be seen in the growth of awards such as the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (overseen by the Contemporary A Cappella Society) and competitions such as the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella for college groups and the Harmony Sweepstakes for all groups. In December 2009, a new television competition series called The Sing-Off aired on NBC. The show featured eight a cappella groups from the United States and Puerto Rico vying for the prize of $100,000 and a recording contract with Epic Records/Sony Music. The show was judged by Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman, and Nicole Scherzinger and was won by an all-male group from Puerto Rico called Nota. The show returned for a second, third and fourth season, won by Committed, Pentatonix and Home Free respectively.Each year, hundreds of Collegiate a cappella groups submit their strongest songs in a competition to be on The Best of College A Cappella (BOCA), an album compilation of tracks from the best college a cappella groups around the world. The album is produced by Varsity Vocals – which also produces the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella – and Deke Sharon. ). According to ethnomusicologist Joshua S. Dunchan, "BOCA carries considerable cache and respect within the field despite the appearance of other compilations in part, perhaps, because of its longevity and the prestige of the individuals behind it."[75]Collegiate a cappella groups may also submit their tracks to Voices Only, a two-disc series released at the beginning of each school year. A Voices Only album has been released every year since 2005.[76]In addition, all women's a cappella groups can send their strongest song tracks to the Women's A Cappella Association (WACA) for its annual best of women's a cappella album. WACA offers another medium for women's voices to receive recognition and has released an album every year since 2014, featuring women's groups from across the United States.[77]Emulating instruments[edit]This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(May 2014)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)In addition to singing words, some a cappella singers also emulate instrumentation by reproducing instrumental sounds with their vocal cords and mouth, often pitched using specialised pitch pipes. One of the earliest 20th century practitioners of this method were The Mills Brothers whose early recordings of the 1930s clearly stated on the label that all instrumentation was done vocally. More recently, "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited was sung a cappella to the instrumentation on the comedy television series Tompkins Square. Another famous example of emulating instrumentation instead of singing the words is the theme song for The New Addams Familyseries on Fox Family Channel (now ABC Family). Groups such as Vocal Sampling and Undivided emulate Latin rhythms a cappella. In the 1960s, the Swingle Singers used their voices to emulate musical instruments to Baroque and Classical music. Vocal artist Bobby McFerrin is famous for his instrumental emulation. A cappella group Naturally Seven recreates entire songs using vocal tones for every instrument.The Swingle Singers used nonsense words to sound like instruments, but have been known to produce non-verbal versions of musical instruments. Beatboxing, more accurately known as vocal percussion, is a technique used in a cappella music popularized by the hip-hop community, where rap is often performed a cappella also. The advent of vocal percussion added new dimensions to the a cappella genre and has become very prevalent in modern arrangements.[78]Jazz vocalist Petra Hadenused a four-track recorder to produce an a cappella version of The Who Sell Out including the instruments and fake advertisements on her album Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out in 2005. Haden has also released a cappella versions of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and Michael Jackson's "Thriller".Christian rock group Relient K recorded the song "Plead the Fifth" a cappella on its album Five Score and Seven Years Ago. The group recorded lead singer Matt Thiessen making drum noises and played them with an electronic drum machine to record the song.See also[edit]Look up a cappella in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.Barbershop music – four-part a cappella (in close harmony)Collegiate a cappellaThe Contemporary A Cappella SocietyHarmony Sweepstakes A Cappella FestivalHome Free – quintet, winners of NBC's Sing-Off Season 4List of collegiate a cappella groupsList of professional a cappella groupsList of university a cappella groups in the United KingdomStraight No Chaser – 10 man a cappella ground founded at Indiana UniversitySweet Adelines InternationalNotes[edit]^ The absence of instrumental music is rooted in various hermeneutic principles (ways of interpreting the Bible) which determine what is appropriate for worship. Among such principles are the regulative principle of worship (Ulrich Zwingli), Sola scriptura (Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli), and the history of hymn in "Christianity". Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences between the old (Law of Moses) and the new (Jesus and the Apostles) covenants, emphasizing that the majority of the practices from the Law of Moses were replaced by the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. The absence of instrumental music in early church worship is significant given the abundance of Hebrew Bible references and commands to worship God with harp, lyre and cymbal. After several hundred years of Tabernacle worship without references to instrumental music, King David (ca 1500 BC) introduced musical instruments into Temple worship reportedly because of a commandment from God, complete with who was to sing, who was to play, and what instruments were to be used.[15]^ McKinnon maintained that the organ was the first instrument to be introduced into worship and the next was the trumpet. He noted accounts of an organ being sent from Byzantium to Pippin in 757, and another to Charlemagne in 812.[17]^ Rather than calling the use of instruments "evil", modern opposition typically uses terms like "unspiritual"[27] or an Old Testament "shadow".[28]