Thursday, 02 January 2025
Thursday, 02 January 2025
BTS band member Kim Taehyung, known for singing K-pop chartbusters like ‘Christmas Tree’ and ‘FRI(ENDS)’, is also a jazz enthusiast, a skilled saxophone player and a model with a flair for cooking and painting. Today, as he celebrates his 29th birthday, we take a look at what Taehyung, lovingly called V by fans, does when he is not recording songs or shooting music videos.
V: The model
Taehyung rose to fame as an international model after being featured in popular fashion and entertainment magazines that are circulated worldwide.
‘The Winter Bear’ singer won the title of 2024’s Most Handsome Man in the World, surpassing Robert Pattinson, Regé-Jean Page, and Justin Bieber in the global poll conducted by the popular British publication, Nubia Magazine.
Vante: Taehyung’s artistic alter-ego
Inspired by artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Egon Schiele, and Ante Badzim, Taehyung introduced his artistic alter-ego, Vante (a name taken from Vincent Van Gogh and photographer Ante Badzim), in a 2017 Twitter (now X) post. The singer frequently takes his fans on an artistic ride by posting pictures of his paintings and photographs. The singer also gave a passing nod to his painter self in his music video ‘Rainy Days’ from the 2024 album Layover.
Jazzy V: Saxophone star
Known primarily for his K-pop hits, V also has a long-standing passion for jazz music that dates back to his teenage years. He has often showcased his love for the genre by performing renditions of classic jazz tracks. He has also openly expressed his admiration for performers, such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, John Legend, and Charlie Puth. Recently, he even did a rendition of Bing Crosby’s holiday classic, White Christmas, to pay tribute to the late Jazz legends. Notably, V is also a skilled saxophone player — a talent he possessed even before his debut as a member of BTS.
Taehyung: The actor
V made his television debut as a supporting character in the 2016 Korean historical drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth, playing Han Sung, the youngest knight in the royal family of Silla in ancient Korea. The series, which also starred Park Seo-joon, Park Hyung-sik and Go-ara, showcased Taehyung’s versatility as a skilled actor. He also lent his vocals to the soulful duet, ‘It’s Definitely You’, which was part of the series soundtrack.
The singer was also featured in K-pop idol IU’s music video ‘Love Wins All’ from the album The Winning (2024). The singer even won the 2018 Soompi Award in the Best Idol Actor category.
Chef V’s labour of love
Though it is fellow-BTS-member Jungkook who is known for his culinary talent, V has also displayed his cooking skills to fans. Initially an amateur, V has honed his skills through his appearances on variety shows like Run BTS (a travel variety show featuring the BTS members) and Jinny’s Kitchen. While it is known that he occasionally prepared snacks for the crew on set Run BTS, it was in Season 1 of Jinny’s Kitchen (streaming on Prime Video since 2023) that Taehyung truly showcased the extent of his culinary abilities. As an intern at Jinny’s Kitchen, a small Korean diner in Mexico, V worked alongside actors Park Seo-joon and Choi Woo-sik, honing his skills.
Currently, V is serving in the South Korean military along with his other bandmates — Suga, RM, Jimin and Jungkook.
