[with ARMY ㉘] "We Kept Listening After Our Daughter Was Born": How BTS Became a Family Tradition

Thirteen years have passed since BTS made their debut. Fans who once followed the group as teenagers are now adults, while ARMYs who used to attend concerts alone are returning hand in hand with their partners and children. The years BTS and their fans have shared are expanding beyond personal taste to become part of a family culture.

BTS brought their "ARIRANG" world tour to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sept. 1. The concert marked their return to the venue five years after "PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE - LA" in 2021, as well as the reunion of all seven members onstage following the completion of their military service.

Long before the concert began, the area surrounding SoFi Stadium was already awash in purple. Among the ARMYs who had traveled from around the world, one family stood out: a mother, a father and their three-year-old daughter. All three were ARMY.

The little girl drew particular attention in a beautiful hanbok. Her mother explained that a friend had brought the traditional Korean outfit back for her from Korea. The sight of a three-year-old ARMY dressed in a hanbok brought from Korea to see BTS captured how this family was creating its own memories with the group.

The family's connection with BTS began in 2020. The father became a fan first after discovering the group through a younger relative, and the mother soon found herself drawn to their music as well.

"At first, my husband was the one who liked them, and then I became an ARMY," the mother said. "After our daughter was born, we just kept listening to BTS."

For their daughter, now three and a half years old, BTS is not a group she discovered at a particular moment. Their music has simply always been there. When her parents play their songs, she listens along. When she hears the members' voices, she responds instinctively. What began as her parents' musical taste has quietly become part of her everyday life.

The family came to the concert that day to create a new memory together. For the parents, it was a chance to see BTS return as a complete group. For their daughter, it was her first opportunity to hear the voices she had grown up listening to live onstage.

Asked what it meant to attend the concert as a family, the mother said, "We have so many memories connected to BTS. More than anything, I wanted to see my daughter enjoying herself and getting excited as she listened to their songs."

Through their music, BTS has long spoken about youth, growth and learning to love oneself. The fans who grew up with those messages are now sharing the same songs with their own families. In that sense, the fandom, too, has grown alongside BTS.

For some, the moment they became ARMY remains vividly tied to a particular song or performance. For the youngest member of this family, however, there was no separate moment of discovery. BTS's music had already been part of her world before her memories even began.

This "ARMY family" is another testament to the longevity of the BTS fandom. It is about more than simply gaining a new fan. It shows how music that enters one person's life can become a family's shared language and eventually be passed on to the next generation.

From a younger relative to the father, from the father to the mother, and from the parents to their daughter, BTS's music has traveled across the generations of one family.