BTS’s Jin and Coldplay worked tirelessly to prepare the performance of a lifetime.
BTS‘s Jin recently gave ARMYs a virtual backstage pass to his preparations for his solo debut, showcasing the unexpected, impressive, and at times, unconventional ways he prepared to release “The Astronaut.”
Before Jin officially enlisted for mandatory military service, he made his solo debut and released a farewell song for ARMYs, co-written by the British rock band Coldplay.
The emotional song had an equally emotional journey from the studio to the stage, with Jin revealing that “The Astronaut” was the hardest to record out of every song he’s performed.
Out of all my songs, this was the one that took the longest to record. If I sung it in my style, more breathy, and in a higher key, then it wouldn’t be in the feel of what Martin-hyungnim had written. So, I tried my best to recreate the vibe that hyungnim had in mind.
— Jin, Weverse Live
Chris Martin revealed to fans at Coldplay’s 2022-2023 MUSIC of the SPHERES World Tour concert in Argentina that Jin reached out to him in early 2022 to confide in him about his plans to enlist, asking Martin for a song that would help him say goodbye “for a little while.”
And then [‘The Astronaut’] arrived, and I was like, ‘This is one of our best songs. Let’s give it to this gentleman.‘ And he’s flown all the way here from Korea.
— Chris Martin
Coldplay invited Jin to join them in Argentina for a special encore performance in front of 65,000 fans to make his final song release even more meaningful before his enlistment.
Jin made the nearly 36-hour plane ride across the globe for the solo debut of a lifetime.
Coldplay and BIGHIT MUSIC worked together to keep Jin’s solo debut song under wraps, and the recent BTS Episode showed just how extreme their measures were to keep the song a secret.
In the video, Jin had two rehearsals for the big night. The song was kept a secret during the first rehearsal the night before, as it hadn’t been released yet. To prevent the song from potentially being leaked, all sound in the stadium was cut, and Jin rehearsed to music being played in his in-ear monitors.
Only Chris Martin’s guitar could be heard quietly, as even the instrument’s mics were cut after a few notes were played.