BTS' Jungkook to possibly debut solo in July

Jungkook of BTS (Big Hit Music)

Jungkook of BTS may drop a solo album in July, local media outlet Sports Chosun reported on Sunday.

Sports Chosun's exclusive report reported that Jungkook is gearing up to release his first solo album on July 14, and that the album will include an English song.

BTS' agency Big Hit Music told The Korea Herald that it will announce Jungkook's solo debut "once plans are confirmed."

Jungkook will be the sixth member from BTS to come out solo, following J-Hope, Jin, RM, Jimin and Suga. Last June, the septet officially announced a hiatus on group activities to focus on individual projects.

While the upcoming album will mark Jungkook's first official debut, the 25-year-old singer already holds significant achievements as a solo artist.

In November last year, Jungkook sang the official soundtrack song for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, "Dreamers," becoming the first South Korean to release a World Cup song. He also performed the song live at the opening ceremony that took place in Qatar.

In June 2022, Jungkook was featured in American pop musician Charlie Puth's hit single "Left & Right," dropping his first project outside of his group. The song was named among Billboard's 17 biggest collaborations of 2022. The song debuted at No. 22 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and remained on the chart for 17 weeks straight.

Jungkook made his first solo Hot 100 debut in February 2022 with his song "Stay Alive," a soundtrack for "7 Fates: Chakho," a webtoon series featuring BTS members. Produced by BTS' Suga and vocalized by Jungkook, the single peaked at No. 95 on the Billboard singles chart.

With the three songs, Jungkook in May set a Guinness World Record by amassing a billion accumulated streams on Spotify in the shortest time for a K-pop male solo artist.

Other than the two official releases, Jungkook also unveiled solo songs "Still With You" in 2020 and "My You" in 2022 via SoundCloud.

Meanwhile, BTS recently kicked off "BTS Festa," an annual event to celebrate its debut anniversary on June 13. This year, marking the band's milestone decadelong career, the event was launched in collaboration with the Seoul city government and will take place both online and on-site around the city.