J-Hope becomes the first Korean to perform on main stage at Lollapalooza

J-Hope of BTS lit up Sunday night at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago.

The boy band member headlined one of the main stages on July 31 and performed about 20 numbers at the annual four-day music festival held in Chicago’s Grand Park. This year’s edition of Lollapalooza took place from July 28 to 31.  

J-Hope became the first Korean artist to take to the main stage in the music festival’s history. It marked his first performance since he officially launched his solo career last month after BTS announced a break from its group activities in mid-June. 

J-Hope dropped his first solo album “Jack In The Box” on July 15, becoming the first BTS member to release solo music. The release topped the iTunes Top Albums charts in 49 nations immediately after its release.  
 
After opening the performance with “More” (2022), the lead track of his solo album, the singer greeted fans from the stage.  
 
“I’m J-Hope from BTS, but you can call me Jay,” he said, as the crowd responded with thunderous cheers.

J-Hope continued to perform his songs including “P.O.P (Piece of Peace) Pt. 1” (2018), “Stop” (2022), “Blue side” (2018), “Safety zone” (2022), “What if…” (2022) as well as a tropical remix version of BTS’s hit “Dynamite” (2020).  
 
While he was performing “Chicken Noodle Soup,” his 2019 song featuring American pop star Becky G, the singer herself entered the stage, taking fans by surprise.  

Toward the end of his performance, J-Hope delivered a thank you message in Korean.  

“This album [‘Jack In The Box’] started from my greed and immature passion, and I think my activities for it are coming to an end,” he said. “A lot of the schedules were actually a series of fears for me. Nonetheless, they were such meaningful moments. I want to tell myself that I’m proud for overcoming all those moments [of fear].”

The singer wrapped up with “Future” (2022) and shouted “Chicago, Lollapalooza, ARMY [BTS’s fans]” before stepping down.  

Meanwhile, Jimin of BTS attended the show in person to cheer on his bandmate. He was spotted dancing along to J-Hope’s performance, a scene that many fans captured and posted on social media.  

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]