The GQ Interview: Seven Men, One Room, the First Joint Interview Since 2022

Before the album dropped, before Fallon, before Zane Lowe — the world got its first real look at BTS reunited through a landmark feature in GQ Magazine.

Published in February 2026, the GQ cover story was the group's first joint interview since announcing their hiatus in 2022. The seven members — RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook — had not lived together since 2019. After completing mandatory military service and individual solo careers, they came back together to prepare for their comeback.

RM described the disciplined routine they followed while working together in Los Angeles: "We'd do six days a week, like businessmen." The members trained together in the morning, returned home for lunch, and reported to the studio by early afternoon, working on new music until evening with various songwriters and producers.

The interview revealed how deeply personal the album is. Jungkook described the writing process: "It was really fun because we had three rooms in the studio. Sometimes we would pair up to go into a room. Sometimes it would be just one of us and then we would switch pairs so we could have different ideas. It was our way of breaking away from molds, and sometimes it worked out really badly, sometimes really nicely. But the whole process was very liberating and free."

V recalled a tender story about Jungkook: during the hiatus, when some members were still in active service and others were not, Jungkook saw some of his members and broke down. "Jungkook cried; he bawled," V said. "He cried because he really wanted to be onstage, and he just really wanted to perform."

Jimin reflected on how his solo career during the hiatus had been a wake-up call: "I knew that I had to practice a lot and grow as an artist and widen my spectrum before we banded together as one. I was looking at the performances and solo activities of other members and I thought, 'Oh, I could do that too. They're doing very great.'"

RM captured the spirit of the entire comeback in one line: "The most important thing is just that we are here back together again. We're going to see the fans all over the world."