BTS‘ Jin has delivered the live debut of his just-released solo single ‘The Astronaut’, performing it alongside Coldplay at their concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina tonight (October 28).
Last week, Big Hit Music published a statement on the K-pop boyband’s Weverse page to announce Jin’s appearance at Coldplay’s Argentinan ‘Music Of The Spheres’ tour stop.
Held at the Estadio River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires – just hours after ‘The Astronaut’ was officially released – the show was broadcast live to over 3,500 cinemas across more than 75 countries and regions. It’s been touted as the first concert in Latin America to be streamed live in cinemas around the world.
‘The Astronaut’ appeared 22 songs into Coldplay’s set, following an appearance from H.E.R. on the track ‘Let Somebody Go’ (which has been somewhat of a staple across Coldplay’s current tour). A few songs before it, the band performed ‘My Universe’, a collab with BTS that arrived last September.
In a speech shared before Jin took to the stage, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said: “A few years ago, I felt like we had to play a certain kind of music all the time, we had to fit into a box – and I felt that way about my life also. And I met some good people and read some good books and met some great teachers, and they seemed to be happy. And the thing that made them happy was not having fear of what you don’t know and people you don’t understand yet – you just ask.
“And one way that really blessed my life – and our life as a band – is that about two years ago, someone suggested to us that we should work with a Korean boy band. [I was] full of judgement, which is often my first reaction, because I’m human. But after a while I was like, ‘Why do I feel scared about this just because they’re different?’ And so we went down this road and we did a song together called ‘My Universe’. And it’s turned out to be one of the most fun and fulfilling relationships that we have as a band, and it’s taught us so much about… Just embrace the other, rather than be scared of it.
“And so, about six months ago, one of their members called me up and he said, ‘I have to leave the band in December [to join] the army in Korea because that’s the rules there. And he said, ‘I need a song that says goodbye to everybody for a little while, and tells them that I love them… And so I said, ‘Okay, we’ll do a song together.’ And instead of being worried about it, I feel so excited about it, so grateful for this relationship that we have with BTS. And then this song arrived, and I was like, ‘This is one of our best songs – let’s give it to this gentleman.’”
Footage from the official broadcast is yet to surface, however shots from the crowd have poured out in realtime – have a look at some below:
Jin singing The Astronaut at the Coldplay concert in Buenos Aires. pic.twitter.com/kdQoUdDepF
— 𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙠𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 (@GoldenJKUnivers) October 29, 2022
JIN’s live debut of #TheAstronaut performed alongside Coldplay. pic.twitter.com/BK43hmY0H2
— army film club (@0613frames) October 29, 2022
‘The Astronaut’, as announced last Thursday (October 20), was co-written by Jin and Coldplay. It marks the second time the BTS have collaborated with the band, following ‘My Universe’ last year. In a lyric booklet included with physical editions of ‘The Astronaut’, Kygo and Max Martin were also credited as co-producers.
In a four-star review of ‘The Astronaut’, NME’s Rhian Daly wrote: “Although this release represents the start of a new chapter for the singer’s solo work, it does feel more distinctively like a Coldplay song than it necessarily does a Jin song. Though Jin stands apart from BTS here, his individual artistic identity still isn’t given much room to manifest. That said, he has plenty of years ahead of him to define that for himself. In the meantime, we can savour ‘The Astronaut’, a starry-eyed gem that sparkles with love.”
Meanwhile, Jin announced his plans to release solo material at BTS’ Recent ‘Yet To Come’ concert in Busan earlier this month.
Also, as soon as he wraps up promotional activities for ‘The Astronaut’, Jin is expected to be the first BTS member to enlist for mandatory military service. The group’s label Big Hit Music have also said the boyband have plans to reconvene after their military service around 2025.