Three days after the release of his debut album, Golden, Jung Kook made the TV debut for his latest solo single, “Standing Next to You,” on The Tonight Show. Though he initially took the stage alone, he was soon surrounded a group of male dancers that, unsurprisingly, did a better job with the choreography than host Jimmy Fallon had in a segment earlier on the show.
Before his performance, Jung Kook sat down with Fallon to discuss an array of topics, including his fear of microwaves. (“Boom,” the BTS singer mouthed, as he demonstrated a mushroom cloud with his hands.) Fallon also announced on the show that his debut solo single “Seven” had gone platinum.
When asked by Fallon if he is ready for a world tour, Jung Kook said he may not have enough songs to perform yet. “I want to complement them more and make more songs, and maybe when I’m ready I can do the tour in full swing,” he said, adding that he is playing a concert on Nov. 20 (in Seoul at South Korea’s Jangchung Arena) that will be livestreamed.
Before practicing some gyrating moves for the camera, the host could not help but rib the superstar for once falling asleep on his live stream with six million people watching him snooze for 45 minutes. “I think my fans, ARMY, liked it, because it was something very unexpected,” he said, admitting in Korean that, “actually, it’s a little embarrassing.”
In 2021, Jung Kook spoke with Rolling Stone about the work ethic required to become a great artist. “You can only improve in a certain area when you really practice, when you really try, when you deep-dive into it,” he shared, addressing the “golden” label that has been applied to him because of his skillset across mediums. “So I really don’t want to think myself as an all-rounder. I just want to keep trying and working hard. And of course I do feel pressure, but those pressures can also drag me to work hard and do best at what I do.”