Kim Taehyung was born in Seo District, Daegu, South Korea on December 30, 1995 and grew up in Geochang City. He is the eldest of three children, has two brothers, a brother and a sister. The first time he wanted to become a professional singer when he started elementary school and in junior high school he even took saxophone lessons to be able to realize his dream. V officially became a Big Hit Entertainment trainee after successfully passing the audition in Daegu. In May 2018, his second solo song was released, V's Singularity became the first trailer for their album Love Yourself: Tear. The song debuted on British radio BBC Radio on 25 October 2018. A month after its release, The Guardian added Singularity to its Top 50 songs for June 2018. And Billboard included this song at position 28 on their list of critics Top 50 BTS Songs. Overall, Singularity received a good response from the public and music critics. The New York Times magazine ranked it 20th on its list of the 65 Best Songs of 2018, alongside Fake Love.[15] Music critic Mikael Wood of the LA Times ranked it fourth, Best Song to Listen to 2018,[16] and Music critic Laura Snapes of the Guardian included the song on her list of favorites on Best Music 2018: Albums and Songs. On October 24, 2018, V became one of the youngest to receive the fifth class award of the Hwagwan medal, the Order Of Cultural Merit, which was awarded directly by the President of South Korea along with other BTS members for their contribution to spreading South Korean culture around the world.