BTS’ Jin Performs, Talks Guitar Gift From Coldplay on ‘Tonight Show’

BTS’ Jin is establishing some new family traditions. During the musician’s recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he revealed plans to pass down one of his most prized possessions: a guitar gifted to him by Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

“I was hanging out with Chris Martin, and he had a guitar from his tour, I jokingly asked him, ‘Can I have this guitar?’” Jin explained. “Chris Martin was like, ‘Of course!’ I was so happy. Now it’s a family heirloom.”

Jin first collaborated with Martin when Coldplay recruited BTS for the supergroup collaboration “My Universe.” Earlier this year, Martin told Rolling Stone: “It turned out to be the most uplifting, natural collaboration. I would do anything for those guys at any time. They were so good. They made the song so great.”

And while Martin wasn’t a collaborator on Jin’s recently released debut solo album Happy, the pair did work on the singer’s debut solo single “The Astronaut,” which arrived in 2022. “I really, really love Coldplay,” Jin said on The Tonight Show. “I had a chance to work with Coldplay before. A few years ago — before this album — Chris Martin gave me a song he wrote. We worked on it together, and it was an honor for me.”

Later in the show, Jin performed “Running Wild” from Happy. It marked his debut solo appearance on The Tonight Show and his first late-night appearance since completing his mandatory military service in June.

In a review of the album, Rolling Stone wrote: “Happy opens with ‘Running Wild,’ a peppy cut that sounds tailor-made for convertible rides, or at least movie montages featuring them. The track was co-produced by Gary Barlow of the British boy-band sensation Take That — a neat squaring of the pop-idol circle that could help explain why its bubbly urgency fits Jin’s overall demeanor like a glove.”