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The youngest member of BTS, Jungkook — the “Golden Maknae” — covered a Harry Styles ballad and fans are swooning. They loved it so much, it secured 9 million views in the first 24 hours of release. And with the combined impact of the two pop stars’ dreamy good-looks, crush-worthy talents, and huge fanbases, it’s really no wonder.

So, which passionate Styles song did sweet Jungkook choose to cover? And just how emotional are his admirers about it?  

(L) Harry Styles poses with a hand in his pocket in a brown suit, purple sweater, and pearls (L) Jungkook poses in a dark blue suit, holding his jacket closed at the front
(L) Harry Styles | Joe Maher/Getty Images for Bauer Media | (R) Jungkook | The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins/Getty Images

‘Falling’ by Harry Styles

It’s likely that pop music lovers will recognize Jungkook’s cover as an original from 2019’s Fine Line, Styles’ second album. The song was supposedly inspired by a draining breakup, and the lyrics are therefore painfully expressive and raw.

With lines like, “And there’s no one to blame, but the drink in my wandering hands,” and, “And I’m well-aware I write too many songs about you,” the ballad is an emotional favorite for fans. Olivia Wilde’s boyfriend may be pretty private overall, but he gets relatively open in his music.

Fans appreciate the candor. And apparently, Jungkook was impressed by it, too!

Jungkook’s cover of ‘Falling’ by Harry Styles

In Oct. 2021, Jungkook surprised BTS’ ARMY fanbase by releasing his cover of “Falling” – and to massive ovation from the internet at large.  

Fans took to Twitter to share that they were happy, crying, and praying for the strength to get them through after the release. Apparently, hearts that beat for BTS just couldn’t take it! In typical ARMY fashion, some admirers threatened to sue the “Golden Maknae” for being too much to take.

But in all seriousness — near-spontaneous combustion aside — fans seem to agree his cover is utterly chilling, in the best way. When Jungkook sings, “And I get the feeling that you’ll never need me again,” and then hits and holds a stunningly perfect note — it’s enough to literally take breath away.

Coincidentally, that exact phenomenon seems to be what catalyzed the hilarious threats of lawsuits toward BTS for trying to kill their fans.

Jungkook and Harry Styles are a perfect mix

Part of the appeal of this cover is that the ballad is so beautiful to start. Jungkook certainly has his own vocal style, and he seems to slip it into the Styles song rather well. Billboard wrote of the cover, “Jungkook keeps the song true to form and sings the lyrics with a beautiful tenor and clarity, much like Styles did in the original version.”

They also noted that he “peppers the emotive lyrics with his unique vocal tone and hits the song’s soaring high notes with ease.”

Notably, Jungkook spoke to Billboard in May 2021 about work on a solo album, which his various cover releases seem to be preluding. He said he’s battling perfectionist tendencies and “working hard searching for [his] own color” in making solo music.

But he also noted how some good advice on solo work came from a fellow BTS member. “Suga gave me a piece of advice that it doesn’t have to be perfect,” he noted. However, some fans would argue Jungkook doesn’t need to work hard to be perfect, because — of course — he’s perfect just the way he is. And his cover of “Falling” just might prove it.

RELATED: BTS: ‘In the SOOP’ Reveals Jungkook Has a Dog

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