BTS have cited Seo Taiji and Boys, Nas, Eminem, Kanye West, Drake, Post Malone, Charlie Puth and Danger as musical inspirations. They have also cited Queen as an influence, with Suga saying he "grew up watching videos of Live Aid." During their concert at Wembley Stadium in London, Jin paid tribute to Queen by leading the crowd in a version of Freddie Mercury's "ay-oh" chant from the band's Live Aid concert.
BTS are also influenced by many literary, psychological, artistic, and philosophical mediums. Their album Wings (2016) was inspired by Hermann Hesse's coming of age novel, Demian. Their song "Blood Sweat and Tears" references Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zurathustra, Herbert James Draper's The Lament for Icarus, Pieter Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, and Pieter Bruegel's The Fall of the Rebel Angels by quoting Nietzsche and featuring the three aforementioned paintings in the music video. Their "Spring Day" music video contains lyrical and visual references to Ursula Le Guin's short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. The Love Yourself series was primarily influenced by Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving, while their song "Magic Shop" from Love Yourself: Tear (2018) was inspired by James R. Doty's memoir Into the Magic Shop. Their 2019 album Map of the Soul: Persona gains its name from Murray Stein's Jung's Map of the Soul: An Introduction.