Even in a pandemic year like no other, the K-pop group BTS – and their fandom like no other – have managed to make progress and push the boundaries of what an orchestra that is primarily in a non-English language singing can reach the American music industry, while millions of fans lift their spirits with hopeful lyrics in a dark time. Their skills will be fully displayed again on Sunday during the Grammy Awards, where BTS will perform.
The group has already achieved new achievements in the first few months of this year, becoming the first Asian act nominated by IFPI as the Global Recording Artist of the Year. Last week, IFPI also awarded BTS’s album “Map of the Soul: 7” as the first winner of its new Global Album All Format chart, which follows the bestsellers of the year in all consumption types.
Fans will be waiting to see if the group, who played further Varieties coverage last year, takes home gold this weekend in the race for the best pop duo / group performance.
In no particular, but roughly chronological order, here’s a look back at some of their group milestones from the past year to this weekend’s Grammy stage.
- ‘Black Swan’ shot up
The first single from ‘Map of the Soul: 7’, ‘Black Swan’, appeared on January 17 last year to pave the way for BTS ‘highly anticipated fourth Korean album. Driven by social media action from BTS’s worldwide legions of fans, collectively known as ARMY, the song hit number 104 on iTunes in 104 countries during the summer, more than any other song in history, beating out Adele’s “Hello” . which previously held the record for almost five years.
- Return Large
Last week, BTS announced that it would expand its ongoing “LOVE MYSELF” UNICEF campaign to eliminate violence against children, promising to donate a further $ 1 million, as well as a portion of the proceeds from their “Love Myself “article and” Love Yourself “album. to the case. The campaign has raised nearly $ 3 million since its inception in 2017.
Their latest commitment to UNICEF is just the last step in their efforts to give back.
At the height of social justice protests rallied over the death of Minneapolis’ George Floyd in June, Variety has announced that BTS and its management company Big Hit Entertainment have donated $ 1 million to Black Lives Matter. Within the next 25 hours, fans arranged to compare the donation with another $ 1 million. “It was a decision we thought about very nicely: what can we do as part of our overall message to speak out against prejudice and violence?” RM member RM said. Variety in October and explain their rationale.
In June, BTS and Big Hit also donated $ 1 million to Crew Nation, Live Nation’s campaign to support workers for live entertainment affected by the pandemic.
- NPR Tiny Desk Concert
It took just 25 minutes before BTS broke NPR’s series record for most first-day YouTube views with their first Tiny Desk concert in September. The clip received more than 6 million streams in just 24 hours. The band was unable to head to Washington, DC headquarters, and sang intimate renditions of “Save Me,” “Spring Day” and “Dynamite” as she sat on chairs amid rows of vinyl in a record store in Seoul. supported by a live band.
‘The US main market was a hard note for the group to crack. It seemed like everything was a bit dynamite, ‘noted Mary Louise Kelly, an NPR presenter, in a summary of the program, calling it’ a reminder that BTS has arrived ‘- as if the world needs another .
- “Dynamite” Proof Dynamite
The optimistic disco track “Dynamite”, BTS ‘first all-English song, hit the airwaves at the end of August. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making BTS the first Korean group to top the rankings. It also topped Topify’s charts to reach the biggest opening day for any song on the platform last year, with Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan”. The music video also set records and became YouTube’s video with the most streams in the first 24 hours of all time, with 101.1 million plays on the first day.
“Dynamite” was initially not part of the group’s plans, but in the midst of the pandemic, the group said they wanted to send out something positive to fans. “It just made us feel good when we heard it,” RM explained before his debut. “We wanted to share this energy with the fans as soon as possible.”
- Weeklong Takeover of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”
It was apparently not enough for the boys to shut down the Grand Central Station in New York with numerous back-up dancers, a marching band and Jimmy Fallon on the scene to perform ‘ON’. They returned to ‘The Tonight Show’ in October for an unprecedented takeover of a week that blew the show’s official twitter purple hearts.
“We like to have BTS at the show,” Fallon said at the time. “You just know they’re going to do everything above all else to make their show memorable.”
- Live streams of a concert record
Never a group to sit still, BTS managed to keep their concerts alive, despite the cancellation of their planned 38-date “Map of the Soul” world tour last year. With a smart, high production value that is central to digital, they presented ‘BangBangCon: The Live’ in June, a virtual pay-per-view concert to celebrate the seventh anniversary of their debut. The event set a Guinness World Record for “most viewers for a live music concert” thanks to 756,000 fans from 107 countries who recorded their 12 song. Varieties recap calls the virtual event personally ‘the next of kin to be there’, noting that despite the boys’ distance from the viewers, ‘one of the charms of BTS is the ability to make fans feel valued and seen.’
However, the record did not last long. Only three months later, BTS broke it again itself. Their two-day online concert “Map of the Soul ON: E” brought 993,000 viewers from 191 countries and territories. Reportedly, there are about eight times the production cost of ‘BangBangCon’, and the full stage program was broadcast live without an audience from Seoul’s KSPO Dome with 15,000 seats.
- Big Hit IPO
Big Hit Entertainment listed on the Korean stock exchange on October 15 with an offer of $ 820 million, the largest in South Korea in three years. Although the share price has plummeted since its first boom while trading, the initial stock market move has made Bang Si-hyuk, founder and co-CEO of Big Hit, the 14th richest person in South Korea. Each of the seven BTS members was also granted 68,385 shares, which were made into multimillionaires in their own right. The company said last week that it was changing its name to HYBE Corporation.
- Release of “BE”
Despite COVID-19, BTS was able to put together their fifth Korean language studio album, ‘BE’, which took place on November 20th. The album showcased the creative talents of the band members, with Jungkook directing the video for the lead single ‘Life Goes On’ and V acting as visual director of the LP. The release makes BTS the first group to reach number one on the Artist 100, Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts simultaneously.
Unlike “Dynamite,” “Life Goes On” had the boys singing and rapping Korean in their native language, which made the index to the top of the hit parade even more impressive, especially since it received few American radio games.
- Increasing public profile
The growing global footprint of BTS has given the boys more opportunities to act as inspirational ambassadors in areas beyond their music.
In June, they spoke with Barack and Michelle Obama on YouTube’s virtual graduation event ‘Dear Class of 2020’. In September, they spoke with Korean President Moon Jae In to kick off South Korea’s first annual National Youth Day. Days later, they made a special video appearance at the virtual UN General Assembly, with a speech on resilience in the face of uncertainty during the pandemic. In October, they were awarded the Van Fleet Award for their role in fostering American and Korean cultural ties. To promote a strong 2020, Time Magazine named the group entertainer of the year.
And while it may not be as formally an honor, Jungkook was named People Magazine’s first ‘Sexiest International Man’ last year, which was a coup for representing Asian men.
- A historic Grammy nomination
BTS becomes the first Korean pop group to ever receive a major Grammy nomination thanks to “Dynamite” (the group was nominated for Best Album Pack in 2019). Their first nod is in the best pop duo / group performance category, where they will compete against collapsers of pop weights such as Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.
However, this will not be the first time they have performed at the Grammy Awards. In 2019, they made their short debut on stage as awards presenters, performing with Lil Nas X last year. After the show, they repeat their dream of winning their own Grammy.
“We did not give much time” on stage, RM admitted in Korean. “We wanted to do more. I would like to sing our song here one day. We hope to be more next time, please. ”
On Sunday, they finally get their chance.