By: Yusra Arain
The name BTS may not be familiar to the majority of Americans, but that didn’t stop the South Korean boy band from making history Sunday night, when they became the first K-pop group to clinch a Billboard Music Award.
Yes, quite out of surprise BTS defeated pop stars like Selena Gomez , Justin Beiber and Ariana Grandae to capture the top social artist award at Billboard Music awards 2017.
When Top Social Artist was presented, the group took the stage, looking overwhelmed by the moment and remaining gracious for their fans’ support.
BTS fans, known as the “A.R.M.Y.” (Adorable Representative M.C’s for Youth”) voted for the award on Twitter and on the awards website, using the hashtag #BTSBBMAS more than 300 million times.
“BTS was one of the first groups to fully embrace social media and completely open themselves up to fans,” said CEO of Koreaboo, Flowsion Shekar, a popular content platform specializing in K-pop with a reach of over 50 million.
Fans could be heard shrieking as the group reacted to the win onstage: “We still cannot believe we’re standing here on this stage at the Billboard Music Awards… Most importantly, this award belongs to the every people all around the world that shine the love and light on us by the million and make BTS proud”
They currently top the Billboard Social 50, spending 31 weeks on the chart. They are now on a sold-out world tour, with US concerts this past March and April in Newark, Chicago and Anaheim.
