[Courtesy of Big Hit Entertainment]
Boy group BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys, became the first South Korean artist group to be awarded Billboard's Top Social Artist award, beating strong contenders such as Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande.
Since fan voting started on May 1, many K-pop fans at home and abroad have supported BTS, sharing information via social media with a hashtag "#BTSBBMAS" being used more than 300 million times on Twitter.
BTS was the second South Korean artist or artist group to win a Billboard award. "Gangnam Style" star Psy won the Top Streaming song award in 2013.
BTS has gained popularity over social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to become an iconic K-pop group. The title track of the group's 2016 album "WINGS" topped Apple's iTunes chart in 97 countries and was ranked 26th on Billboard's 200 chart for the first time as a South Korean group.
Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
