Four years off, three trophies in one night: BTS won Artist of the Year, Song of the Summer and Best Male K-Pop Artist at the AMAs. The full comeback.
Don’t call it a comeback – when LL Cool J wrote this in 1990, he probably had BTS 2026 in mind. Las Vegas, Memorial Day, MGM Grand Garden Arena. One could have guessed that anyone who stays away for four years won’t return quietly. And yet it started almost cautiously. BTS opened the 52nd American Music Awards with “Hooligan,” bathed in fog – plus that red light that pop dramaturgy always turns on when things get serious.
Ninety minutes later came the physical manifestation: the first award show appearance in four years, accompanied by a level of noise that a Yahoo correspondent described as a collective loss of reason. So the ARMY has not forgotten how to scream.
Three nominations, three trophies
What was delivered was delivered. Artist of the Year, for the second time after 2021. Plus Song of the Summer and Best Male K-Pop Artist. Three nominations, three trophies – a record of insulting completeness. Taylor Swift, on the other hand, was considered the favorite with eight nominations. She came away empty-handed. Well, Swifties might be able to turn a blind eye to the K-pop stars who seem to be everywhere right now.
Humility as the finest form of triumph
But the really remarkable thing was next to the stage. “They are the bigger artists,” said RM, leader and spokesman for the group, to Rolling Stone about Swift and company. “We’re just a little boy band from Korea.” Whether you should admire humility or see it as the finest form of triumph – you don’t really know. Probably both. That’s probably the point.
No return. A takeover.
ARIRANG, the fifth album, arrived after two years of military service and solo excursions and topped the Billboard 200. The single “SWIM” was at number one on the Hot 100 in April – and has now been named Song of the Summer. The real punchline follows in July: the halftime show of the World Cup final, alongside Madonna and Shakira.
Anyone who still talks about comeback here has misunderstood the word. It’s not a return. It’s a takeover. One would like to agree with LL Cool J: They were never gone. It wouldn’t be surprising if the seven of them were soon running through the streets on their AirPods Max to “Mama Said Knock You Out”.
