K-pop continued to take the world by storm in 2020, with seven-piece boyband BTS and girl band BLACKPINK leading the charge in the western world.
BTS became the first all-South Korean band to top both the Global Billboard 200 and the US Billboard Hot 100 and both set multiple Guinness World Records titles along the way to global stardom.
Most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours
It was BTS's biggest single of year and probably the biggest single of their careers (so far).
"Dynamite" was released on August 21 and took the title for the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours with 101,100,000 views.
With the same figures, it also became the most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours and the most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours by a K-pop group.
"Boy With Luv", released in 2019, reached 74.6 million views within a day – meaning "Dynamite" was the second time the band has held these titles.
BLACKPINK also set the record for the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours earlier in 2020 with their single "How You Like That".
It was the second time they had held this title, setting it with "Kill This Love" in early 2019.
Most viewers for a music concert live stream
An online concert was held as part of BTS’s 7th anniversary celebrations before the release of their fourth Japanese language album, Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey.
.@bts_twt isn’t just the biggest K-pop act on the charts. They’ve become the biggest band in the world—full stop.
— TIME (@TIME) December 10, 2020
“We climbed our way up slowly, so it feels like we grew together. And we know each other on a deeper level,” Jung Kook tells TIME #TIMEPOYhttps://t.co/mtHw47nMqYpic.twitter.com/b2WKB58kUU
756,000 fans from over 100 countries tuned in on June 14th, which included a 12 song setlist and some interluding chat between the seven band members, all being broadcast live from Seoul, South Korea.
Member Jimin stated: “Though we may not be able to see each other at this time, we’ve been constantly striving to grow as a group."
Best-selling album (South Korea)
The boy band’s seventh studio album, Map of the Soul: 7, was released back in February and overtook their previous album Map of the Soul: Persona as the new record holder.
BTS' 'Map of the Soul: 7' is their the fourth No. 1 in less than two years. https://t.co/Kr0g9FBcMe
— billboard (@billboard) March 1, 2020
The album included 19 tracks, along with an additional bonus song featuring Sia, and contains the popular singles "ON" and "Black Swan".
It was reported that 2.65 million sales were recorded within the first six hours of release and by June it had made BTS the country’s best selling act of all time.
We're sure that both BTS and BLACKPINK will go on to break lots more records in 2021!
Header image credit: left: Shutterstock, right: Big Hit Entertainment
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