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THEIR FIFTH EP, LOVE YOURSELF: HER, WAS RELEASED THAT SEPTEMBER AND FEATURED MUSIC FROM THE CHAINSMOKERS' ANDREW TAGGART FOR THE TRACK "BEST OF ME". THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR ITS LEAD SINGLE "DNA" REACHED OVER 20 MILLION VIEWS ON YOUTUBE, BREAKING THE RECORD FOR MOST VIEWED K-POP GROUP MUSIC VIDEO WITHIN THE FIRST 24 HOURS. "DNA" ALSO BECAME THE GROUP'S FIRST ENTRY ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 AT NUMBER 85, MAKING BTS THE FIRST K-POP BOY BAND TO DO SO AND THE SECOND KOREAN ACT WITH A KOREAN-LANGUAGE SONG.WHEN "DNA" ROSE TO NUMBER 67, IT BECAME THE HIGHEST-CHARTING SONG ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 FOR A K-POP GROUP, BEATING WONDER GIRLS' PREVIOUS RECORD AT NUMBER 76. THE GROUP'S NEXT RELEASE, LOVE YOURSELF: HER (2017), DEBUTED AT #7 ON THE BILLBOARD 200, THE HIGHEST RANK FOR AN ASIAN ARTIST IN HISTORY. THE ALBUM SOLD OVER 1.2 MILLION COPIES ON SOUTH KOREA'S GAON ALBUM CHART IN ITS FIRST MONTH, ACHIEVING THE HIGHEST MONTHLY ALBUM SALES IN THE CHART'S HISTORY AND THE HIGHEST ON ANY KOREAN CHART IN 16 YEARS, SECOND TO G.O.D'S CHAPTER 4 ALBUM IN 2001. THEIR SECOND SINGLE, A REMIX BY STEVE AOKI OF THEIR SONG "MIC DROP", FEATURING DESIIGNER, PEAKED AT NUMBER 28 ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100, BECOMING THE FIRST TOP 40 ENTRY FOR A K-POP GROUP ON THE CHART. "DNA" AND "MIC DROP" WERE LATER RELEASED AS A TRIPLE-A SIDE SINGLE IN JAPAN WITH THE NEW SONG "CRYSTAL SNOW", WHICH TOPPED THE ORICON CHART, BECOMING THE HIGHEST-SELLING SINGLE FROM A K-POP ARTIST WITHIN A WEEK. BTS WAS THE FIRST FOREIGN ARTIST TO ACHIEVE THE #1 RANK.



IN NOVEMBER, THE GROUP BECAME THE FIRST K-POP GROUP TO PERFORM AT THE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS, RAISING THEIR PROFILE INTERNATIONALLY. THEY WON THEIR SECOND ARTIST OF THE YEAR AT THE 2017 MNET ASIAN MUSIC AWARDS, BECOMING THE FIRST ACT TO WIN THE AWARD TWO YEARS IN A ROW. "SPRING DAY" LATER WON BEST SONG OF THE YEAR AT THE MELON MUSIC AWARDS. THAT DECEMBER, THEY PERFORMED ON DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE TO WELCOME THE NEW YEAR, MAKING THEM THE FIRST K-POP GROUP TO BE PART OF THE SHOW'S LINEUP. THEY ALSO MADE THEIR JAPANESE TV MUSIC SHOW DEBUT ON TV ASAHI'S JAPAN MUSIC STATION SUPER LIVE ON DECEMBER 22. ON NOVEMBER 20, 2017, GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS REVEALED THAT BTS HAD EARNED A SPOT IN THEIR 2018 EDITION FOR "HAVING THE WORLD'S MOST TWITTER ENGAGEMENTS FOR A MUSIC GROUP".



JANUARY 2018 SAW BTS RECEIVE THEIR FIRST DOUBLE PLATINUM CERTIFICATION FROM THE RIAJ FOR THEIR "MIC DROP/DNA/CRYSTAL SNOW" SINGLE, THE ONLY SINGLE ALBUM BY A FOREIGN ARTIST IN 2017 TO SELL OVER 500,000 COPIES AND RECEIVE CERTIFICATION ON THE ORICON CHART. LATER THAT MONTH, THEY BECAME THE FIRST ARTIST OUTSIDE OF THE "BIG THREE" TO WIN BOTH GRAND PRIZE (DAESANG) AWARDS AT THE GOLDEN DISC AWARDS AND THE SEOUL MUSIC AWARDS RESPECTIVELY. IN FEBRUARY, THEIR "MIC DROP REMIX" AND "DNA" SINGLES WERE BOTH CERTIFIED GOLD, BY THE RIAA, MAKING BTS THE FIRST AND ONLY KOREAN ARTIST TO RECEIVE TWO CERTIFICATIONS. AN ORIGINAL, EIGHT-EPISODE DOCUMENTARY SERIES ENTITLED BURN THE STAGE, OFFERING A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT THE GROUP'S 2017 WINGS TOUR, PREMIERED MARCH 28 ON YOUTUBE PREMIUM AND RAN EXCLUSIVELY ON THE PLATFORM UNTIL MAY 9. THEIR THIRD JAPANESE STUDIO ALBUM, FACE YOURSELF, WAS RELEASED ON APRIL 4, DEBUTING AT NUMBER 43 ON THE BILLBOARD 200 AS THE THIRD-HIGHEST-CHARTING JAPANESE ALBUM IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHART. LATER THAT SAME DAY, THE GROUP RELEASED A NINE-MINUTE VIDEO TITLED "EUPHORIA", SAID TO BE THE THEME TO LOVE YOURSELF 起: WONDER.


BTS AT THE 32ND GOLDEN DISC AWARDS ON JANUARY 10, 2018.

ON MAY 20, BTS WON TOP SOCIAL ARTIST AT THE 2018 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS, MAKING THEM THE ONLY KOREAN ARTIST TO BE NOMINATED FOR AND WIN THE AWARD TWO YEARS IN A ROW. THEY ALSO DEBUTED AS PERFORMERS AT THE SHOW, PREMIERING THEIR NEW SINGLE, "FAKE LOVE" FROM THEIR THIRD KOREAN-LANGUAGE LP, LOVE YOURSELF: TEAR, RELEASED ON MAY 18. THE ALBUM DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE US BILLBOARD 200 WITH 135,000 ALBUM-EQUIVALENT UNITS (INCLUDING 100,000 PURE ALBUM SALES), BECOMING BTS' HIGHEST-CHARTING AND FIRST NUMBER ONE ALBUM IN THE US, THE FIRST K-POP ALBUM TO TOP THE US ALBUMS CHART, AND THE HIGHEST-CHARTING ALBUM BY AN ASIAN ACT. "FAKE LOVE" PEAKED AT NUMBER TEN ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 THAT SAME WEEK, BECOMING THE BAND'S HIGHEST REACHING SONG ON THE CHART AS WELL AS THEIR FIRST IN THE TOP TEN. OVERALL, "FAKE LOVE" IS THE SEVENTEENTH NON-ENGLISH SONG TO REACH THE TOP TEN AND THE FIRST FOR A K-POP GROUP. THE SINGLE ALSO DEBUTED AT NUMBER SEVEN ON BILLBOARD'S STREAMING SONGS CHART WITH 27.4 MILLION STREAMS EARNED IN THE WEEK ENDING MAY 24, GIVING BTS THEIR FIRST TOP TEN ON THE CHART AND MAKING "FAKE LOVE" THE FIRST K-POP SONG TO LAND ON TOP TEN SINCE PSY'S "HANGOVER" FEAT. SNOOP DOGG IN 2014. ON AUGUST 14, "FAKE LOVE" WAS CONFIRMED BY THE RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA TO HAVE REACHED "GOLD" STATUS, HAVING SOLD OVER 500,000 COPIES IN SPS UNITS. THIS MARKED BTS' THIRD SONG TO REACH 'GOLD' CERTIFICATION. LOVE YOURSELF: TEAR ALSO REACHED NUMBER EIGHT ON THE UK ALBUMS CHART, MARKING THE GROUP'S FIRST TOP TEN ALBUM IN THE COUNTRY.



ON JULY 17, THE GROUP ANNOUNCED THE RELEASE OF THEIR SECOND COMPILATION ALBUM LOVE YOURSELF: ANSWER FOR AUGUST 24, 2018, WITH SEVEN NEW TRACKS ADDED TO THE RELEASE. IT SOLD OVER 1.9 MILLION COPIES ON GAON ALBUM CHART IN AUGUST 2018, BREAKING THE CHART'S ALL-TIME MONTHLY RECORD ONCE AGAIN.THEIR 2018 WORLD TOUR, TITLED BTS WORLD TOUR: LOVE YOURSELF, BEGAN THE FOLLOWING DAY IN SEOUL. FOR THE FINAL STOP OF THE NORTH AMERICAN LEG, THE BAND PERFORMED AT CITI FIELD, MARKING THE FIRST TIME A KOREAN ACT HAS PERFORMED AT A U.S. STADIUM. ALL 40,000 TICKETS FOR THE STADIUM DATE WERE LATER CONFIRMED BY BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT TO HAVE SOLD OUT IN UNDER 20 MINUTES. ON AUGUST 24, THE ALBUM WAS RELEASED, ALONG WITH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR "IDOL". AN ALTERNATIVE VERSION OF THE TRACK, FEATURING NICKI MINAJ, WAS RELEASED DIGITALLY ON THE SAME DATE, WITH A MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERING ON SEPTEMBER 6. THE MUSIC VIDEO RECEIVED OVER 45 MILLION VIEWS IN ITS FIRST 24 HOURS ON YOUTUBE, BREAKING THE RECORD OF 43.2 MILLION VIEWS IN 24 HOURS PREVIOUSLY SET BY TAYLOR SWIFT WITH "LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO". IN THE BEGINNING OF DECEMBER 2018, THE RECORD WAS SURPASSED ONCE AGAIN BY ARIANA GRANDE, AFTER HER VIDEO "THANK U, NEXT" GARNERED 55.4 MILLION VIEWS IN ITS FIRST 24 HOURS DEBUTING AT NUMBER ONE ON THE US BILLBOARD 200, THE ALBUM BECAME BTS' SECOND NUMBER-ONE ALBUM—THEIR SECOND OF 2018—AND THEIR HIGHEST SALES WEEK IN THE COUNTRY TO DATE. IT EARNED 185,000 ALBUM-EQUIVALENT UNITS, OF WHICH 141,000 WERE PURE ALBUM SALES MAKING BTS THE ONLY K-POP ACT WITH TWO BILLBOARD 200 TOPPERS AND THE FIRST POP ACT WITH TWO NUMBER ONE ALBUMS IN LESS THAN A YEAR SINCE ONE DIRECTION TOPPED THE CHART WITH MIDNIGHT MEMORIES IN 2013 AND FOUR IN 2014. IN CANADA, LOVE YOURSELF: ANSWER BECAME THE BAND'S FIRST NUMBER-ONE ALBUM ON THE CANADIAN ALBUMS CHART, EARNING OVER 10,000 CONSUMPTION UNITS. THE SINGLE "IDOL" REACHED NUMBER FIVE ON THE CANADIAN SINGLES CHART, MARKING BTS' FIRST TOP-TEN HIT IN CANADA. ON OCTOBER 25, THEY WERE FEATURED ON "WASTE IT ON ME", A SONG BY DJ STEVE AOKI. THE SONG WAS THEIR FIRST ALL-ENGLISH LANGUAGE SONG AND PERFORMED PRIMARILY BY TWO BTS MEMBERS, JUNGKOOK AND RM.



IN EARLY NOVEMBER 2018, A POPULAR JAPANESE MUSIC SHOW CANCELLED BTS' PERFORMANCE CITING A T-SHIRT A MEMBER WORE THE YEAR BEFORE. IN THE SAME MONTH THE JEWISH HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER (SWC) STATED BTS OWED VICTIMS AN APOLOGY FOR THE SHIRT IN 2017, CLOTHING WITH NAZI SYMBOLISM, AND A FLAG. BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT ISSUED AN APOLOGY, SAYING THAT THE IMAGES ON THE CLOTHING WERE NOT INTENDED TO BE HURTFUL TO THE VICTIMS OF NAZISM OR ATOMIC BOMBINGS, AND THAT THE BAND AND MANAGEMENT WOULD TAKE STEPS TO PREVENT FUTURE MISTAKES. THEY ALSO STATED THE FLAGS WERE MEANT TO BE A COMMENTARY ON THE KOREAN SCHOOL SYSTEM. THE APOLOGY WAS ACCEPTED BY SWC AND THE KOREAN ATOMIC BOMB VICTIM ASSOCIATION.



CROSSING OVER TO FILM, BURN THE STAGE: THE MOVIE WAS RELEASED IN THEATERS WORLDWIDE ON NOVEMBER 15, 2018. IN THE UNITED STATES IT ACCUMULATED $1.2 MILLION ON OPENING DAY FOR A TOTAL OF $3.54 MILLION OVER THE THREE DAY WEEKEND, BREAKING THE RECORD FOR THE HIGHEST GROSSING EVENT CINEMA MUSICAL PRODUCTION WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY SET IN 2014 BY THE BAND ONE DIRECTION. IT RANKED AT NUMBER TEN IN THE BOX OFFICE DESPITE SELLING AT ONLY 620 LOCATIONS COMPARED TO THE 2,000-4,000 LOCATIONS FOR THE OTHER TOP TEN SELLERS

ON NOVEMBER 9, 2018 LOVE YOURSELF: ANSWER BECAME THE FIRST KOREAN ALBUM TO BE CERTIFIED GOLD (500,000+ UNITS), AND BTS BECAME THE FIRST KOREAN GROUP TO GET A PLATINUM (1,000,000+ UNITS) CERTIFICATION WITH THE SINGLE "MIC DROP" IN THE UNITED STATES.

ACCORDING TO STUBHUB BTS WAS ONE OF 2018'S BEST SELLING CONCERTS IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS OUTSIDE THE US, SECOND TO ONLY ED SHEERAN. VIVID SEATS NAMED BTS THE 2018 ARTIST OF THE YEAR, CITING THE GROUP'S HISTORY-MAKING CONCERT AT CITI FIELD.

IN DECEMBER 2018, BILLBOARD REPORTED THAT BTS RANKED #8 IN THEIR YEAR-END TOP ARTIST CHART, ALONGSIDE THE LIKES OF DRAKE AND TAYLOR SWIFT. THEY WERE ALSO THE NO. 2 ACT OF THE YEAR IN THE DUO/GROUP RANKING, ONLY BEHIND IMAGINE DRAGONS IN THE SAME MONTH THEY MADE THE BLOOMBERG 50, WHICH CITED THEIR "WILLINGNESS TO ADDRESS SOCIAL ISSUES, MENTAL HEALTH, AND POLITICS, DESPITE BEING IN A GENRE OFTEN PAINTED AS BUBBLE GUM POP". THEY SOLD OVER TEN MILLION ALBUMS IN KOREA, WITH FIVE MILLION BEING SOLD IN 2018 ALONE.

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