South Korean boy band BTS, who returned to the stage after an almost four-year hiatus, won the main award at the American Music Awards – “Artist of the Year”. This is the group’s second victory in the category in their entire career. BTS won this title for the first time in 2021. Billboard reports.
The 52nd awards ceremony took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, California on Monday. The show aired on Paramount+ and CBC and opened with a pre-recorded performance of BTS's song “Hooligan.” The event was hosted by American singer Queen Latifah.
In the fight for the title of “Artist of the Year,” BTS beat out Taylor Swift, the record holder for the most American Music Awards in the history of the award, Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny and other artists. The K-pop group joined the list of three participants who managed to win again in the main category, Billboard emphasizes. Among them are Canadian singer Justin Bieber, Swift and the group One Direction.
In addition to the main award, BTS won in the categories “Best K-pop Male Artist” and “Song of the Summer” with the track Swim. Now the group has 14 American Music Awards in its collection – among duets and groups, BTS is ahead of only the country quartet Alabama in terms of the number of awards.
A total of seven performers each won three awards at the ceremony, including Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Katseye and Sabrina Carpenter. Among the laureates, the American performer Sombr stood out, winning in three rock categories: “Best Rock/Alternative Song”, “Best Rock/Alternative Album” and “Breakthrough in Rock/Alternative Music”. Bad Bunny, Ella Langley, Shakira, Zara Larsson and Tyla each won two statuettes, and the winner in the New Artist of the Year category was the American-South Korean group Katseye.
Nominees for the 52nd ceremony were determined based on key indicators of fan activity: the number of plays through streaming services, album sales, radio rotation (number of plays on radio stations) and tour box office receipts. This data is tracked by Billboard and Luminate and covers the period from March 21, 2025 to March 26, 2026. The winners were chosen by the fans themselves by voting.
BTS took a break from their music career in 2022 due to their mandatory military service in South Korea. In March, the group returned to the music industry with the release of their sixth studio album, Arirang. After their hiatus, the boy band topped the Billboard 200 chart with the highest number of records for any group in nearly 13 years.
In April, the group began a world tour – RTVI.US spoke about it in detail. BTS will also perform at halftime of the final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place on July 19 in New Jersey.
