LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced the South Korean K-pop phenomenon BTS has been named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year.
The recipient of the award is determine by an artist’s or group’s worldwide performance across digital and physical music formats during the year, from streams to vinyl, and covers their entire body of work.
BTS laid claim to the honor in 2020 after an unprecedented year. The group’s most recent album “Map Of The Soul: 7″ was released in February 2020 as one of the most pre-ordered albums of all time, and swiftly went to #1 in more than 20 countries.
The Japanese-language MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 ~ THE JOURNEY dropped in July, and quickly sold more than 500,000 copies in just two days, becoming the best-selling album by a male foreign artist ever in that market. A month later, BTS dropped the single Dynamite, their first ever fully English track, which shot to #1 in the U.S. and broke streaming records for first-day streams on YouTube and Spotify.
BTS closed out 2020 with the release of BE (Deluxe Edition) in November, a paean to the Covid-19 pandemic summed up by the lead single Life Goes On, which landed at #1 across three continents.
“BTS are a global phenomenon. They have had another outstanding year, releasing three albums, and continually finding creative and engaging ways to share their story with the world. They truly show the power that music has to bring joy and happiness to people the world over,” said Frances Moore, Chief Executive, IFPI. “We would like to congratulate RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook and we are excited to see what they have in store next.”
