BTS grabs 4th album of the year trophy at Golden Disc Awards

BTS wins album of the year at the 35th Golden Disc Awards on Sunday. (Yonhap)

BTS won album of the year at the 35th Golden Disc Awards on Sunday, grabbing the trophy for the fourth consecutive year, further cementing its position as the most popular boy band in the country.

The boy band won the honor for its fourth full album, “Map of the Soul:7,” which was released in February 2020. The album consists of 19 tracks that deliver stories of BTS members discovering their true selves. The video for the album’s main track, “On,” received more than 200 million views on YouTube. Another hit song from the album, “Boy With Luv,” recorded more than 1 billion views.

The album was named as the bestselling physical album in the US last year, with 646,000 sales in the country, according to a year-end report compiled by MRC Data and Billboard.

“Many things are changing (due to the pandemic). We will become BTS who perseveres with hope and a positive attitude. We will come back with great music and performance this year,” BTS leader RM said in accepting the award.

Digital song of the year went to IU for “Song Blueming.”

The awardees were selected based on single and album sales, as well as evaluations by music experts, according to the Golden Disc Awards. Sales accounted for 60 percent of their final scores and the evaluations 40 percent.

BTS also won most popular artist. The best performance awards went to Stray Kids and (G)I-DLE, while rookie artist of the year went to Enhypen, a seven-member boy band that debuted last year, and Treasure, a 12-member boy band formed in 2019 by YG Entertainment.

The Golden Disc Awards are an annual South Korean event established in 1986. The two-day show kicked off Saturday and was streamed on the official Golden Disc YouTube channel and broadcast on JTBC, JTBC2 and JTBC4.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)

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