PREVIOUSLY ON BTS:BIRTHDAY, GRADUATION and MILESTONES FEBRUARY 12 - MARCH 4
Welcome back to the BTS recap, ARMY. Since there is much to catch up on, let's dive right in without any further squandering!
On February 12, we were treated to handsomeness when Naver WEBTOON uploaded BTS' behind the scenes of the supercasting commercial Part 1. Part 2 was later uploaded on February 20.
Talking about behind-the-scenes treats, BANGTANTV uploaded an Episode of BTS at the 2021 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, showing adorable backstage moments while they rehearsed for their performances. This was BTS' last event in the US for 2021, after which they returned to Korea. At the end of the video, V mentions that ARMY still has more to look forward to, alluding to their upcoming concert in Korea, "Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul".
On February 16, the concert dates for Seoul were revealed along with the availability of three options: in-person, online streaming, and global theater viewing. The concerts are scheduled for March 10, 12, and 13 with all three days having an in-person audience. Online live streaming is available for March 10 and 13 while the concert on March 12 will be broadcasted in cinemas.
February 18 was the day full of sunshine as the world celebrated j-hope's birthday. Around midnight KST, j-hope came on VLive to celebrate his birthday with ARMY. Keeping up with BTS' tradition, the other members posted fond yet funny birthday wishes on their Twitter account. ARMY wasn't far behind as they showed their love through various social media posts, hashtags and numerous, meaningful charities and birthday projects across the globe. It came as a pleasant surprise for ARMY and j-hope alike when Beyonce posted "Happy Birthday j-hope" on her Instagram story. The next day, j-hope, in his cheerful style, wrote a thank you post for ARMY on Weverse.
On February 20, SUGA, RM and Jimin came on VLive to spend time with ARMY. Weverse Magazine published an article titled "BTS's second journey with the Grammys" — detailing what to watch out for at the 2022 Grammys.
V had tested positive for COVID-19 on February 15 – experiencing mild symptoms. After undergoing treatment, his quarantine ended on February 22 with V making a full recovery and resuming his normal activities.
February 23 brought in more good news for ARMY when BTS announced Las Vegas as an additional concert venue for "PTD On Stage". The concert will be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 8, 9, 15, and 16. It was also revealed that the in-person concert will be broadcasted live on all four days. The event called "LIVE PLAY in LAS VEGAS" will be held at MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same place where the 2022 Grammys is scheduled to happen on April 3.
On February 28, a teaser video promoting BANGTAN.zip was released. It seems to be a playlist of BTS moments and is premiered exclusively on Facebook. On March 1, a video clip from "Love Yourself in Seoul" was added to the BANGTAN.zip playlist on Facebook where members are shown referring to the Purple Ocean project. This comes at a fitting time as BTS are going to hold their first in-person concert in South Korea since 2019.
BTS was then announced as global ambassadors for Garena Free Fire — a game which saw 1 billion downloads in July 2021 alone. On the same day, we were also blessed when SUGA came on VLive. He answered ARMY's questions ranging from the upcoming concerts to the stories behind Stay Alive, and complimented Jungkook's vocal talent.
Lastly, on March 3, our maknae Jungkook graduated from Global Cyber University from the Department of Broadcasting and Entertainment. You can watch his graduation speech here.
Awards and accomplishments
It's not an overstatement to say that BTS has become synonymous with records and awards. This time is no different as we saw BTS crossing newer milestones. Jungkook's Stay Alive (prod. SUGA of BTS) achieved #1 on iTunes in 100 countries worldwide while also recording the biggest Spotify Global Chart debut by a Korean soloist.
On Spotify, BTS are the first group to have over 1 billion streams, so far, in 2022. Although it's been a year since Spotify Korea was launched, BTS became the most streamed artist while having multiple entries on its top 10 most streamed songs.
Leaving no platform unturned, BTS now set a new record as the most followed music group on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. On February 21, BTS also won the official TikTok Creator Awards – receiving both the Gold and Silver. HYBE has become the first Korean music agency to surpass 1 trillion won ($838M) in annual sales, much of which the success is being attributed to BTS.
On February 25, IFPI named BTS as their number 1 Global Recording Artist of the Year for 2021, making them the first act to win this award for two consecutive years. BTS also landed at #4 on both the IFPI Global Digital Single and IFPI Global Album Sales Charts with Butter and BTS, THE BEST respectively.
Dynamite is now RIAJ certified Diamond in Japan, joining Yoasobi's Yoru ni Kakeru as the only singles in RIAJ history to achieve this. On March 1, BTS won the Musician of the Year Daesang at the 19th Korean Music Awards, extending their record as the artist with the most Daesangs of all time.
That's a wrap for now, ARMY. We have much to look forward to and hence, a lot to hope for. Even when the world seems bleak, you will always feel less lonely with BTS and experience the solidarity of family with ARMY. Be safe and stay connected. Until next time, borahae!
Written by: Ariba
Edited by: Alice
Designed by: Martinadhana
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