Billboard was one of the chief witnesses to BTS' rise to superstardom and it came as no surprise that experts from the prestigious music chart would air their take on the K-pop group's popularity. Pundits have compared BTS' appeal to the charisma of music legends The Beatles.
In a report by Naver Entertainment, Billboard representative Bill Amy compared BTS' appeal to their fandom with how The Beatles fans adored their idols back in the 60s. It can be recalled that the band made up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star enjoyed immense success and was widely followed by screaming fans wherever they went at the height of their stardom.
"They have strong firepower and loyalty, " Bill Amy said about BTS fans officially known as ARMY. In their speech upon receiving the Top Social Artist award at the recent Billboard Music Awards, BTS credited their fans for their tremendous support and hard work in voting and for spreading their music worldwide.
BTS' ARMY is considered as one of the strongest and most dedicated fandoms in K-pop. According to a report by Koreaboo, ARMY generated a record-breaking 300 million votes for BTS to secure the victory for the Bangtan Boys in the BBMAs. On the first 18 hours of voting alone, ARMY already generated 20 million votes on Twitter, causing some of the BBMA servers to crash.
"If you think about, it's unbelievable that we won a Billboard award. Going back to our debut in 2013, winning a Billboard award was something we never could've even dreamed of." Rap Monster said about BTS' recent accomplishment, SBS Pop Asia reported. Regarding plans to take their music to the US, BTS said that they would like to continue to sing and rap in Korean as they feel like it is the best way to communicate their message to their fans.
