The Korea Herald

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BTS fails to win Grammy, but achieves K-pop milestone

By Im Eun-byel

Published : March 15, 2021 - 14:54

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A handout screen grab made available by The Recording Academy shows (from left) RM, V, Jungkook, Jimin, J-Hope, Suga and Jin of BTS in a prefilmed performance that aired during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday. (EPA-Yonhap) A handout screen grab made available by The Recording Academy shows (from left) RM, V, Jungkook, Jimin, J-Hope, Suga and Jin of BTS in a prefilmed performance that aired during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday. (EPA-Yonhap)

Though K-pop superstar band BTS failed to secure a Grammy with its latest single, “Dynamite,” the septet delivered an epic performance as the first South Korean act to perform at the music event.

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were held Sunday night in Los Angeles in a hybrid format that featured pretaped performances.

The septet’s single “Dynamite” -- the first single the group has performed entirely in English -- was nominated in the Pop Duo/Group Performance category. It was the first record by a K-pop act to be nominated for a Grammy.

The prize went to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande for “Rain on Me” -- one of the tracks on Lady Gaga’s sixth studio album, “Chromatica,” released in May.

The other contenders in the category were “Exile” by Taylor Swift featuring Bon Iver, “Un Dia” by J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy, and Justin Bieber’s “Intentions” featuring Quavo.

“Thank you for being with us till this late hour. Thank you for supporting us. We are going through this unbelievable experience thanks to you. We are truly grateful and happy. We love you Army!” BTS member Jimin wrote on the band’s official Twitter account.

The band’s pretaped performance of “Dynamite” was aired during the awards ceremony. The performance was recorded March 11 on the roof of the Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, the city’s newest and biggest department store.

Dressed colorfully in black, white, orange and yellow suits, the seven members of BTS performed “Dynamite” against the backdrop of a night view of Seoul.

BTS was the first all-Korean band to perform at the show. The band made an appearance at the Grammys last year, joining American rapper Lil Nas X in a performance of the rapper’s hit track “Old Town Road.” In 2019, BTS appeared at the ceremony to present an award.

Soprano Jo Su-mi and record engineer Hwang Byeong-jun are some of the Koreans who have won Grammys.

Following the announcement that Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande had won, fans of the K-pop boy band, known as the BTS Army, took to Twitter. The hashtags #LightItUpBTS and #BTSOurGreatestPrize were trending.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)