BTS Makes History with Two Daesang Sweeps

BTS and ARMY have a lot to celebrate, as the group made history at two end-of-year award shows in just one week.

At the 2019 MelOn Music Awards, BTS received eight total awards, including winning the daesang (grand prize) in each of the four available categories. BTS was honored as the “Artist of the Year,” “Boy with Luv” won “Song of the Year,” and Map of the Soul: PERSONA received both “Album of the Year” and “Record of the Year,” making BTS the first group to win every daesang at a single award show. The group also took home the awards for “MelOn Top 10,” “Netizen Popularity Award,” “Kakao Hot Star,” and “Best Dance (Male).” This success comes after the group was snubbed at the People’s Choice Awards and after collecting three awards at the American Music Awards.

Just days after the MMAs at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in Japan, BTS repeated their daesang sweep, taking the awards for “Artist of the Year,” “Album of the Year,” “Song of the Year,” and “Worldwide Icon of the Year.” The group also received five other awards: “Best Male Group,” “Best Dance Performance (Male Group),” “Worldwide Fans’ Choice,” “Best Music Video,” and “Favorite Male Artist.” Combining these awards with their MMA trophies gives BTS a grand total of 17 awards so far this season. Following BTS’s wins at the MAMAs, #BTSatMAMA trended at number one worldwide, with #BTSMAMASweep trending at number two at the time of writing.

BTS’s massive success throughout the year with MOTS: PERSONA and their world tour certainly should not be overlooked, but that didn’t stop fans from speculating that BTS may only win one or two daesangs at each show. Award shows have a reputation for being rigged or manipulated, so there’s always a chance that an artist or album may not receive the recognition that fans expect. But BTS’s record-breaking year was impossible not to acknowledge this time around, and both the MMAs and the MAMAs provided this much-deserved recognition.

BTS’s performances at both award ceremonies focused on their timeline, merging the old with the new. At the MMAs, they performed 2014’s “상남자 (Boy in Luv)” alongside this year’s counterpart “작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy with Luv)” and also linked “Intro: Persona” to an instrumental of RM’s first solo from Skool Luv Affair. At the MAMAs, they brought back old favorites “N.O” and “We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2,” performed for the first time on a large-scale stage. Both award ceremonies had performances of “Mikrokosmos” and “Dionysus.”

This year’s MAMAs may bring back some tough memories from last year’s emotional acceptance speeches, but both BTS and ARMY have nothing to be sad about this year. BTS met their fans with hearts full of joy and gratitude at both year-end stages, brought their A-game, and was duly rewarded.