2017–present: International recognition
In early 2017, BTS embarked on their Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour. That February, pre-orders for the repackaged edition of Wings, entitled You Never Walk Alone, reached over 700,000 copies. The lead single "Spring Day" (Korean: 봄날; RR: Bomnal) topped eight of the major South Korean online music charts, as well as Gaon,and crashed Melon's digital chart due to the high influx of user traffic.It also entered the US Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart at number 15 with "zero promotions".
Their fifth EP, Love Yourself: Her, was released that Septemberand featured music from the Chainsmokers' Andrew Taggart for the track "Best of Me". The lead single, "DNA", peaked at number two on the weekly Gaon Chart, while its music video reached over 20 million views on YouTube, breaking the record for most viewed K-pop group music video within the first 24 hours "DNA" also became the group's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 85, making BTS the first K-pop boy band to do so and the second Korean act with a Korean-language song. When "DNA" rose to number 67, it became the highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 for a K-pop group, beating Wonder Girls' previous record at number 76. A remix for their song, "Mic Drop", by Steve Aoki and featuring Desiigner was released as the second single, peaking at number 23 in South Korea and number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first top 40 entry for a K-pop group on the chart. "DNA" and "Mic Drop" were later released as a triple-A side single in Japan with the new song "Crystal Snow” which topped the Oricon Chart,becoming the highest-selling single from a K-pop artist within a week,and making BTS the first foreign artist to achieve this.
In November, the group became the first K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards,raising their profile internationally.They won their second Artist of the Year at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards,becoming the first act to win the award two years in a row. "Spring Day" later won Best Song of the Year at the Melon Music Awards.That December, they performed on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve to welcome the new year, making them the first K-pop group to be part of the show's lineup. They also made their Japanese TV music show debut on TV Asahi's Japan Music Station Super Live on December 22.
January 2018 saw BTS receive their first Double Platinum certification from the RIAJ for their "Mic Drop/DNA/Crystal Snow" single, the only single album by a foreign artist in 2017 to sell over 500,000 copies and receive certification on the Oricon chart for that year. Later that month, they became the first artist outside of the "Big Three" to win both grand prize (Daesang) awards at the Golden Disc Awards and the Seoul Music Awards respectively.In February, their "Mic Drop Remix" and "DNA" singles were both certified Gold by the RIAA, making BTS the first and only Korean artist to receive two certifications. An original, eight-episode long documentary series, entitled Burn the Stage, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the group's 2017 Wings Tour, premiered March 28 on YouTube Premium and ran exclusively on the platform until May 9. Rapper J-Hope released his first mixtape, Hope World, on March 1, a mixtape that "showcases exceptional creativity, genuine personality, and a cohesive sense of direction." Their third Japanese studio album, Face Yourself, was released on April 4, debuting at number 43 on the Billboard 200 as the third-highest-charting Japanese album in the history of the chart.Later that same day, the group also released a nine-minute video titled "Euphoria", said to be the theme to Love Yourself 起: Wonder.
In April BTS were again nominated for Top Social Artist at the 2018 BillboardMusic Awards,which they later won on May 20, making them the only Korean artist to be nominated for and win the award two years in a row.They also debuted as performers at the show, premiering their new single, "Fake Love",from their third Korean-language LP, Love Yourself: Tear, released on May 18.The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 135,000 album-eqivalent units (including 100,000 pure album sales), becoming BTS' highest-charting and first number one album in the US, the first K-pop album to top the US albums chart, and the highest-charting album by an Asian act."Fake Love" peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 that same week, becoming the band's highest reaching song on the chart as well as their first in the top ten.Overall, "Fake Love" is the seventeenth non-English song to reach the top ten and the first for a K-Pop group.The single also debuted at number seven on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart with 27.4 million streams earned in the week ending May 24, giving BTS their first top ten on the chart and making “Fake Love” the first K-pop song to land on top ten since Psy’s "Hangover" feat. Snoop Dogg in 2014. On August 14, "Fake Love" was confirmed by the Recording Industry Association of America to have reached "Gold" status, having sold over 500,000 copies in SPS units. This marked BTS' third song to reach 'Gold' certification.Love Yourself: Tear also reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart, marking the group's first top ten album in the country.In June, Time included BTS in their list of the "25 Most Influential People on the Internet".
On July 17, the group announced the release of their second compilation album Love Yourself: Answer for August 24, 2018, with seven new tracks added to the release.Their 2018 world tour, titled BTS World Tour: Love Yourself, began the following day in Seoul.For the final stop of the North American leg, the band performed at Citi Field, marking the first time a Korean act has performed at a U.S. stadium.All 40,000 tickets for the stadium date were later confirmed by Big Hit Entertainment to have sold out in under 20 minutes.On August 24, the album was released, along with the music video for "Idol".An alternative version of the track, this time featuring Nicki Minaj, was released digitally on the same date,with a music video premiering on September 6. The music video broke the record for the most viewed video in its first 24 hours on YouTube with over 45 million views, breaking the record previously set by Taylor Swift with "Look What You Made Me Do" collected 43.2 million views. In the beginning of December 2018, the record was surpassed once again by Ariana Grande, after her video "Thank U, Next" garnered 55.4 million views in its first 24 hours. Debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, the album became BTS' second number-one album—their second of 2018—and their highest sales week in the country to date.It earned 185,000 album-equivalent units, which comprises 141,000 pure album sales, 25,000 SEA units (39.01 million on-demand audio streams of the album's songs) and 19,000 TEA units, making BTS the only K-pop act with two Billboard 200 toppers and the first pop act with two number one albums in less than a year since One Directiontopped the chart with Four in 2014, following 2013's Midnight Memories.In Canada, Love Yourself: Answer became the band's first number-one album on the Canadian Albums Chart, earning over 10,000 consumption units. The single "Idol" reached number five on the Canadian Singles Chart, marking BTS' first top-ten hit in Canada.
In October, they performed at the Korea-France Friendship Concert in Paris, a summit meant to show the friendly relations between France and South Korea. Around 400 officials attended the meeting, including South Korean president Moon Jae-in.On October 20, rapper RM announced his second mixtape, Mono,which was released two days later on digital and streaming platforms for free, along with a music video for the final track "Forever Rain". Lyric videos for the second and third tracks, namely "Seoul" and "Moonchild", were subsequently released on October 23 and 24 respectively.On October 25, they were featured on "Waste It On Me", a song by DJ Steve Aoki. The song was their first all-English language song and performed primarily by two BTS members, Jungkook and RM. The music video starred an all Asian-American casts such as Ken Jeong, Ross Butler, Jamie Chung and others. Aoki commented on the music video "When I found out that "Waste It On Me" was the number one song in the world on Apple Music I realized that this track represented more than just me and BTS. It’s bigger than music, it represents a Korean band and one Asian American DJ that can show other Asians they are also apart of the global commercial musical landscape. I feel so deeply about the Asian footprint in music culture that I wanted the music video to have an entirely Asian cast and director."
In early November 2018, a popular Japanese music show cancelled BTS' performance citing a T-shirt a member wore the year before.In the same month the Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) stated BTS owed victims an apology for the shirt in 2017, the clothing with Nazi symbolism, and a flag.Big Hit Entertainment issued an apology, saying that the images on the clothing were not intended to be hurtful to the victims of Nazism or atomic bombings, and that the band and management would take steps to prevent future mistakes. They also stated the flags were meant to be a commentary on the Korean school system. The apology was accepted by SWC and the Korean Atomic Bomb Victim Association.
Crossing over to film, Burn the Stage: The Movie was released in theaters worldwide on November 15, 2018. In the United States it accumulated $1.2 million on opening day for a total of $3.54 million over the three day weekend, breaking the record for the highest grossing event cinema musical production which was previously set in 2014 by the band One Direction. It ranked at number ten in the box office despite selling at only 620 locations compared to the 2,000-4,000 locations for the other top ten sellers.
On November 9, 2018 Love Yourself: Answer became the first Korean album to be certified Gold (500,000+ units), and BTS became the first Korean group to get a Platinum (1,000,000+ units) certification with the single "Mic Drop" in the United States.
On November 6, 2018, BTS won eleven awards at the MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards, including Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.On December 1, 2018, BTS won a total of seven awards at the 2018 Melon Music Awards, including Album of the Year with Love Yourself: Tear, and Artist of the Year.On December 14, 2018, BTS won ten awards at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, including Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. This marked their third year in a row winning the Artist of the Year award.
According to StubHub BTS was one of 2018's best selling concerts in the world, second to only Ed Sheeran.Vivid Seatsnamed BTS the 2018 artist of the year, citing the group's history-making concert at Citi Field.
In December 2018, Billboard reported that BTS ranked #8 in their year-end Top Artist Chart, alongside the likes of Drake and Taylor Swift. They were also the No. 2 act of the year in the Duo/Group ranking, only behind Imagine Dragons.In the same month they made the Bloomberg 50, citing their willingness to address social issues, mental health, and politics despite being in a genre that can be painted as bubble gum pop.