BTS Makes History As They Win Artist Of The Year At 2021 American Music Awards

BTS won Artist of the Year—the biggest honor of the night—at the 2021 American Music Awards!

The 2021 American Music Awards is taking place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on November 21. BTS attended the ceremony in person and snagged all three awards they were nominated for, which are Favorite Pop Duo or Group, Favorite Pop Song for “Butter,” and Artist of the Year. For Artist of the Year, BTS was up against Ariana Grande, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd.

BTS has become the first Asian act in history to win Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards, and this also marks BTS’s third consecutive year winning Favorite Pop Duo or Group.

Announced as winners for Favorite Pop Duo or Group, BTS came up on stage to receive their trophy. J-Hope said, “Thank you ARMY, and thank you AMAs so much for this. For three years in a row, wow!” Jin took the mic and thanked their fans, saying, “This is all possible thanks to ARMY. You’re our universe.” RM wrapped up the speech by sharing, “It took four years to be on this stage to get this trophy. Thank you so much. Actually it means to us even more because we’re actually a small boy band from Korea. We just got united by the love for our music, and all we want to do is just spread love, the good vibes and energy through music and performance. But without you guys, ARMY, we couldn’t have done anything. Thank you so much.”

Watch them receive the Favorite Pop Duo or Group award:

They're setting the night alight and winning the #AMAs for Favorite Pop Duo or Group! CONGRATS, @BTS_twt! 🎉 #BTSxAMAs pic.twitter.com/fzQs7M5HrW

— American Music Awards (@AMAs) November 22, 2021

The group was back on stage to receive the Favorite Pop Song award, and Jimin expressed, “Thank you ARMY, thank you AMAs, and thank you everyone for loving our song ‘Butter.'” Jungkook added, “‘Butter’ is a special song to us. We hope it makes you feel smooth like butter.” RM concluded the speech once again. “Thanks to you all, ‘Butter’ has received so much love this year. All we had to do is just put out positive energy despite these hard times. This award truly proves that this song reaches many people’s hearts. Never take for granted. Thank you so much,” he shared.

Watch BTS give their speech for Favorite Pop Song award:

You BUTTER believe it! @BTS_twt's "Butter" is your #AMAs Favorite Pop Song! 🎉 #BTSxAMAs pic.twitter.com/v6OsYs9Bf9

— American Music Awards (@AMAs) November 22, 2021

Lastly, for the Artist of the Year award, RM shared that he forgot what he was supposed to say, but he continued on by saying, “Thank you AMAs, we’re truly honored to be on this stage with such amazing, tremendous artists right over here. We’re so honored. Thanks for that.” After a pause, he admitted, “I’m nervous, yeah.”

He gave the rest of his speech. “Four years ago, we gave this first-time-ever TV live performance at this stage, AMAs, it was ‘DNA,’ and we were too excited and nervous at the time. And it’s been a long and amazing ride since then, but nobody could have ever bet on the odds of us standing here receiving this award. Except you all, ARMY. Except you all. Seven boys from Korea, united by a love for music. We met the love and support from all the ARMYs all over the world. This whole thing is a miracle. Seriously, we’ll never take this for granted. Thank you so much. We love you all, we want to give this honor to you guys. Thank you HYBE, thank you staff, all the people.”

Suga delivered his speech in Korean, saying, “We made our U.S. TV debut four years ago at the AMAs, and I had no idea we would be able to receive the Artist of the Year. I think it’s all thanks to ARMY, thank you ARMY!”

Jungkook shared, “We just wanted to make people happy with our music. We believe that this award opens the beginning of our new chapter. In the past few years, we learned that each and every moment is precious. So in 2022, we want to focus on…” and stopped. V took the microphone and said, “I’m deeply touched by this award. I appreciate your love. Thank you ARMY, thank you AMAs. Thank you, we purple you!”

Check out BTS’s speech for Artist of the Year below!

ARMY! 🚨 You did it! You voted and @BTS_twt is the #AMAs Artist of The Year! Congrats! 🎉 #BTSxAMAs pic.twitter.com/wJ6NDQgHbo

— American Music Awards (@AMAs) November 22, 2021

At the ceremony, BTS performed “My Universe” in collaboration with Coldplay as well as “Butter.”

Congratulations on the amazing achievement, BTS!