Jungkook, Stray Kids, Seventeen Win BBMAs... Swift Sets New Record with 10 Awards

Political Situation, Top K-pop Album? Double Winner for Top Global K-pop Song
Stray Kids? Seventeen Also Awarded
Swift, 10 Wins with Total 49 Trophies... Record Most in History of the Ceremony

Group BTS member Jungkook once again proved the status of K-pop by winning two awards at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs).

BTS Jungkook.
Photo by BBMAs

In the list of winners announced by the BBMAs on the 12th (local time), Jungkook won ‘Top K-pop Album’ for his solo first full-length album GOLDEN and ‘Top Global K-pop Song’ for the title track Standing Next to You. Following last year’s win for ‘Top Global K-pop Song’ with Seven (feat. Latto), he earned the honor in the same category for two consecutive years.

This achievement during his military service demonstrates his global popularity while also proving the significance of K-pop in the global music market. Jungkook was nominated six times across five categories at this year’s BBMAs, but unfortunately did not win in some categories such as ‘Top Song Sales Artist’ and ‘Top Selling Song.’

Group Seventeen.
[Photo by BBMA's]

Stray Kids and Seventeen Also Shine on Stage

Group Stray Kids won the ‘Top Global K-pop Artist’ category, securing the BBMAs trophy for the second consecutive year. This adds another record following last year’s win for ‘Top K-pop Album.’ The team’s leader Bang Chan expressed gratitude to fans, saying, “Thanks to STAY (the fandom name) worldwide, we were able to receive this award.”

Additionally, Seventeen made their first win at the BBMAs. They were recognized as the most successful K-pop artist in touring over the past year by winning the ‘Top K-pop Touring Artist’ category. Seventeen expressed their love for fans, saying, “Thanks to our amazing CARAT (the fandom name), we were able to receive this award.”

The presence of K-pop was also prominent on the awards ceremony stage. Stray Kids delivered an energetic performance with “Chk Chk Boom” and “JJAM,” while Seventeen thrilled the audience by performing “LOVE, MONEY, FAME (feat. DJ Khaled)” on a stage themed as a guerrilla concert.

Taylor Swift.
Photo by AFP

The star of the ceremony was American pop star Taylor Swift. She swept major categories including ‘Top Artist,’ ‘Top Billboard 200 Artist,’ and ‘Top Hot 100 Artist,’ winning a total of 10 awards.

With this win, Swift became the most awarded artist in BBMAs history. Having held 39 awards until last year, she added 10 trophies this year, setting a total record of 49. Meanwhile, Drake, who was previously tied for the most awards, won three this year and dropped to second place with 42 trophies.

The BBMAs have highlighted the achievements of K-pop artists by establishing K-pop-specific categories since last year. However, there are concerns that this might be an attempt to confine K-pop to a specific category.

This year’s BBMAs selected winners based on the performance on the Billboard charts of songs released between October 13, 2023, and October 10, 2024.