BTS achieves triple crown at MTV VMA... Sweeping Song of the Year, K-pop, and Group awards with 'Swim'

BTS won three awards including ’Song of the Year,’ ’Best K-pop,’ and ’Best Group’ at the ’2026 MTV Video Music Awards (MTV VMA)’ held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, USA. At this awards ceremony, BTS won ’Song of the Year’ and ’Best K-pop’ with the title track ’SWIM’ from their fifth full-length album ’Arirang,’ and added another trophy in the ’Best Group’ category, reaffirming their position in the global music market. With this, BTS recorded their fifth win overall, having won ’Best Group’ for four consecutive years from 2019 to 2022. In the ’Song of the Year’ category, following last year’s win by Black Pink Rosé for ’APT.’, a collaboration with Bruno Mars, BTS continued the winning streak of K-pop artists for two consecutive years. BTS was nominated in the same category in 2021 for ’Dynamite’ but did not win, and after five years, they challenged again with ’SWIM’ and took home the trophy. BTS did not attend the ceremony, but through their agency BigHit Music, they expressed, ″We sincerely thank ARMY, who always send us unwavering love and support,″ adding, ″’Arirang’ is an album that feels like a new beginning for us, so this award is even more meaningful.″ They continued, ″Winning the grand prize of ’Song of the Year’ with ’SWIM’ was possible thanks to everyone who loves our music,″ and said, ″The seven of us will continue to show you great music and performances together.″ At the ceremony, Black Pink Lisa won the ’Best Pop’ award for her solo song ’Dream.’ This is the second time an Asian artist has won in this category since BTS in 2020, and Lisa is the first Asian solo artist to do so. Additionally, Madonna took the stage for the opening performance and won seven awards including ’Artist of the Year,’ marking her 27th trophy overall. Taylor Swift won three awards including ’Video of the Year,’ ’Best Direction,’ and the ’Artist Director Award,’ becoming the artist with the most MTV VMA trophies in history with a total of 33. British artist Sienna Spyro won the ’Best New Artist’ award.