Jung Kook, V, Jin, RM, Suga, Jimin and j-hope of BTS speak at The 52nd American Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 25, 2026, in Las Vegas. Rich Polk/Dick Clark Productions via Getty Images
It was a victorious night for BTS and ARMY. On the heels of winning the song of the summer for “SWIM” at the 2026 American Music Awards, the boy band took home the artist of the year award on Monday night (May 25).
Busta Rhymes presented the award as the Grammy-nominated group beat out a star-studded group of competitors that included Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Morgan Wallen and Sabrina Carpenter to win the fan-voted honors for artist of the year.
After each of the boys finished up an elongated dap-up with Busta, RM took to the mic to celebrate. “ARMYs, we made it once again. Thank you. It’s an honor to have this precious award,” he began. “Once again, after everybody’s done their military service.
RM continued: “Like the legendary Busta Rhymes said, it’s a fan-voted award, so our biggest thanks and gratitude goes to the ARMYs all over the world. You stood by us for the past 13 years — thank you so much.”
J-hope stepped to the mic second in awe of the moment. “Wow. We have been overwhelmed by the reaction to this album,” he said. “Thank you for embracing ARIRANG and every single song on this album that you helped chart. Thank you, for real, we are so grateful.”
Jimin had the last words for the group to close out the celebratory night. “Thank you for passionately following us on tour and showing so much love in every city,” he said.
BTS had a busy AMAs after picking up a win in the new song of the summer category for Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “SWIM,” and the Bangtan Boys also hit the stage for a thrilling performance of single “Hooligan,” which appeared on the group’s Billboard 200-topping 2026 album, ARIRANG.
ARIRANG debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 to earn the reunited crew its seventh chart-topper in March with 641,000 equivalent album units earned, according to Luminate.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
