All anyone cared about at the AMAs was South Korean boy band BTS

The band made its U.S. television debut, and everyone was watching.
 By 
Shannon Connellan
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Look anywhere on social media, and you'd have found it impossible to miss the raves about South Korean boy band BTS at the American Music Awards on Sunday night.

BTS, the veritable K-pop kings of the moment, made their U.S. television debut at the awards show, also marking the band's second appearance at an American awards ceremony.

The septet made of Jin, J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook, demolished a performance of "DNA," after a Kelly Clarkson/Pink duet, and performances by Macklemore, Alessia Cara, Selena Gomez and more. People cried.

However, even before the 2017 awards ceremony kicked off at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, BTS fans (who call themselves the "ARMY"), had turned up by the busload.

BTS boys Jin, J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook hit the red carpet wearing custom-made Saint Laurent suits, and huddled around press microphones.

One Direction's Niall Horan, who also performed at the AMAs, apparently had seen one of the BTS rehearsals, and liked it, a fact reported to the (very psyched) band on the red carpet.

Then, the septet headed into the Microsoft Theater, where more eager fans awaited inside. These guys even got an insane cheer for taking their seats.

During the ceremony, BTS cameos were hot property on Twitter. Honestly, the lads looked like they were having the best time of anyone in the theatre, jamming out to Demi Lovato's performance of "Sorry Not Sorry."

Finally, it was showtime.

After performances from American music's biggest stars, including Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Shawn Mendes, Selena Gomez, Macklemore, Christina Aguilera and more, BTS was up, performing their wildly successful single "DNA," from their 2017 album Love Yourself: Her.

According to Billboard, "DNA" accumulated 20 million views in 20 hours and 48 minutes when it was first released on Sept. 14. That is, undeniably, insane.

As is this 100% air-punchingly excellent performance:

"I need a moment to recover from that performance," said presenter Jared Leto immediately afterwards. People were genuinely crying.

Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort was filming the whole thing on his phone.

Twitter was, understandably, beside itself. At the time of writing, "BTS" was mentioned on Twitter 2,046,202 times within the 24 hours leading up to the performance (and that's not including hashtags).

All hail BTS, America, your new boy band overlords.

Topics Music

A photo portrait of a journalist with blonde hair and a band t-shirt.
Shannon Connellan
UK Editor

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.

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