BTS nominated for 2019 Billboard music award

SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- K-pop superstars BTS was nominated in the Top Duo/Group category for the upcoming 2019 Billboard Music Awards set for May, as well as in the Top Social Artist category, which the septet has conquered for the last two years, according to Billboard on Friday.

Billboard released the lineup for nominees in the 56 award categories for the event to be held at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 1, in a post uploaded Thursday (U.S. time).

BTS will compete with four other music groups -- Dan + Shay, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5 and Panic! At The Disco -- for the annual Billboard award in the Top Duo/Group category, according to Billboard.

BTS was also nominated for the Top Social Artist award, which the band has taken twice in a row, in 2017 and 2018. Two Other K-pop bands, EXO and GOT7, were also nominated in the fan-voted category, along with Ariana Grande and Louis Tomlinson.

Another win by BTS in the category is highly likely, having topped Billboard's weekly Social 50 chart, a measure of an artist's popularity and level of activity, for the 90th week in a row for the week of April 6, the longest streak ever by any musicians.

An additional victory in the Top Duo/Group category, which was previously won by such famous artists as Imagine Dragons and Twenty One Pilots, may further cement its sensational presence on the world pop scene.

The award ceremony's most prominent prize of Top Artist had five nominees, including Cardi B, Drake and Ariana Grande.

The nominations came as BTS is in the runup to the release of their new album "Map of the Soul: Persona" set for April 12.

The band will hold the world premiere of the stage performance of the album on the American TV network NBC's late-night show "SNL" on April 13.

pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)