BTS news: new album release date announced, plus award from Time readers
Love Yourself: Tear, the new album from BTS, will be out on May 18, band announces hours after winning the 2018 Time 100 reader poll of world’s most influential people, ahead of Barack Obama, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars
World-conquering South Korean boy band BTS have announced that their next album, Love Yourself: Tear, will be released on May 18.
The album will be a sequel to last year’s Love Yourself: Her EP, which hit No 7 on the US album chart – the highest ever for a South Korean act.
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The new album follows the release earlier this month of their third Japanese album Face Yourself, which also made it onto the US album charts.
BTS announced the album release date on Twitter on Tuesday.
The seven-member boy band have managed not only to have two tracks certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America – a first for a Korean act – but they also became the most retweeted musical act on Twitter in 2017.
Meanwhile, the band have also won the 2018 Time 100 reader poll of the world’s most influential people of the year, the US news magazine announced.
BTS dominated this year’s poll, winning 16 per cent of the vote. Runners-up included South Korean President Moon Jae-in with 5 per cent and former US president Barack Obama with 3 per cent. Other popular musical acts, such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, Shawn Mendes and Bruno Mars, brought in 2 per cent each.
While the magazine’s editors are responsible for selecting the full Time 100 list, the online reader poll opens up voting to the public.
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The magazine said that BTS – made up of singers RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook – “are just one of a number of K-pop groups with massive fanbases. But in particular they have proven themselves capable of transcending the Asian market with their hip-hop-meets-pop songs, sharp choreography and high-concept music videos.”
