K-pop boy band BTS makes history as first Korean group to perform at Wembley Stadium

K-pop boy band BTS began the European leg of its “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” world tour by making history with its sold-out show in London, on Saturday.

BTS is the first Korean group to perform at Wembley Stadium – the new version of which opened in 2007 on the site of the original, which was demolished between 2002 and 2003.

It has proved a landmark venue for pop concerts over the years, with top performers including the legendary British rock band, Queen, which played there in the 1980s – most memorably at 1985’s Live Aid concert – and the late singer Michael Jackson, who performed there in the ’80s and ’90s.

BTS, the seven-member boy band, made up of RM, Suga, Jimin, Jin, J-hope, V and Jungkook, performed in front of about 90,000 fans, who sang along from the first song, Dionysus.

BTS performed for two hours and 40 minutes – singing along to backing tracks of 24 of its most popular songs, such as Boy With Luv, FAKE LOVE and Dope.

“Today is a beautiful night: welcome to our concert,” RM said as he did his best to put on a British accent.

Jin mimicked RM's accent and Jungkook made a joke, too, as he said; “Jin's British accent is not as bad as I thought.”

The stage was packed with augmented reality technology for the part of the show featuring RM's performances of Trivia: Love and Anpanman.

BTS also used aerial props from Korean company, Aero Balloon Robot, including balloons, a big sphere and slides, as the group’s members communicated with fans while moving back and forth from the main and secondary stage.

The lavender-haired Jin, who said he had watched Bohemian Rhapsody – a biographical musical film about Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of Queen – led the ARMY, the collective name of the fans of BTS, in a version of the Queen frontman's iconic “ay-oh” chant as he stretched his vocal cords at Live Aid.