BTS in the UK: band invited by Beatles museum for VIP tour and gig

By Dong Sun-hwa

Will K-pop phenomenon BTS walk in the footsteps of legendary English band The Beatles?

The Beatles Story, a Liverpool-based museum devoted to the iconic band from the 1960s, has extended an invitation to the K-pop act when they visit England in June, media reports said.

Founded in 1990, the museum is the world’s largest permanent exhibition dedicated to The Beatles. The museum said it had offered BTS a VIP tour of the exhibition and asked them to perform at the venue.

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Museum management sent the invitation after watching BTS perform on the US TV show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on May 15.

On the show, the BTS members channelled the pop legends by wearing black-and-white suits just like The Beatles did in 1964, when the group first appeared on the American programme The Ed Sullivan Show, filmed on the same stage as the Late Show is now. BTS even performed an impromptu rendition of the popular Beatles song Hey Jude.

The museum praised the seven stars for creating “BTS mania” on an American show.

BTS’ agency Big Hit Entertainment said it had received the invitation, but did not reveal whether it would accept the offer.

Seo Kang-seok, president of The Beatles’ fan club in South Korea, said: “It is rare and symbolic for The Beatles Story to officially invite BTS.”

BTS have sometimes been described as the “next Beatles” because of their huge global fan base and musical accomplishments. Both groups have had three Billboard No 1 albums in a single year.

On June 1 and 2, BTS are set to perform at London’s Wembley Stadium, a 90,000-seat venue. The performance is a part of the “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” tour.

Read the full story at the Korea Times