K-pop group BTS is nominated for two honours – including ‘top social artist’ – at 2019 Billboard Music Awards

K-pop boy band BTS has been nominated in both the top duo/group and top social artist categories at next month’s American 2019 Billboard Music Awards.

The seven-member group, which twice topped the US Billboard album chart last year, has won the top social artist award for the past two years.

Billboard released the line-up of its nominees in 56 award categories for the annual event, which will be held at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 1, in an online post last Thursday.

BTS will be competing against four other music groups, Maroon 5, Dan + Shay, Imagine Dragons and Panic! At The Disco, for the award in the top duo/group category, Billboard said.

The K-pop group, which won the top social artist award – voted for by fans – in 2017 and last year, will be vying to make it a hat-trick of victories, but will be up against two other K-pop nominees, EXO and GOT7, and Ariana Grande and Louis Tomlinson.

Another win by BTS in this category is very likely because the boy band 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 last week, the longest streak ever by any musicians.

An additional victory in the top duo/group category – previously won by artists such as fellow nominees Imagine Dragons and Twenty One Pilots – will further cement BTS’ presence on the world pop scene.

The award ceremony’s most prominent prize of top artist features five nominees, including Cardi B, Drake and Grande.

The nominations came as BTS prepares to release its new album, “Map of the Soul: Persona”, on Friday.

The band will perform songs from the album on this Saturday’s American late-night television show, Saturday Night Live, hosted by Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone.

Earlier this month the group’s new album had already attracted more than 2.6 million pre-orders, the distributor, iRiver, said.

BTS’ third repackaged album, “LOVE YOURSELF: ANSWER”, released in August, reached No 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart.

The group’s BTS World Tour: Love Yourself: Speak Yourself, starts on May 4, which will visit North and South America, Europe and Asia.

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This article was originally written by Yonhap for  The Korea Times .