South Korean boyband BTS have once again been named the global recording artist of the year.
BTS, a K-Pop group also known as the Bangtan Boys, have won the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) Global Recording Artist of the Year Award 2021, making them the first act to win the award for two consecutive years.
The award is calculated according to an artist’s or group’s worldwide performance across digital and physical music formats during the year – including music downloads, streams and physical sales – and covers their entire body of work.
The award was announced at the culmination of an online countdown by the IFPI, which gradually revealed the top 10 best-selling artists of the year.
Frances Moore, chief executive of the IFPI, said: “BTS’ phenomenal success over the last year is a testament to their creativity, hard work and ongoing commitment to continuing to find ways to bring their music to the world.
“By performing in three different languages, they demonstrate their extraordinarily unique global appeal and their dynamic and passionate fanbase has helped to make them the first artists in history to top the global artist chart in two consecutive years.”
BTS, consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, first entered the IFPI global artist chart in 2018 at number two.
In 2020, they became the first Korean act to win the Global Recording Artist of the Year Award, as well as the first winner to perform primarily in a language other than English.
The band are the best-selling artist in South Korean history and their album Map Of The Soul: 7 is the best-selling album of all time in South Korea.
BTS were joined by Taylor Swift and Adele in the top three of the 2021 chart.
Swift, 32, finished at number two for the second consecutive year, having previously topped the chart in 2019.
Adele, 33, secured third place, re-entering for the first time since taking the top spot in 2015.
Drake, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Seventeen and Olivia Rodrigo make up the top 10 on the 2021 chart.
The award has been running since 2014, with British boy band One Direction becoming the first to win as they were named Global Recording Artist of 2013.
The Top 10 global recording artists of 2021, according to the IFPI:
1. BTS
2. Taylor Swift
3. Adele
4. Drake
5. Ed Sheeran
6. The Weeknd
7. Billie Eilish
8. Justin Bieber
9. SEVENTEEN
10. Olivia Rodrigo.