Internet goes wild for BTS as K-pop stars make first Grammys appearance

Though they didn’t win an award, Korean pop stars BTS were arguably the stars of the Grammys as their legion of online fans came out to support them on their first appearance at the ceremony.

The hashtag #TearItUpBTS was already trending globally as the group arrived on the red carpet in matching black dinner suits.

And in a mark of their popularity, a single tweet featuring the words “It’s the Grammys” and a close-up picture of Suga, one of the band’s seven members, received more than 250,000 retweets within two hours.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the ceremony, Kim Nam-joon, known by his stage name RM, translated for the rest of the seven-piece outfit, describing attending the Grammys as a dream come true.

He said: “Very first time. We’ve been flying the world. We’ve been working on our next album, right before the flight. It’s a dream come true. It’s a blessing that we can get so much love.”

The group also said they were most excited at meeting Travis Scott, Lady Gaga and H.E.R at the ceremony, prompting many fans to speculate on possible future collaborations.

Among the standout moments for fans was their clear enjoyment of Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus’ duet on Jolene, which saw them dancing along among the star-studded Los Angeles crowd.

During several other performances the group – the first Korean band ever to top the Billboard 200 – could be seen bobbing their heads and singing along from their seats near the stage.

K-pop journalist Jeff Benjamin summed up the feelings of many of the band’s followers when he tweeted: “Proud of the huge step @BTS_twt took with their album being nominated at the 2019 Grammys and ready to be all the more proud when they take the stage to present later today. So many people are watching in awe and pride of you guys. There’s much more history to make. #TearItUpBTS.”