BTS sweep AMAs 2026 with multiple wins, including Artist of the Year; V cheers ARMY as RM’s duck antics go viral

BTS is back to storming award shows, that’s life as ARMY has always known it.

For starters, they kicked off the night (May 25) with a high-voltage performance that immediately turned the MGM Grand Garden Arena into ARMY territory. The septet, RM, j-hope, Jimin, Jung Kook, SUGA, V and Jin, set the tone for the night with a slick, pre-recorded but stadium-level performance of Hooligan, one of their chart-topping numbers from Arirang.

Shot as part of their ongoing world tour, the performance had all the drama: heavy fog, blood-red lighting, razor-sharp choreography, and camera-ready swagger, with each member getting his own close-up moment built for maximum impact. Even though the performance wasn’t filmed live inside the venue, it still landed like one, setting the tempo for the rest of the night before BTS later appeared in person to present Best Female R&B Artist to SZA, who visibly fan-girled as she accepted the award from them.

And then BTS, accepted the award for Artist of the Year, Song of the Summer, Swim, too, which is one of their tracks from their newly-released album, Arirang.

In his acceptance speech for Song of the Summer, RM thanked all the artists and ARMY of course. And then V chimed in, “To everyone out there who keeps swimming, we send our love, no matter what, keep swimming.” Meanwhile, ARMY feed has already unlocked scores of memes, beginning with a visibly bewildered J-Hope, after hearing the ARMY shoutouts. “Does he know he is in BTS,” one fan asked amused on Twitter.

Currently deep in the middle of a globe-spanning stadium takeover for their latest project, BTS somehow still found time to drop into the AMAs in Las Vegas—right in the thick of their four-night Allegiant Stadium run. The band, who returned from their mandatory military service last year, kicked off their tour in April, and has had several memorable stops, including Tampa, Mexico and Stanford, where they have been performing all their classics: Dope, Black Swan, Spine Breaker, Pied Piper, just to name a few.