According to their agency Big Hit Music, "SWIM," which was released in March, surpassed 500 million cumulative streams on Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform, as of May 26. This marks the first song released globally in 2026 to achieve this milestone.
"SWIM" is a song that carries a message of moving forward at one's own pace without stopping, even amidst the rough waves of life. RM participated in writing the overall lyrics, honestly reflecting the emotions and concerns felt by "BTS today."
The track recently proved its global popularity once again by winning the "Song of the Summer" category at the American Music Awards (AMAs), one of the top three major music awards in the United States. Notably, it drew significant attention for being nominated based on just six days of performance data post-release, ultimately securing the win.
In their acceptance speech, BTS shared, "Thank you so much for giving so much love to 'SWIM.' We felt a lot of pressure when making this album, and we constantly pondered what music truly represents us right now." They added, "But what we believed in until the end was that we must keep challenging ourselves and moving forward. We send our love and support to everyone who continues to swim forward under any circumstances. Let's keep swimming."
"SWIM" also continues its long-term success on various global charts. After debuting at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard main singles chart, the Hot 100, the song has remained on the chart for eight consecutive weeks. It also reached No. 2 on the U.K. Official Singles Chart Top 100, marking a new personal best for the group. Additionally, it held the No. 1 spot on Spotify's "Weekly Top Songs Global" chart for four consecutive weeks.
The fifth studio album "ARIRANG" is also seeing success across all of its tracks. All 14 tracks included in the album have surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify. In particular, the interlude track "No. 29," which utilizes the sound of South Korea's National Treasure No. 29 (the Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok), drew attention by also exceeding 100 million plays.
Side tracks "Body to Body" and "Hooligan" also achieved 200 million streams each, proving BTS's global music power.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)
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