BTS Makes Award Show Return After 4 Years at AMAs 2026—With a Twist
BTS' latest appearance is simply dope.
Indeed, at the 2026 American Music Awards May 25, group members Jimin, Jung Kook, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM and V made a dynamite entrance on the red carpet. The event—hosted by Queen Latifah at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas—serves as the group's first outing at an award show in four years.
And they set the show off with a bang, giving a rousing rendition of their new song "Hooligan," which they debuted back in March. However, the seven-piece didn't actually take the stage, instead, as multiple outlets reported, showing a pre-tapped performance of the traick from the May 24 Las Vegas stop on their ARIRANG world tour. (Although, Queen Latifah teased the group would be making an appearance at the award ceremony.)
This year's AMAs—of which BTS is nominated for Artist of the Year, Song of the Summer, and Best Male K-Pop Artist—also serves as a milestone for the band in more ways than one. After all, they made their U.S. TV performance debut at the 2017 event, becoming the first Korean group to ever perform on the show.
Their latest appearance together also comes after they went on an extended hiatus in 2022 to fulfill military duties in their native home of South Korea.
Since their return, BTS not only released their 10th studio album Arirang, but they announced earlier this year that a world tour would accompany it.
Though their anticipated tour was initially supposed to be a smaller comeback that spanned over a couple of months, that idea quickly grew—and with good reason.
“When we first got our tour plans, it didn’t have very many stops,” Jin told Rolling Stone in a joint interview in April. “And it was only going to last about three to four months. I said: ‘Now that we’re back, we promised so many people that we would come and meet them, and I feel like this is breaking our promise.’”
And even though there’s no doubt that BTS has become one of the biggest groups in music in recent years, when compared to other artists such as Taylor Swift, the group still sees this as just the beginning.
“They are greater artists than us,” RM told the outlet. “We’re just so small. We’re just a boy band from Korea.”
Keep reading to see all the celebs at the 2026 American Music Awards…
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