K-Pop fans, Twitter stans, and gays across the globe are rejoicing after BTS makes history again with Life Goes On hitting the Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at No. 1.
BTS has once again made history after their recent single Life Goes On became the South Korean band’s third Hot 100 No. 1 hit – all in a span of three months. Life Goes On follows on from Dynamite and their Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat) remix collaboration with Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo, both of which topped the chart within the past three months.
However, the success of Life Goes On stretches even further, with the song marking the first-ever Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single sung primarily in Korean.
Furthermore, Life Goes On marks the fastest accumulation of three Hot 100 No. 1 hits in over 42 years (ever since the Bee Gees hit the charts with singles from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in December 1977).
.@BTS_twt is now the first and only group in history with multiple No. 1 debuts on the #Hot100 (“Dynamite” and “Life Goes On”).
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) November 30, 2020
Fans and Stans (known as ARMY) alike have taken to Twitter to congratulate the group, with many pointing to the fact that BTS has crossed the linguistic barrier that has previously limited the success of other global artists.
“This sentence [holds] so much weight, blood, sweat and tears. It is a victory against racism, prejudices, corruption,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Y’all hear this? YET sum xenophobic academy decided they deserve only 1 NOMINATION WHAT IS THIS ABOUT,” another user wrote while replying to Billboard.
Y’all hear this? YET sum xenophobic academy decided they deserve only 1 NOMINATION WHAT IS THIS ABOUT
— Kaana Miller (@whydonturunaway) November 30, 2020
While others just did the usual keyboard-smashing, Twitter-Stan goodness.
Ohmmmmmmyyyyyyyyggghghhhhhhhgggggggggdhdhsjsixudbslsogbdsisgshdbxidjdbdidhdifjfiri pic.twitter.com/5DGqj88vln
— yoonji⁷ but stream life goes on (@kimtaexkook) November 30, 2020
Life Goes On, the lead single from BTS’s highly anticipated new record Be – which has writing credits from every band member (RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) – pens the band’s thoughts and feelings towards 2020 and losing luck to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcement of the first non-English Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 song comes during a major year of disrupting cultural and linguistic boundaries between South Korean and Western media.
Earlier this year, Parasite, the South Korean super-thriller , managed to win four academy awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Film Feature, with the film’s director, Bong Joon-ho, taking out the award for Best Director.
Not to mention, Parasite became the first non-English language film in Academy Awards history to win Best Picture, prompting Joon-ho to pull out one of the best quotes the Academy has ever seen.
“Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” he said while using a translator to deliver his acceptance speech mostly in Korean.
“Just being nominated along with fellow, amazing international filmmakers was a huge honour. I think we use only one language: the cinema.”
PARASITE ✗ BTS pic.twitter.com/BhaMSxVgVm
— ًًᴮᴱmanu₇ (@breadnbangtan) November 12, 2020
