UPDATED: K-pop superstars BTS, the most popular boy band in world, have smashed YouTube’s record for the most views accrued in the first 24 hours of release with their single “Boy With Luv,” featuring American pop star Halsey. As of 5 a.m. ET Saturday, “Boy With Luv” had racked up just over 78 million views, according to YouTube’s public views counter. On April 15, YouTube revised the video’s official stat to 74.6 million views in the first 24 hours, to adjust for overcounting by its real-time system. In any case, it demolished the previous record, set just a week ago by K-pop girl group Blackpink’s “Kill This Love,” which had 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours to top Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next.” “Boy With Luv” also has become the fastest video reach 100 million views (in less than two days). In addition, BTS’s “Boy With Luv” video on YouTube drew a staggering 2 million comments in the first 24 hours (which grew to over 2.7 million by Monday, April 15). BTS is the musical guest on April 13 episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” hosted by Emma Stone, where the group is slated to perform “Boy With Luv.” As of early Saturday, “Boy With Luv” had been the No. 2 trending video worldwide on YouTube, behind the first trailer for Disney/Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” (Episode IX). Note that YouTube ranks trending videos based on multiple factors, including views and user engagements. “Boy With Luv” is a reference to the group’s 2014 song “Boy in Luv.” According to Variety‘s review of BTS’s new album “Map of the Soul: Persona,” released Friday, Halsey’s vocals capture “the giddiness of being in love, while the lyrics address the relationship the group has with its ARMY: ‘I’m flying high in the sky with the two wings you gave me,’ with the wings referencing the title of their second album.” Meanwhile, in the U.S., all seven songs from BTS’s “Map of the Soul: Persona,” released Friday, are on Apple’s iTunes top 10 music chart. On iTunes, “Boy With Luv” stands at No. 2 behind the remix of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” country-hip-hop track featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. BTS is an abbreviation of “Bangtan Sonyeondan” (방탄소년단), which literally translates to “bulletproof boy scouts” although two years ago they announced an extension of their brand in English to “Beyond the Scene.” The seven-member group — comprising members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook — was formed by Big Hit Entertainment in 2013. This past February, BTS became the first K-pop group to present an award at the Grammys, where they bestowed the trophy for best R&B album to H.E.R. for her self-titled album. The “Boy With Luv” video, which pays homage to Gene Kelly’s classic movie musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” was directed by YongSeok Choi of Seoul-based production house Lumpens. BTS dropped the new video Friday, April 12, at 6 p.m. Korea Standard Time (5 a.m. EDT). Here’s an updated Top 10 YouTube videos ranked by views in the first 24 hours: 1. BTS, “Boy With Luv” feat. Halsey – 78 million 2. Blackpink, “Kill This Love” – 56.7 million 3. Ariana Grande – “thank u, next” – 55.4 million 4. BTS, “Idol” – 45.9 million 5. Taylor Swift, “Look What You Made Me Do” – 43.2 million 6. Eminem, “Killshot” – 38.1 million 7. Blackpink, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” – 36.2 million 8. Psy, “Gentleman” – 36 million 9. BTS, “Fake Love” – 35.9 million 10. Twice, “Yes or Yes” – 31.4 million<doc-sep>BTS and Halsey have broken the record for the most viewed music video debut in YouTube history, only a day after it was set by Blackpink. The video for their collaboration ‘Boy With Luv’ debuted on April 14 and amassed a staggering 74.6 million views in its first 24 hours. It’s almost twenty million more views than Blackpink’s ‘Kill This Love’, which scored some 56.7 million only a day previously. In turn, Blackpink had dethroned Ariana Grande who achieved 55.4 million views in one day with ‘thank u, next’. Advertisement It wasn’t the only record that the K-Pop giants took from Blackpink either. ‘Boy With Luv’ defeated the girl group by becoming the fastest music video to hit 100 million views, reaching the milestone in under 2 days. On Friday, BTS released their anticipated sixth EP ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’. In a four star review, NME’s Rhian Daly hailed the band for “[setting] the bar intimidatingly high”. “As they continue to break records and defy expectations, BTS’ metaphorical (and already palatial) home is only going to get bigger. ‘Map Of The Soul: Persona’ is proof of that, and finds them setting the bar intimidatingly high – for fellow K-pop artists, ones across the globe, and themselves,” our review stated. Advertisement “As their story shows so far, it’ll be no surprise if they raise it again next time round.”<doc-sep>BTS and Halsey’s recent video for “Boy With Luv” has set a new record for YouTube’s most-streamed video in the first 24 hours of its release. Since dropping on Friday, the video has earned over 78 million views, surpassing K-pop girl group Blackpink’s “Kill This Love” video, which amassed 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours, as Billboard points out. Before that, the previous record was held by Ariana Grande, whose “thank u next” video earned over 50 million views in the first 24 hours of its release. “Yes, we’re still running the numbers. But we can confirm that ‘Boy With Luv’ feat. Halsey is now *officially* the most-viewed 24 hour debut in YouTube history! !,” a spokesperson from YouTube Music shared on Twitter. “Congratulations BTS. Enjoy ‘SNL’ tonight!” BTS later brought “Boy With Luv” to Saturday Night Live, where they performed as this week’s musical guests. Their latest album Map of the Soul: Persona was released on Friday, their first since the chart-topping Love Yourself: Tear and Love Yourself: Answer last year. https://twitter.com/youtubemusic/status/1117219875179466752<doc-sep>
Update: The music video for BTS’ “Boy With Luv (featuring Halsey)” appears to have convincingly broken the 24-hour YouTube view record. As of 5AM ET Saturday morning — exactly 24 hours after its release — the video boasts an unofficial YouTube view count of 78.1 million. BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love,” which previously held the record, generated 56.7 million in its first twenty-four hours. Per the official view counter, “Boy With Luv” hit that mark at around 9:15PM ET Friday night. It spent the remaining seven-plus hours padding its impressive distinction. While pretty clear based on the real-time/public view counter, the record will not technically be “official” until formally announced by YouTube. It is unclear exactly when such confirmation will arrive. ==== Last week, the music video for BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” set an all-time YouTube record with 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours. The video for BTS’ “Boy With Luv (featuring Halsey)” just unofficially broke that record. Per the counter on its landing page, “Boy With Luv” crossed the 57 million mark at around 9:15PM ET Friday night. With more than seven hours remaining until the end of the video’s inaugural 24-hour window (it premiered at 5AM ET Friday morning), the instantly viral video will continue to expand upon its impressive achievement. Since the landing page view count is tracking comfortably higher than the “Kill This Love” record, “Boy With Luv” will have a nice safety net even if there is a discrepancy between the public data and YouTube’s internal numbers. The record will nonetheless remain unofficial until formally confirmed by YouTube. Such confirmation may not come for a few days.