K-pop group BTS has been named entertainer of the year by Time magazine, capping a breakthrough year in the United States for the South Korean boy band.
The seven-member band, which made its debut in 2013, has become one of the world's most popular thanks to its upbeat dancey songs, army of adoring fans, and positive non-controversial messages.
Last month, the band got the first major Grammy Award nomination for a K-pop band, and in the summer its English-language single Dynamite became the band's first to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
"BTS isn't just the biggest K-pop act on the charts. They've become the biggest band in the world - full stop," Time writer Raisa Bruner wrote in a profile of the group on Thursday.
"And they did it in a year defined by setbacks, one in which the world hit pause and everyone struggled to maintain their connections."
Twitter said this week that BTS "Continues to Reign as Most Tweeted About Musicians" in the United States for a fourth straight year.
BTS will perform later on Thursday in a television special when Time magazine's Person of the Year will be announced.
Italy has banned two concerts involving US rappers Kanye West and Travis Scott due to take place in July in the northern city of Reggio Emilia, authorities said on Saturday.
Bret Michaels, frontman of Poison, the rock group best known for its working-class anthem 'Nothin’ But a Good Time', has withdrawn from a concert series commemorating the United States' 250th anniversary, the latest in a wave of cancellations.
An Austrian court has sentenced a 21-year-old man who admitted planning a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024 to 15 years in prison on Thursday, finding him guilty of various, mainly terrorism-related offences.
The personal assistant who injected "Friends" star Matthew Perry with a fatal dose of the hallucinogenic drug ketamine was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison on Wednesday, bringing to a close the prosecution of five people who admitted to playing roles in the actor's death.
Naomi Osaka had packed plain back-up outfits in case officials objected to her sparkling yellow-brown and gold dress during her French Open clash with Laura Siegemund on Tuesday, but she said she was happy to be able to continue setting the style standard.