'FAKE LOVE' Just Joined BTS's Most Exclusive List, and It Took 7 Years

BTS's FAKE LOVE music video passed 1.4 billion YouTube views at 3:46 p.m. KST on August 13, label Big Hit Music confirmed, making it the sixth BTS video to cross that threshold.

The five that got there first are Dynamite, Boy With Luv, DNA, MIC Drop (Steve Aoki Remix), and IDOL. Adding FAKE LOVE to that list feels right: it was arguably the centerpiece of their most dramatically staged era, and the choreography, members covering their eyes, ears, and mouths in a physical rejection of truth, remains one of the most-discussed performance moments in their catalog.

Released in May 2018 as the title track of LOVE YOURSELF 轉 'Tear', FAKE LOVE blends grunge rock guitar with a groovy trap beat in a style sometimes described as emo hip-hop. The song captures the specific emotional weight of realizing that a love you believed was fate was never real, a theme the production team leaned into with visually striking sets and the kind of dark, atmospheric staging that made the music video so rewatchable.

The album it came from carries its own piece of history: LOVE YOURSELF 轉 'Tear' became the first K-pop album ever to reach number one on the Billboard 200, where it held a spot for 16 consecutive weeks. FAKE LOVE itself debuted at number 10 on the Hot 100 and number 42 on the UK Official Singles Chart Top 100, chart positions that, at the time, signaled something genuinely new was happening in how Western markets were receiving K-pop.

Meanwhile, BTS are currently in the middle of their ARIRANG world tour, with North American dates ongoing. The 1.4-billion milestone is a reminder of just how deep their back catalog runs, even as the group continues building new ones.