BTS Wins Song of the Year With Swim Despite Skipping the 2026 VMAs Ceremony

BTS walked away from the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with three trophies, including the night's most prestigious prize, Song of the Year, for their track Swim. The ceremony was held on the 27th (local time) at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

The Song of the Year win carries a notable throughline: K-pop has now claimed the award in back-to-back years. Last year, BLACKPINK's Rosé became the first K-pop act to take the category, winning for APT., her collaboration with Bruno Mars. Swim following that up signals something more than a one-off moment for the genre at one of pop music's biggest nights.

BTS also claimed Best K-Pop and Best Group, converting all three of their nominations into wins. The clean sweep is the kind of result that rarely happens at an awards show this competitive, and it gives the group something to add to an already extensive VMA record.

Best Group's longest-running dynasty

The Best Group category has effectively become K-pop's home base at the VMAs. BTS won it four consecutive years from 2019 through 2022. BLACKPINK claimed it in 2023, SEVENTEEN in 2024, and BLACKPINK again in 2025. This year's win is BTS's fifth time taking the award, more than any other act in the category's history.

The group was not present at the ceremony, and the categories they won were not part of the live broadcast. Their trophies were confirmed through official announcement rather than an on-stage moment, which kept the wins low-key even as the scale of the sweep was anything but.