K-pop sensation BTS performed on the season 16 finale of The Voice Tuesday, delivering their hit single “Boy with Luv.” The group – sans Halsey – sang, rapped and elaborately danced their way through the track, eventually getting doused with confetti and joining a pyramid formation of dancers on the Voice stage.
On the back of their burgeoning stardom in the U.S., BTS have made several American television appearances over the past few months. They serenaded the audience and paid homage to the Beatles on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, kicked off the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series, were guest musicians on Saturday Night Live and performed “Boy With Luv” with Halsey at the Billboard Music Awards. They also were named in Time magazine’s 2019 Most Influential list.
In reviewing BTS’ latest album Map of the Soul: Persona, Rolling Stone writer Elias Leight noted: “Since major labels have largely abandoned artist development in favor of amplifying acts that are already buzzing, BTS and other like-minded K-Pop groups have an open freeway: As they play with the sound and acrobatic showmanship of big-budget R&B and pop from 20 years ago, they can be confident that few American artists will even attempt to compete.”