BTS’ Proof surpasses 16B streams on Spotify, becoming the first and only album by a K-act to achieve this milestone

On April 4, 2025, @WORLDMUSICAWARD reported that BTS' album Proof reached 16 billion streams on Spotify, making it the first album by a Korean artist to do so.

Proof came out in June 2022 and reflects BTS' music journey, featuring a mix of their biggest hits, some unreleased tracks, and new songs like Tony Montana, Quotation Mark, No More Dream, Born Singer, I NEED U, DNA, Fake Love, Epiphany (Demo version), Seesaw (demo version), and Still With You (demo version), among others.

The album has 48 songs, and the physical version has three CDs. It sold over 2 million copies on the Hanteo chart on the first day of its global release. The album also topped the iTunes Worldwide Album Chart in 18 countries, including the UK, Australia, Germany, and Japan.

Fans got a sneak peek of the album during BTS' Permission To Dance concert at Allegiant Stadium on April 16, 2022. This came after their live performance at the 2022 Grammy Awards, when they performed Butter, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021.

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Some of BTS' remarkable achievements from 2015 to 2025

Over the past decade, BTS has amassed an impressive array of accolades and milestones that have cemented their status as global superstars. They are the first and only Korean act to get nominated at the Grammys thrice.

The K-pop group is the only Korean act to have six songs top the Billboard Hot 100. The songs are Butter, Dynamite, Life Goes On, My Universe with Coldplay, Fake Love, and Permission To Dance.

Following the announcement of their temporary break in June 2022, members began to pursue individual projects. The first member who went to the military and completed his required service was Jin, serving from December 2022 to June 2024.

After returning, he released his debut solo album Happy in November 2024. He was the last BTS member to release his solo album. Jin was the only member who was discharged on time to celebrate the band's 11th anniversary on June 13, 2024. The other six members were still in the military at the time.

BTS is also the first and only Korean group and act to have its solo members top the Billboard Hot 100 as well. Jimin debuted at No. 1 on the chart with his solo single Like Crazy. He became the first Korean and Asian solo act to top the Hot 100 in the chart's history.

Following him, Jungkook topped the chart with Seven. Jungkook is the second Korean soloist to top the Billboard Hot 100. He became the first Korean solo artist to top the chart for seven weeks in a row.

Despite their ongoing enlistment, the group still emerged as the most streamed group on Spotify as of February 2025.

Below is a chronological overview of some of the group's significant achievements from 2015 to 2025:

2015

• First Music Show Victory: BTS received their first music show victory for I Need U on SBS MTV’s The Show.
• The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1: BTS debuted with the first album of the HYYH trilogy series, also known as Youth.

2016

• Wings Album Release: The group released a full-length album, Wings. It became their first million-selling album in South Korea.
• Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA): They achieved their inaugural 'Artist of the Year' (Daesang) award.

2017

• Billboard Music Awards: The group took home the 'Top Social Artist' award, marking the first time a K-pop group has received a Billboard Music Award.
• Love Yourself: Her: This EP made its debut at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking their first entry into the top 10 of the chart.

2018

• Billboard 200 No. 1: Love Yourself: Tear made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making BTS the first Korean act to top the chart.
• United Nations Speech: They addressed the UN General Assembly on mental health and launched the 'Love Myself' campaign in partnership with UNICEF. They also became the first Korean group to give a speech at the UN.
• TIME Magazine: The group became the first Korean act to feature on the cover of TIME Magazine for the first time.

2019

• Grammy Awards Appearance: They became the first Korean group to present at the Grammy Awards.
• Map of the Soul: Persona: The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. This became their third album to top the chart consecutively.
• TIME's '100 Most Influential People of 2019': The group became the first Korean act to feature on the cover of TIME Magazine for the second time in a row.

2020

• UNICEF speech: The group gave another 'ENDviolence campaign' speech at the UN General Assembly via a video conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Dynamite: This English-language single debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking their first chart-topping single in the U.S.
• Grammy Awards: They became the first Korean/K-pop act to get nominated for a Grammy.
• TIME's Entertainer of the Year: The group was named 'Entertainer of the Year' by TIME magazine. They also featured on the cover for the third time in a row and became the only celebrities in the world to do so.

2021

• Butter and Permission to Dance: Both hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Butter even snagged a Grammy nomination.
• American Music Awards (AMAs): At the American Music Awards, BTS took home the 'Artist of the Year' award. They became the first Korean act to achieve this milestone.
• Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs): BTS kept winning the BBMAs from 2017 to 2022 consecutively. They became the only Korean artist and group act to do so.

2022

• Proof Album Release: The anthology album received widespread acclaim and achieved significant commercial success.
• Hiatus Announcement: They also announced a break to focus on solo projects and take care of their military service obligations.
• Solo Endeavors: The members started working on their solo albums. j-hope released Jack in the Box and RM dropped Indigo.
• Military Enlistment: Group member Jin enlisted on December 13, 2022.

2023

• Solo Endeavors: Jimin released FACE, SUGA dropped D-DAY, Taehyung released Layover, and Jungkook released his solo album GOLDEN.
• Take Two Single: Despite the hiatus, the group released Take Two to commemorate their 10th anniversary. It was their final group song before everyone enlisted in the military.
• Solo World Tour: SUGA went on his first solo world tour D-DAY. It became the highest-grossing show by a soloist in the US and earned over $57.2 million from 320,000 tickets.

2024

• Documentary Release: BTS Monument: Beyond the Star, an eight-part documentary, premiered on Disney+, chronicling their decade-long journey.
• RM's second innings: RM's Right Place, Wrong Place second solo album was released. He also released a documentary film by the same title in December.
• BTS' Jin and j-hope's return: Both members were officially discharged from their military service in June and October 2024, respectively.

2025

• Group Reunion: Following the completion of their military service in June 2025, BTS plans to reconvene and work on new group projects.
• Solo World Tour: j-hope went on his first solo world tour titled HOPE ON THE STAGE. He also released two solo singles, Sweet Dreams (ft. Miguel) and Mona Lisa.

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In other news, BTS' Namjoon (RM), Taehyung, SUGA, Jimin, and Jungkook will return from the military by late June 2025. HYBE hasn't confirmed yet if the group will release their comeback album in 2025. Several reports suggest that the group may go on their world tour by the end of 2025, but nothing has been set in stone.

Meanwhile, their agency announced the release of BTS 7 Moments. The project will contain in-depth moments and unseen clips of the members from their respective solo album releases.