KATSEYE Shouts Out BTS for ‘Inspiring Us’ in New Artist of the Year Acceptance Speech at 2026 AMAs

Icons recognize icons! At the American Music Awards Monday (May 25), KATSEYE took home the award for new artist of the year, beating out a star-studded lineup of nominees that included Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, Alex Warren, Ella Langley and sombr. Naturally, the global group shouted out a fellow world-conquering pop group for paving the way for their award-winning moment.

“We want to give a special shout-out to BTS tonight for inspiring us to represent our culture at a global scale,” said group member Sophia Laforteza after thanking key behind-the-scenes players such as HYBE’s Chairman Bang and Geffen Records CEO John Janick. Each of the five young ladies — Manon Bannerman, who is on hiatus, was not with the group at the ceremony — delivered a bite-sized acceptance speech, with Lara Raj later noting, “We’ve always been on a mission to celebrate diversity and represent our people and our cultures.”

Earlier in the night, the group performed its latest single, “Pinky Up,” which reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The high-octane hit, which comes with infectious complementary choreography, previews the group’s forthcoming WILD EP, which is currently slated for an Aug. 14 release. In addition to new artist of the year, KATSEYE picked up nominations for best music video (“Gnarly”) and breakthrough pop artist. They are now the first girl group to win new artist of the year at the American Music Awards since the category was introduced in 2004.

KATSEYE will support its new project with The Wildworld Tour, which will take the group to arenas across Europe and North America. The 31-date trek will kick off on Sept. 1 at Dublin’s 3Arena and conclude on Nov. 28 with the second of two shows at Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes.

In the meantime, fans can catch KATSEYE at Governors Ball in New York City (June 5), Hinterland Music Festival in Saint Charles, Iowa (July 30), and Head in the Clouds in Pasadena, Calif. (Aug. 8).

BTS, of course, opened this year’s American Music Awards with a fiery performance of “Hooligan,” before showing up midway through the ceremony to present SZA with the best female R&B artist award and accept the song of the summer honor for “SWIM” before taking artist of the year.

The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.