“Twenty-four hours isn’t much,” raps Suga in BTS’ “Idol” — but it’s more than enough time for the popular Korean septet to break their latest record. Billboard can confirm that South Korean boy band BTS‘ official music video for the festive single ”Idol’ now holds the record for the biggest music video debut in YouTube history.
According to a YouTube spokesperson, the video earned more than 45 million views in its first 24 hours, surpassing the debut of Taylor Swift’s music video for “Look What You Made Me Do,” which had 43.2 million views in 24 hours upon its release last year. “Idol” was made public on the video-streaming site Friday morning and has recorded more than 85 million views as of press time Monday (Aug. 27).
“Idol” exceeded BTS’ previous 24-hour debut record on YouTube: In May, “Fake Love” saw the biggest 24-hour YouTube debut of 2018 by amassing 35.9 million views in a single day.
Over the weekend, the view count for “Idol” remained frozen for several hours in the mid-70 million range. According to YouTube, the site “may temporarily slow down, freeze, or adjust the view count, as well as discard low-quality playbacks” in order to validate views to “maintain fair and positive experiences for content creators, advertisers, and users.”
“Idol” fronts BTS’ Love Yourself: Answer album, also released on Friday, and is a propulsive track built on the fusion of cultures, drawing on the likes of trap, South African-originating gqom, and South Korean samulnori. The digital album features an alternate version of the single featuring Nicki Minaj.
Love Yourself: Answer was released ahead of the kick-off of BTS’ Love Yourself tour in Seoul on Aug. 25. The act heads to North America next month for more than a dozen sold-out shows in the U.S. and Canada, beginning at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on Sept. 5 and concluding on Oct. 6 at New York City’s Citi Field, the first-ever stadium show held Stateside by a Korean artist.
Update: On Oct. 1, YouTube confirmed “Idol” achieved 45.9 million views in its first 24 hours.