New BTS album racks up millions of listens within hours

BTS poses for a photo session during a press conference in Seoul on Nov 20, 2020. Photo: AFP

Tens of millions of fans around the world raced to listen to the latest offering from BTS on Friday (Nov 20), as the K-pop sensation dropped their highly anticipated new album to a deluge of excitement.

Three hours after "BE" was made available on a simultaneous worldwide release, the video for first track "Life Goes On" - a song offering a message of hope in the face of the coronavirus pandemic - had been viewed almost 20 million times on YouTube.