BTS, IU and Aespa won the “daesang,” or grand prizes, at the Melon Music Awards 2021 (MMA) held on Dec. 4.
All songs released from Nov. 11, 2020 to Nov. 7, 2021 were eligible for this year’s awards.
BTS’ chart-topping “Butter” won Song of the Year. In a video message, BTS said, “Thanks to the love of many people, we were able to receive this great award. It was a BTS summer song prepared to be with the ARMYs, and we are really happy that 'Butter' seems to have smoothly penetrated into the hearts of many people as we wished. We want to share the glory with everyone who worked hard to make 'Butter.’ Thanks to everyone who loved 'Butter,' we also had a happy 2021. We sincerely thank ARMYs who loved BTS' music this year as well.”
In addition, BTS won four other awards: Top 10 (“Bonsang”), Best Male Group, Netizen Popularity Award and Best Collaboration for Coldplay and BTS’ "My Universe."
IU bagged two grand prizes: Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for “Lilac.” She also took home Top 10, Songwriter Award and Best Solo (Female). She said, "The album 'Lilac' was the last album in my 20s. Now that I think about it, I think I can be proud of how busy I was to make music without really taking a break from when I was 20 to 29. Next year, I will try my best to work hard in my music life with a cool 30-something image, not too different, but somewhat fresh."
Aespa won Record of the Year, Top 10, Best Female Group and New Artist of the Year. In a video message, they said, “Thanks to the many people who helped, we think the things we only dreamed of have come true. Thank you for loving us generously. We hope we can spend happy times together in the future."
Here are the winners at the Melon Music Awards (MMA) 2021:
Song of the Year (Grand Prize/Daesang) - “Butter,” BTS
Artist of the Year (Grand Prize/Daesang) - IU
Album of the Year (Grand Prize/Daesang) - “Lilac,” IU
Record of the Year (Grand Prize/Daesang) - “Savage,” Aespa
Top 10 (Main Prize/Bonsang) - BTS, IU, Aespa, Lim Young-woong, Heize, IllBOI, AKMU, Lee Mujin, Asha Island, NCT Dream
New Artist of the Year - Aespa, Lee Mujin
Best Solo (Male) - Lim Young-Woong
Best Solo (Female) - IU
Best Group (Male) - BTS
Best Group (Female) - Aespa
Best Collaboration - Coldplay and BTS, "My Universe"
Best OST - Lee Mujin, “Rain and You” for “Hospital Playlist 2”
Best Music Style - Homies
Best Pop Artist - Justin Bieber
Hot Trend Award - Brave Girls
Netizen Popularity Award - BTS
Project Music Award - MSG Wannabe (M.O.M)
Music Video of the Year - Tomorrow X Together
1theK Original Content Award - STAYC
Global Rising Artist Award - ENHYPEN
Performance Award - The Boyz
Songwriter Award - IU
Performance Director Award -Son Sung-deuk
Session Award - Kim Dong-min (guitar), Go Tae-yeong (bass), Gureum (keyboard)