K-pop girl group Twice has been honoured as this year's breakthrough artiste by Billboard Women In Music, becoming the first Korean artistee to win at the awards.
Billboard on Monday, US time, announced on its website that Twice has been named the winner in the Breakthrough artistee category at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music awards. This marks the first time in history that a Korean artiste earned a trophy at the US music event.
Billboard Women in Music is an annual event held since 2007 by Billboard to recognise rising artistes, creators, producers and executives for their contributions to the music industry and community. Numerous high-profile female stars, including Beyonce, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, have been crowned the event's most-coveted Woman of the Year award.
The Breakthrough Artiste award was first established in 2014 and has been awarded to female musicians including Idina Menzel, Tori Kelly, Maren Morris and Camila Cabello.
Other category winners named alongside Twice include Becky G for the Impact Award, Doechii for Rising Star, Ivy Queen for Icon, Kim Petras for Chartbreaker, Lainey Wilson for Rulebreaker, Lana Del Rey for Visionary. The winner of the main prize, Woman of the Year, is yet to be announced.
The award ceremony for the 2023 edition of Billboard Women in Music is slated to take place on March 1 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
Twice's landmark feat follows the band's release of its second US single Moonlight Sunrise on Jan. 20. A pre-release from its upcoming 12th EP, the single brought Twice to new heights in its career, debuting at No. 39 on Spotify's Top Songs US chart with around 560,000 streams tallied on its first day. Globally, it recorded 1.96 million streams and ranked No. 60 on the US music platform's global top songs chart. The album also topped the iTunes song chart in 22 countries.
Meanwhile, Twice is set to make an official return in March with its 12th EP. – By Choi Ji-won/The Korea Herald/Asia News Network