At MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN (MAJ), the sole Western guest, English singer-songwriter Sam Smith, said they liked BABYMETAL - a group that weren't nominated in any category - with the MC quickly changing the subject to Hikaru Utada. Later that day, BABYMETAL performed at Download Festival in the UK, with the group's producer, KOBAMETAL, posting a vid on his Instagram Story showing the massive crowd, saying "Sam, sorry we couldn't be there. We were in the UK.", tagging Sam Smith and MAJ.