The group BTS, which has returned as a full lineup, is once again sweeping the U.S. Billboard charts. After recording a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, they have also entered the top five on the Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks.
According to a chart preview article posted on April 14 on the official website of U.S. music media outlet Billboard, BTS's new song "SWIM" rose to No. 5 on the main song chart the Hot 100 (April 18 issue). Since rising to the top on the April 4 chart, the song has remained in the top five for three weeks, continuing its long-running success in the global music market.
"SWIM" has held the No. 1 spot for three consecutive weeks on the Global 200, Global (excluding U.S.) and Digital Song Sales charts. According to U.S. entertainment industry data company Luminate, "SWIM" topped the Global 200 (tracking period: April 3–April 9) with 83.3 million streams and 44,000 downloads. The album tracks also shone. "Body to Body" ranked No. 7 on the Global 200. On Global (excluding U.S.), led by No. 1 "SWIM," four songs made the top 10: "Body to Body" (No. 4), "2.0" (No. 5) and "Hooligan" (No. 7), proving broad popularity across the album.
"Arirang" has held the No. 1 spot for three consecutive weeks on the main album chart the Billboard 200, becoming the first Korean singer and setting the record for the longest continuous run at the top. It is the first time a group album has topped that chart for three consecutive weeks since 2012. Earlier, "Arirang" reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (April 4 issue) with a group album record of 641,000 album units since Billboard introduced unit accounting in December 2014. First-week pure album sales (physical and digital purchases) were the highest among group albums released in the past decade. SEA units (streaming equivalent albums) set a new weekly streaming record among BTS's releases.
BTS held the top spot for three weeks on Spotify's latest weekly charts (tracking period: April 3–April 9), the weekly top albums and weekly top songs. In particular, "SWIM" solidified its presence as a global hit by holding No. 1 for 24 consecutive days on the daily top songs global chart (March 20–April 12).
The influence of "Arirang" is spreading around the world beyond the United States to Asia, Europe and Oceania. In Japan's Oricon, it ranked No. 2 on both the weekly digital album ranking and the weekly combined album ranking (April 13 issue/tracking period: March 30–April 5), and No. 3 on the weekly album ranking. Momentum in Europe is also strong. "SWIM" reclaimed No. 1 on Germany's official music chart the Offizielle Deutsche Charts' top 100 albums (April 10 issue), and "Arirang" ranked No. 5 on the U.K. Official Charts' Official Albums Top 100 (April 10–April 16 issue), marking a third week in the upper ranks. It also reached No. 2 on France's national record association SNEP's top albums (tracking period: April 3–April 9) and No. 2 on Australia's ARIA top 50 albums (April 13 issue), continuing the global music market frenzy.
BTS opened the curtain on BTS world tour "ARIRANG" at the main stadium of Goyang Sports Complex on April 9 and April 11–12, and will continue performances across Japan on April 17–18, then in North America, Europe, South America and Asia. On June 12–13, they will return to Busan Asiad Main Stadium for the first time in three years and eight months.
[Photo] Provided by BigHit Music (HYBE).
[OSEN]