BTS's fifth studio album "ARIRANG" has topped the main U.S. Billboard album chart for three consecutive weeks, marking a first in K-pop history.
Billboard announced on the 12th (local time) that "ARIRANG" claimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for the third straight week, surpassing Morgan Wallen's "I'm The Problem" (No. 2) and Kanye West (Ye)'s "BULLY" (No. 3). This marks the first time a K-pop artist's album has held the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 for three weeks. The Netflix animated film "K-pop Demon Hunters" original soundtrack album previously reached No. 1 for two non-consecutive weeks on the chart. BTS has become the first group in 13 years to top the Billboard 200 for three weeks.
The Billboard 200 ranks albums based on album units, which combine physical and digital album sales, streaming equivalent albums (SEA) that convert streaming numbers into album sales, and track equivalent albums (TEA) that convert digital song downloads into album sales.
"The last album by a group to spend three or more weeks at No. 1 (before 'ARIRANG') was Mumford & Sons' 'Babel,' which logged five non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2012-2013," Billboard noted. "'ARIRANG' is also the first album to spend its first three weeks at No. 1 since Taylor Swift's 'The Life of a Showgirl' last year."
At a concert held at Goyang Stadium on the 11th, leader RM said, "We released a song called '2.0' and have shown you many changes. This is a decision we made to continue doing this work together for a long time. Please trust us a little more, and generously watch over and enjoy our changes."
