K-pop stars BTS have the most No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this decade
SEOUL – K-pop sensation BTS have chalked up the most No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 this decade, with a total of six songs topping the US singles chart, according to Billboard.
On Tuesday, the American music magazine shared a new ranking on its social media account that featured the list of global acts that have earned the most No. 1 records on the competitive chart over a decade.
It is also the first decade-data released by Billboard this year that included the boy band’s My Universe, which was released in September 2021.
Some of the other big names on the list are Canadian singer-rapper Drake, who has five songs on the chart. American singer-songwriters Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift have four songs each, while Canadian singer Justin Bieber and American rapper Nicki Minaj have three songs each on the list.
BTS earned their first Billboard Hot 100 hit with DNA, a track released in 2017. In 2020, three more tracks followed – Dynamite, Savage Love and Life Goes On.
Dynamite, the septet’s first English-only track, became the first song by a South Korean act to debut at the top of the Hot 100. It also broke new records by topping Billboard’s Global and Digital Song Sales charts.
BTS then gave their take on American singer Jason Derulo’s dance-ready Savage Love, a song produced by Jawsh 685.
Members Suga and J-Hope, the band’s rap tandem, added their self-written lyrics to the music, and the remix version landed at No. 1 and spent over half a year on the Hot 100.
The joyful pandemic anthem Life Goes On, co-written by RM, Suga and J-Hope and featured on the group’s Be album, also became the chart’s first No. 1 sung mainly in Korean.
BTS continued their success in the United States in 2021, with three more chart-toppers – Butter, Permission To Dance and My Universe.
The addictive summer song Butter became the 40th song in the chart’s history to spend 10 weeks or more atop the Hot 100. Its music video also made the biggest YouTube debut of all time.
Permission To Dance, co-written by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, spent seven weeks on the chart.
My Universe, a collaboration track between BTS and Coldplay, debuted atop the Hot 100, marking BTS’ sixth and the British rock band’s second No. 1 on the list.
Apart from the Hot 100, BTS are also the first K-pop act to have entered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 1. Love Yourself: Tear (2018) was also the first foreign-language album in more than 12 years to achieve the feat.
Billboard charts, which are based on streaming, radio airplay and digital sales, are the apex of music for musicians. The Billboard Hot 100 shows the week’s most popular songs in the US across all genres.
Several components contribute to the chart’s calculations, including the sales data compiled by Nielsen Soundscan and streaming activities provided by online music platforms.
Meanwhile, K-pop girl groups Le Sserafim and (G)I-dle have each entered the Billboard 200 album chart for the first time.
According to the latest figures released by the operator on Tuesday, Le Sserafim’s second EP Antifragile, released on Oct 17, ranked No. 14.
The band’s agency Source Music said in a press release that the five-piece act, which debuted in May, has become the fastest K-pop female act to win a place on the influential music chart.
(G)I-dle also recorded their first Billboard 200 entry with their fifth EP I Love, released on Oct 17. The quintet’s album landed at No. 71. - THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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