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BTS Soars to Billboard 200 #1 with ‘ARIRANG’: What This Means for Their Global Dominance

LifestyleBTS Soars to Billboard 200 #1 with 'ARIRANG': What This Means for Their Global Dominance
Courtesy of BTS
Courtesy of BTS

BTS has topped the Billboard 200 with their fifth studio album, ARIRANG, marking the group’s seventh No. 1 on the chart.

Billboard announced that ARIRANG debuted at No. 1 on the chart. The album generated 641,000 equivalent album units during its tracking week — the highest unit count by a group since Billboard adopted its current album consumption model in December 2014. Pure album sales accounted for 532,000 units, streaming equivalent albums contributed 95,000 units, and track equivalent albums made up the remainder.

LP sales reached 208,000 out of 516,000 physical copies sold, the highest weekly LP sales for any group since Nielsen began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. The figure ranks sixth all-time, trailing only Taylor Swift.

ARIRANG was released March 21. The milestone brings BTS’s total Billboard 200 No. 1 albums to seven, following LOVE YOURSELF 轉 ‘Tear’ in 2018, LOVE YOURSELF 結 ‘Answer’, MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA, MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, BE, and Proof.

The group is also targeting the Billboard Hot 100 with their title track, SWIM, raising the possibility of a rare simultaneous No. 1 on both the album and singles charts.

BTS also claimed the top spot on the UK Official Albums Chart on March 28, their first No. 1 on that chart since MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 in 2020.

The group is set to launch their ARIRANG world tour in April, with an 82-show run across approximately 23 countries. Additional tour dates may be announced.

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