BTS’s “Arirang” Sweeps Billboard’s Two Major Charts Simultaneously

BTS Ends a 3-Year-9-Month Break—Title Track “SWIM” Jumps Straight to No. 1 on the Hot 100, While 13 Songs Enter the Chart at Once

Global supergroup BTS (Bangtan Boys) made a brand-new chapter in K-pop history by simultaneously topping both of the U.S. Billboard’s two major charts with their new fifth full-length album, “ARIRANG”. Out of 14 tracks, the group delivered an overwhelming performance by getting 13 songs into Billboard’s main single chart, Billboard Hot 100, at the same time.

According to Billboard’s announcement on the 31st (local time), the title track “SWIM” jumped straight to No. 1 on the “Hot 100” immediately upon debut. This marks BTS’s seventh career Hot 100 No. 1 single. It’s also a record in Billboard’s group history—their fifth time achieving this, following The Beatles, The Supremes, the Bee Gees, and the Rolling Stones.

This week’s “Hot 100” chart features a total of 13 songs, including the No. 1 hit “SWIM,” as well as “Body to Body” (No. 25) and “Hooligan” (No. 35). BTS’s cumulative number of songs to enter the Hot 100 has now reached 40 in total, as the group once again set a new personal record for the most entries by a K-pop artist.

In particular, the interlude track “Number Twenty-Nine (No. 29)”, which sampled the ringing of the Emille Bell of Seongdeok Great Bell (National Treasure No. 29), unfortunately missed out on chart eligibility despite strong sales due to short-song eligibility rules related to running time.

On the main album chart, “Billboard 200”, “ARIRANG” also climbed to No. 1. Simultaneously conquering both charts is the biggest win in six years since the album “BE” in 2020. Released after a hiatus of about 3 years and 9 months, the album recorded 641,000 album-equivalent units, achieving a stunning result: the group’s highest weekly album sales in roughly the past 10 years.

Their dominance on the global charts is just as unmatched. On the “Billboard Global 200” chart, they held Nos. 1 through 9 and set Taylor Swift and others’ records for the most time spent at the top across that kind of sweep. Furthermore, on the “Global” chart excluding the United States, they wrote an unprecedented record by sweeping every position from No. 1 to No. 10 for the first time in history, proving their global standing once again.