BTS become first international and Korean group to debut at top of Billboard Hot 100 chart

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BTS have become the first international and Korean band to debut at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The group were announced as this week’s chart-toppers earlier today (August 31), with their latest single ‘Dynamite’ claiming the top spot.

• Read more: BTS’ new song ’Dynamite’ is the perfect disco pick-me-up to bust the 2020 blues

The feat marks BTS’ first Number One on the Hot 100, beating their previous best of Number Four with February 2020’s ‘On’. ‘Dynamite’ sold 265,000 downloads within its first week of release, adding an extra 35,000 in vinyl and cassette versions. The track also scored 33.9 million US streams last week.

The song also scored 33.9 million US streams last week. It has also now exceeded 500,000 sales and streams since August 21, making it eligible for gold certification.

It had the biggest digital sales week in three years, since Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ sold 353,000 downloads on its release. It is the best first-week digital sales for a group in five years, following One Direction’s 350,000 for ‘Drag Me Down’ in 2015.

BTS are also the first artist not from the US, UK or Canada to achieve a Number One on the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and the Artist 100. Other artists to have achieved that feat include Paul McCartney, Adele, Drake and Justin Bieber.

‘Dynamite’ is only the 43rd song to debut at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 and the eighth to do so this year. The single also gave BTS their highest-charting entry on the Official UK Singles Chart last week (August 28), entering at Number Three.

Last night (August 30), the group made their debut appearance at the MTV VMAs, where they performed ‘Dynamite’ live for the first time. They also took home all four awards that they were nominated for – Best Group, Best Pop, Best K-pop and Best Choreography for ‘On’.

Speaking to NME last week, BTS said of ‘Dynamite’: “We came across the song while working on our new album. When we first heard the demo, the upbeat sound and energy of the track instantly cheered us up. We wanted  ‘Dynamite’ to deliver a message of hope to our fans in these difficult times, so this disco-pop genre track felt like the perfect fit.”

Meanwhile, earlier today (August 30), BTS shared a new song called ‘IONIQ: I’m On It’. The track is part of the band’s ongoing collaboration with Korean car company Hyundai.

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