BTS’ new album ARIRANG has put K-pop back in a familiar spot — No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. ARIRANG, which holds at No. 1 on the chart dated April 11, is the 23rd album or EP by a K-pop act to reach No. 1 on Billboard‘s flagship albums chart in less than eight years. The first was BTS’ Love Yourself: Tear in June 2018.
ARIRANG is the first K-pop album or EP to spend two consecutive weeks at No. 1. The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack also had two weeks on top, but those weeks weren’t consecutive.
Stray Kids has amassed eight No. 1 titles on the Billboard 200, which puts them out front among K-pop acts. BTS is a close second, with seven No. 1 titles. ATEEZ is next in line with two No. 1s on the Billboard 200. SuperM, BLACKPINK, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, NewJeans and TWICE have all notched one No. 1 to date.
BLACKPINK was the first female K-pop act to land a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. They scored with Born Pink in 2022.
K-pop groups tend to be large ensembles. TWICE has nine members, one more than Stray Kids and ATEEZ. BTS and SuperM each have seven members. TOMORROW X TOGETHER and NewJeans each have five members. BLACKPINK has four members. To date, no K-pop solo artists, duos or trios have topped the Billboard 200.
There have been multiple No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 by K-pop acts in every year since 2018 except for 2021, when there were none. The peak year (to date) for most No. 1 K-pop albums on the Billboard 200 was 2023, when there were five. Here’s a list of all K-pop albums to top the Billboard 200. They are listed in chronological order.
