BTS’ “ARIRANG” Becomes First K-Pop Album to Top Billboard 200 for Two Consecutive Weeks

BTS’s fifth studio album, “ARIRANG,” achieved the first-ever feat in K-Pop history by remaining at number one on the U.S. Billboard main album chart, the Billboard 200, for two consecutive weeks.

Released three years and nine months after their 2022 album “Proof,” “ARIRANG” set a record for the highest album sales volume by any group in their debut week, with 641,000 units sold. This figure represents the highest total since Billboard 200 began tracking album unit sales in December 2014 and is the highest record among all artists so far in 2026. In the second week, sales dropped by 71% to 187,000 units, but the album still held the number one position. Physical album sales alone reached 114,000 units, securing the album the top spot in “Top Album Sales” for a second straight week. SEA, or streaming-equivalent sales, totaled 65,000 units, while TEA, or digital download-equivalent sales, amounted to 8,000 units.

The title track, “SWIM,” previously topped Billboard’s main single chart, the Hot 100, last week, and is expected to remain within the “Top 10” on this week’s chart as well. The album consists of a total of 14 tracks, including “SWIM,” which reflects BTS’s current identity and the essence of the group.

Meanwhile, BTS’s Jin continues to receive overwhelming support from South Korea’s fan voting service, “IdolPick.” According to the results of the fifth weekly vote for March, released on the 6th, Jin secured the first place in all categories with 67,642 votes, establishing an unmatched record of 46 consecutive weeks at number one in the male idol category. In March’s overall cumulative voting, Jin also ranked first in the male idol category with 271,195 votes, earning him the title of Best Artist of March. Jin has been actively performing on global stages alongside BTS’s full-group comeback album activities, and his solo album “Echo” has surpassed 1.2 billion cumulative streams on Spotify.

Furthermore, “ARIRANG” won the ALBUM OF THE YEAR award at the “KMA 2026” (KM Chart Awards), held on the 25th at the Hwajeong Gymnasium of Korea University in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. BTS was also recognized in the ULTIMATE 12 category at the same awards show, reaffirming their prominent status in South Korea’s music industry.