BTS members have proved that they can make their mark in the music industry as solo artists.
With Jin’s debut solo album ‘Happy’ reaching rank 4 on the Billboard 200 charts, he officially joins the top 10 club, already occupied by his other bandmates, Jung Kook, RM, Suga, J-Hope, V, and Jimin, per Billboard.
BTS has a pristine charter of hit tracks that it has released since the inception of the band in 2013 and has only managed to expand its influence globally over the years, garnering its loyal ARMY. With record-shattering hits like FAKE LOVE and Dynamite, BTS members have proved their musical worth and have established their identity as the best K-pop band.
However, the solo careers of all seven members have crossed the expectations of their fans as one by one they dethroned well-known Hollywood artists to take their place amongst the Top 10 in the Billboard 200 charts.
The sequence began with RM ranking No.3 for his solo album, Indigo back in December 2022, then again on June 8, as No. 5 for his album ‘Right Place, Wrong Person.’
He was followed by Jimin, who ranked No.2 in April of 2023 for his album FACE, and then again No. 2 on August 3 for his album MUSE.
Suga’s chart-topping moment was inaugurated with the release of his debut solo album D-Day, which ranked No.2 on May 6, 2023.
J-Hope tailed Suga, with his album release titled ‘Jack In The Box,’ which ranked at No. 6 on September 2, 2023, followed by ‘HOPE ON THE STREET VOL. 1′ at rank 5 on April 13, 2024. In a recent livestream after being relieved of his obligatory military duties, the K-pop idol teased that he might do a solo live concert tour for his music albums and that he had several surprise projects lined up for next year.
V’s solo debut on Billboard Top 10 came with his album ‘Layover’ ranked 2 on September 23, 2023. He is currently preparing for the release of two Christmas collaborations for this year, the first one being the classic ‘White Christmas’ with Bing Crosby and the second, ‘Winter Ahead’ with legend Park Hyo Shin.
Following V’s achievement is Jung Kook, who debuted on the charts at rank no. 2 for his album GOLDEN on November 18, 2023. Jin’s debut of his debut album ‘Happy’ completes this list.
The Billboard 200 ranking follows the outlet choosing the most popular albums of the week in the US “based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate.”
According to the outlet, “Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.”
This week’s (till November 30) top albums will be displayed on the Billboard 200 charts in full on Billboard’s website on Tuesday, November 26.