K-pop group BTS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on Monday, with its new album, Love Yourself: Tear—making BTW the first K-pop group to take the top spot on the American charts.
The album, released on May 18, accumulated 135,000 album units—which is a combination of online streams and album sales—by May 24, according to Billboard. Of all those units, 100,000 were traditional album sales.
Fans were understandably ecstatic on Twitter on Monday.
“Congratulations to the Seven Music-loving Boys and Their Wings, ‘ARMY’,” the president of the Republic of Korea tweeted. “The songs, dance, dreams and enthusiasm of BTS energized and gave strength to young people around the world.”
Congratulations to the Seven Music-loving Boys and Their Wings, ‘ARMY’!
— 문재인 (@moonriver365) May 28, 2018
The songs, dance, dreams and enthusiasm of BTS energized and gave strength to young people around the world. https://t.co/6ZL4XdrZVv
Walking around the neighborhood listening to THE NUMBER ONE ALBUM LOVE YOURSELF: TEAR! @BTS_twt YOU made history! Army YOU did THIS! Your passion and love for who BTS is and what they represent has changed music in 2018 and you’ve spread a message that our 🌎 needs. Thank you!
— Zach Sang (@zachsang) May 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/minmeraki/status/1001077871832481793
https://twitter.com/Armys__Crew/status/1001081541336977409
I’m laughing my ass off at how BTS were inactive for half a year and turned down big ass gigs to cut their bangs with kitchen shears or to play with their dogs and then BAM they just casually comeback as thr best selling foreign language artists on Billboard.
— kookadooks⁷ (@tls123_twt) May 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/lilyannilly/status/1000959432790966274
Additionally, Love Yourself: Tear is only the second K-pop album to hit the Billboard 200. The only other K-pop album to do so was BTS’ own Love Yourself: Her, which debuted and peaked at No. 7 last October.
Love Yourself: Tear is also the first primarily foreign-language No. 1 album in more than 12 years to earn the distinction, according to Billboard. The last time that happened, it was classical vocal quartet Il Divo’s Ancora album topping the chart on Feb. 11, 2006.
