BTS holds Billboard No.1

BTS has spent three straight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with *ARIRANG*, extending the group’s biggest U.S. album run to date. (billboard.com) Billboard first sent *ARIRANG* to No. 1 on the chart dated April 4, 2026, with 641,000 equivalent album units in the United States. Of that total, 532,000 came from pure album sales, which Billboard said was the biggest sales week for an album by a group in more than a decade. (billboard.com) The album held the top spot again on the April 11 chart with 187,000 equivalent album units. Billboard said that second week gave BTS the longest No. 1 run of any of the group’s seven Billboard 200 leaders. (billboard.com) By April 13, Billboard’s BTS artist page listed *ARIRANG* as a third straight week at No. 1. Billboard’s chart coverage also shows BTS now has seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. (billboard.com) The Billboard 200 is the magazine’s weekly ranking of the most popular albums in the United States. Billboard says the chart combines album sales, song sales converted into album units, and on-demand streams measured by Luminate. (billboard.com) For BTS, the three-week run builds on a chart history that started with *Love Yourself: Tear* in 2018, which Billboard identifies as the first K-pop album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Since then, the group has added *Love Yourself: Answer*, *Map of the Soul: Persona*, *Map of the Soul: 7*, *BE*, *Proof*, and now *ARIRANG* to its list of chart-toppers. (billboard.com; billboard.com) The comeback has not been limited to albums. Billboard reported that the lead single “Swim” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated April 4 and then spent a third week at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. (billboard.com; billboard.com) Rolling Stone published a new BTS interview on April 13 that framed *ARIRANG* as the group’s first studio album of new material since 2020 and described the band as returning to its roots after military service and time apart. In that interview, J-Hope’s comments about the group’s early hip-hop identity and broader vocal-pop evolution echoed the balance fans were circulating in social clips. (rollingstone.com; rollingstone.co.uk) The chart streak also lands as BTS prepares a larger comeback cycle beyond one release. Rolling Stone reported last month that the group’s 2026 return includes a world tour and additional specials tied to *ARIRANG*. (rollingstone.com) Three weeks at No. 1 does not just extend BTS’s own record on the Billboard 200. It cements *ARIRANG* as the group’s strongest U.S. album run yet, after a debut that was already the biggest by a group in the current chart era. (billboard.com; billboard.com)