Grammy-nominated BTS’ “BE (Deluxe Edition)” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200, their second album this year to achieve the feat and fifth overall.
According to Billboard, “BE,” released on Nov. 20, has garnered 242,000 equivalent album units earned in the US in the week ending Nov. 26 based on Nielsen Music/MRC Data to debut on top of Billboard 200 for the Dec. 5 chart.
Of the 242,000 units, 177,000 are album sales, 35,000 are track equivalent albums (TEA) units and 30,000 are streaming equivalent albums (SEA) units, or 48.56 million on-demand streams for the songs in the album.
The K-pop superstars’ last album “Map of the Soul: 7,” which came out on Feb. 21, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 on the March 5 chart with 422,000 equivalent album units composed of 347,000 copies in album sales, 26,000 TEA units and 48,000 SEA units, or 74.79 million on-demand streams.
“BE” is BTS’ fifth album overall to place No. 1 on Billboard 200 after “Map of the Soul: 7,” “Map of the Soul: Persona,” “Love Yourself: Answer” and “Love Yourself: Tear.”
“Dynamite,” a track in the album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last September. The song has been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Grammy Awards that will be held on Jan. 31 next year.
With “BE,” according to Billboard, BTS have become the first group to achieve two No. 1s on Billboard 200 this year.
BTS accomplished five No. 1 albums on Billboard 200 in two years and six months and “the last group to tally five No. 1s faster than BTS was The Beatles, who strung together five No. 1s in just under two years and five months with Yesterday and Today (July 30, 1966) and its self-titled album (often referred to as the White Album, Dec. 28, 1968),” according to Billboard.
“BE” sold 2.27 million copies in the first week of release from Nov. 20 to 26 including 1.95 million copies sold on the first day, according to South Korea’s Hanteo Chart.