BTS is the first all-South Korean act to top the Hot 100.
BTS achieves its first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as “Dynamite” debuts at the summit.
The seven-member South Korean act rules the Hot 100 with its first all-English-language single, after previously reaching a No. 4 high with “On” in March.
BTS, which is comprised of members J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Suga and V, is additionally the first all-South Korean group to lead the Hot 100.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Sept. 5) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 1). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“Dynamite,” released on BigHit Entertainment/Columbia Records, is the 1,109th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 62-year history.
Let’s recap the song’s explosive start.
Streams, sales & airplay: “Dynamite,” released Aug. 21 at midnight ET, roars in with 33.9 million U.S. streams and 300,000 sold in its first week, ending Aug. 27, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It also drew 11.6 million radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending Aug. 30.
“Dynamite” starts at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, where it’s BTS’ fourth leader, and No. 3 on Streaming Songs.
The official video for “Dynamite” premiered upon the song’s arrival (followed by an official “B-side” clip Aug. 24), and the track was available to purchase in the tracking week in its original form and via an EDM remix, acoustic remix and instrumental version (each sale-priced at 69 cents). Its original version was also available for purchase on 7-inch vinyl (for $7.98) and cassette ($6.98).
Biggest digital sales week in nearly 3 years: With 265,000 downloads sold (among its overall first-week total of 300,000, which includes its vinyl and cassette physical versions), “Dynamite” debuts with the biggest digital sales week since Sept. 16, 2017, when Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” launched with 353,000.
Among groups, “Dynamite” sports the biggest weekly digital sales sum since Prince and the Revolution’s 1984 classic “Purple Rain” sold 282,000 (May 14, 2016), following Prince’s April 21, 2016, passing. Among songs by groups in tracks’ debut weeks, “Dynamite” makes the best digital sales start in five years, since One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” opened with 350,000 (Aug. 22, 2015).
BTS’ first Hot 100 No. 1: BTS earns its first Hot 100 No. 1, and fourth top 10, among 12 visits to the chart. The group previously reached the top 10 with “On” (No. 4, where it debuted, this March); “Boy With Luv,” featuring Halsey (No. 8 debut/peak, April 2019); and “Fake Love” (No. 10 debut/peak, June 2018). The act first appeared on the chart dated Oct. 7, 2017, with “DNA.”
“Dynamite” is “made of positive vibes, energy, hope, love, the purity, everything,” RM recently told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “We made this song in hopes of giving energy to the listeners. We hope our fans can listen to it to receive the positive energy we tried to incorporate in the song.”
BTS boasts four career No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart and holds the records for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Social 50 chart, adding its 194th week on top this week.
First all-South Korean group to top Hot 100: BTS is the first all-South Korean group to lead the Hot 100. Among South Korean soloists, PSY reached a No. 2 Hot 100 best with “Gangnam Style” for seven weeks in October-November 2012.
The history of Asian acts atop the Hot 100 dates back over a half-century, as Japanese-born Kyu Sakamoto became the first Asian artist to top the chart, with “Sukiyaki” for three weeks in June 1963. In October-November 2010, Far*East Movement led the Hot 100, also for three weeks, with “Like a G6,” with the act’s lineup at the time including two members of Korean heritage.
BigHit’s biggest hit: BigHit Entertainment achieves its first Hot 100 No. 1, having, like BTS, hit a previous No. 4 best with the group’s “On.”
(Columbia Records most recently led three weeks ago, with Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar.”)
43rd No. 1 debut: “Dynamite” is the 43rd single to start at No. 1 on the Hot 100. It’s the eighth to debut atop the Hot 100 in 2020 (all since April), doubling the previous record for the most in a single year, as four songs each entered at No. 1 in both 2018 and 1995.
BTS’ pop radio best: While “Dynamite” so far falls shy of the all-format Radio Songs chart (where it would mark BTS’ first entry), it brings the group its best rank on the mainstream top 40-based Pop Songs radio airplay chart, where it bounds from No. 30 to No. 20 following its first full week of tracking. BTS previously climbed to a No. 22 Pop Songs highpoint with “Boy With Luv.”
KMVQ San Francisco led all Pop Songs reporting stations with 53 plays for “Dynamite” in the week ending Aug. 30, followed by KJYO Oklahoma City, Okla. (49), KDDB Honolulu (47) and KAMP Los Angeles and WJFX Ft. Wayne, Ind. (46 each).
BTS Cruz-es to No. 1: Meanwhile, BTS charts the first Hot 100 No. 1 with the word “dynamite” in its title, one-upping Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite,” which reached No. 2 just over 10 years ago (Aug. 21, 2010).
Three other TNT-packed titles have infused the Hot 100: Jermaine Jackson’s “Dynamite” (No. 15 peak, 1984); Sir Douglas Quintet’s “Dynamite Woman” (No. 83, 1969); and Lorde’s “Homemade Dynamite,” featuring Khalid, Post Malone and SZA (No. 92, 2017; the song peaked on the chart dated that Oct. 7, coincidentally, as noted above, BTS’ first week ever on the Hot 100).
Cardi B’s “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, dips to No. 2 on the Hot 100 after spending its first two weeks on the chart at No. 1. The song rebounds from No. 2 for a second week atop Streaming Songs (65 million, down 10%); drops to No. 2 after two weeks atop Digital Song Sales (25,000, down 30%); and pushes 48-46 on Radio Songs (18.7 million, up 13%).
“WAP” logs a third week at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which employ the same multi-metric methodology as the Hot 100.
Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later,” featuring Lil Durk, slips to No. 3 on the Hot 100 after debuting at No. 2 a week earlier. It backtracks to No. 2 after a week atop Streaming Songs (43.6 million, down 38%) and slides 4-7 on Digital Song Sales (7,000, down 64%), while jumping 47-31 on Radio Songs (24.6 million, up 44%).
DaBaby’s seven-week Hot 100 leader “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, descends 3-4.
The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” backpedals 4-5 on the Hot 100, as it spends a record-extending 21st week at No. 1 on Radio Songs (80.2 million, up 2%). It tops the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a record-furthering 24th week.
Jack Harlow’s “Whats Poppin,” featuring DaBaby, Tory Lanez and Lil Wayne, retreats 5-6 on the Hot 100, after rising to No. 2; Styles’ former one-week leader “Watermelon Sugar” holds at No. 7; and SAINt JHN’s “Roses” repeats at No. 8 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 4, as it rules the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for an 18th week.
Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” keeps at No. 9 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 7, and reaches the Radio Songs top 10 (13-10; 46.5 million, up 18%). Jawsh 685 posts his first Radio Songs top 10, while Derulo scores his seventh and first since “Want to Want Me” in 2015.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go” returns to its highest rank (12-10), first reached two weeks earlier.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Sept. 5), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 1).