Bigger than The Beatles? BTS celebrates 3 Billboard No 1 albums in a year

Internationally renowned K-pop boy band BTS is celebrating its third No 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart after the release of “Map of the Soul: Persona” – a feat previously achieved by the British group, The Beatles, and the American group, The Monkees.

The seven-track album, which was released on April 12, will debut at the top of the Billboard 200 chart on April 27, the music magazine said on Sunday.

Billboard had predicted the album was “bound for No 1” after sales hit 230,000 in its first week in the United States, comprising traditional album sales, track equivalent albums and streaming equivalent albums, Billboard said, citing data from Nielsen Music.

It was the boy band’s “career-best week”, Billboard said.

BTS’ new release has also topped the album chart in the United Kingdom.

“Persona”, the opening release of BTS’ album series, “Map of the Soul”, is the band’s third Billboard No 1 in nearly 11 months. The band claimed its first No 1 with “Love Yourself: Tear” last June before the following album, “Love Yourself: Answer”, topped the chart in September.

The achievement makes BTS the “first group since The Beatles to earn three No 1s in less than a year”, Billboard said.

“Before BTS, the last traditional group [excluding the Glee television series ensemble of various cast members] to log three [chart-topping albums] within such a quick span was The Beatles in 1995-96, when the band's archival releases “Anthology 1”, “Anthology 2” and “Anthology 3” all debuted at No 1 in a stretch of 11 months and a week,” it said.