K-pop band BTS become first Korean act to top UK charts
Rapper Lil Nas X has topped the singles chart with his breakout country song Old Town Road.
BTS are the first Korean act to ever score a number one album in the UK.
The K-pop band have debuted at the top of the charts with their new EP Map Of The Soul: Persona, which shifted 26,500 copies in combined sales, 68% of which were physical sales, the Official Charts Company said.
The EP is the seven-piece boy band’s fourth collection to chart in the UK top 40, following their three-part Love Yourself series of records.
BTS, comprised of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook, have enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame since forming in 2013.
Last year, they became the first K-pop group to enter the top 40 of the UK singles chart after their song Idol landed at number 21.
Last week’s chart-topper Billie Eilish is down to number two this week with her album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and the soundtrack for The Greatest Showman is at number three.
The new album from the Chemical Brothers, No Geography, has entered the chart at number four, and Tom Walker’s What A Time To Be Alive rounds off the top five.
Rock and roll veteran Marty Wilde has landed his first top 10 album with his new retrospective Dreamboats & Petticoats Presents: The Very Best Of Marty Wilde, which has debuted at number seven.
Irish post-punk group Fontaines DC have entered the chart at number nine with Dogrel, and Spice Girls star Emma Bunton’s new solo record My Happy Place is new in at number 11.
The 102nd edition of Now That’s What I Call Music! has entered the compilation albums chart at number one with 80,500 sales.
It is now the UK’s fastest-selling album of 2019 so far, having surpassed Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next, which sold 65,000 units in its opening week in February, according to the Official Charts Company.
Over on the singles chart, viral rapper Lil Nas X has claimed the number one spot as his breakout single Old Town Road achieved 9.9 million streams over the past week.
The country-inspired rap song’s overall combined sales are 80,000, and its success has ended Lewis Capaldi’s seven-week run at number one.
The track by the Atlanta-born rapper became an internet sensation thanks to the Yeehaw Challenge, in which people filmed themselves transforming into cowboys, and there has also been a remix featuring country star Billy Ray Cyrus.
Lil Nas X told OfficialCharts.com: “I cannot believe how amazing my song is doing on the UK charts.
“I’m so thankful to everyone who has got behind Old Town Road. I’m still blown away by all the support for the track – thank you for listening!”
Capaldi’s previous chart-topper Someone You Loved is down to number two this week.
Bad Guy by Eilish is at number three, Piece Of Your Heart by Meduza featuring Goodboys is at number four, and Walker’s Just You And I is in fifth place.
