BTS first K-pop band to top Billboard album charts

South Korean boy band BTS. (Photo by K-Pop Herald)

NEW YORK — K-pop has finally hit the top.

The South Korean boy band BTS is now the first K-pop group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard top 200. “Love Yourself: Tear” sold 135,000 units for the week ending May 24, as tallied by Nielsen Music. According to Billboard, “Love Yourself: Tear” is also the first primarily foreign language album to top the charts since Il Divo’s “Ancora” in 2006.

The seven-member group, also known as the Bangtan Boys, has a devoted core of fans known as “the army” and its appeal has been likened to Beatlemania in the 1960s. BTS is at the heart of a global trend known as “Hallyu,” or “Korean Wave.” Their albums include “Dark & Wild” and “2 Kool 4 Skool.”