2020 was a year of hot releases from K-pop's biggest musical acts. While many were successful, only a handful of artists were able to break over 1 million in physical albums.
Here are 10 K-pop acts that were able to sell over 1 million physical albums in 2020, according to Gaon Chart.
10. Stray Kids
9. Kim Ho Joong
Kim Ho Joong was able to sell 1,036,296 physical albums in 2020. Kim Ho Joong debuted back in 2013 but gained fame in 2020 following his appearance on TV Chosun's reality show "Mr. Trot." Following his rise in fame, Kim Ho Joong released two studio albums in 2020 - "We Are Family" and "The Classic Album."
8. EXO Baekhyun
Baekhyun was able to sell 1,040,564 physical albums in 2020. Baekhyun's most successful release was in 2020 with his second mini-album "Delight," which garnered over one million copies in sales. Baekyun is the first solo artist in South Korea to sell over a million copies of his album in 19 years.
7. TWICE
TWICE was able to sell 1,244,713 physical albums in 2020. TWICE had two major Korean releases in 2020 - their mini-album "More & More" in June and their second studio album "Eyes Wide Open" in October. "More & More" saw huge success, selling over 500,000 copies in a month.
6. IZ*ONE
IZ*ONE was able to sell 1,506,673 physical albums in 2020. The Korean-Japanese girl group had three major releases in 2020. In Feb., they released their first studio album, "Bloom*Iz," which broke the record for the highest first-week sales on Hanteo for an album by a girl group at the time. Their second release, "Oneiric Diary," sold over 510,000 copies on the Gaon Album Chart. On Dec., IZ*ONE dropped "One-reeler / Act IV."
5. NCT 127
NCT 127 was able to sell 1,564,925 physical albums in 2020. In March 2020, NCT 127 release "Neo Zone." Within a month of its release, the album sold over 700,000 copies, making it their best-selling album. In May, they released "Neo Zone: The Final Round." The combined sales of these two albums exceeded 1.2 million copies sold.
4. BLACKPINK
BLACKPINK was able to sell 1,724,461 physical albums in 2020. In 2020, BLACKPINK released their first-ever full-length studio album titled "THE ALBUM." In less than a month after its release, BLACKPINK was named the first-ever million-selling Korean girl group, selling 1.2 million copies of "THE ALBUM."
3. NCT
NCT was able to sell 2,402,077 physical albums in 2020. In 2020, NCT as a whole did a project with all sub-units, 21 members, and two new member debuts. They release "NCT 2020 Resonance Pt.1" on Oct. 12, which garnered more than 1.1 million in pre-orders, making it NCT's first million-seller album. On Nov. 23, they released "NCT 2020 Resonance Pt. 2."
2. SEVENTEEN
SEVENTEEN was able to sell 2,722,291 physical albums in 2020. SEVENTEEN become a million-seller group with "Heng:garae," which was released on Jun. 22. The album sold over 1 million copies in under a week. Their second million-selling album was released on Oct. 19. "Semicolon" garnered more than one million copies were sold in pre-orders alone.
1. BTS
BTS was able to sell 9,332,212 physical albums in 2020. BTS is the only group to surpass 5 million physical album sales. BTS is currently South Korea's best-selling artist, with their 2020 release, "Map of the Soul: 7" being the best-selling album in South Korea. "Map of the Soul: 7" broke records, selling 4.1 million copies in just nine days after it was released.
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Written by Alexa Lewis
