BTS has become the first foreign artist in over 37 years to snag No. 1 on Japan Oricon's annual ranking with their Japanese album, "BTS, THE BEST."
Keep on reading to know more.
BTS Becomes the First Foreign Artist to Top Oricon's Annual Ranking with 'BTS, THE BEST' in 37 Years
On December 22 KST, Japanese music platform Oricon announced their annual 2021 Annual Ranking. On this day, they announced that BTS and their Japanese compilation album, "BTS, THE BEST," which was released back in June 2021, had sold more than 993,000 album copies so far.
In particular, the seven-member group's Japanese album had dominated at No. 1 on the platform's Album Ranking under the "sales by works" category, which had a counting period from December 28, 2020 until December 20, 2021.
'BTS, THE BEST'
With BTS ranking at No. 1, this marks the first time in more than 37 years that a foreign artist had ranked first in the annual Album Rankings in Oricon's history, with the previous artist being Michael Jackson back in 1984 for his album "Thriller."
In addition, according to Oricon, "BTS, THE BEST" had recorded a sales figure of 782,000 album copies sold in the first week of its release, entering at first place in their Weekly Album Ranking as of June 28.
BTS and their album also recorded the highest number of first-week sales by any male foreign artist.
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Meanwhile, "BTS, THE BEST" is a compilation album consisting of BTS' hit Japanese releases from the past four years since 2017, such as "Crystal Snow," "Your Eyes Tell," "Stay Gold," "Don't Leave Me," and the Japanese versions of their Korean and English releases.
The album also includes their track "Film Out," which was produced in collaboration with the Japanese rock band, Back Number.
Aside from Oricon, "BTS, THE BEST" had also topped Billboard's World Albums chart and Billboard Japan's Hot Albums at No. 1.
BTS' 'Butter' Receives Platinum Certification by the RIAJ
In other news, BTS and their summer single "Butter" had recently received a platinum certification in the download category by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) on December 20.
Previously, BTS was given a platinum certification for their 2020 release, "Dynamite," back in February of this year. In September, the group was also given a gold certification for "Permission to Dance" under the download category.
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According to the RIAJ's criteria for certification, those that had more than 100,000 digital downloads receive a gold certification and a platinum for more than 250,000 digital downloads.
Back in July, BTS received a platinum certification under the album category for their single CD, "Butter," which surpassed 250,000 album copies sold.
"BTS, THE BEST" also received a million certification by the RIAJ for having more than a million album copies sold, becoming the best-selling album in Japan.
Congratulations to BTS!
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Written by Robyn Joan
