Six of the top 10 best-selling albums in the U.S. in the first half of 2022 come from K-pop artists, including BTS, Stray Kids, SEVENTEEN, and more. Continue reading to find out how many copies those K-pop albums sold and if one of them had the No. 1 highest album sales.
Best-Selling Albums in the US (First Half of 2022): BTS "Proof," Stray Kids' "ODDINARY" Take Top 2 Spots
On July 16, Luminate (formerly known as Nielsen Music) released its annual mid-year report that presents the growth, loss, and the most successful songs and albums in the past six months.
The report includes the top 10 best-selling albums in the U.S. from January to June, and six of them were released by K-pop acts. The sales are the physical units sold in the country, showing the effort of fans of South Korean artists to purchase copies of their new releases.
ALSO READ: 'Raper': BTS J-Hope Fan-Sponsored Advertisement Draws Attention for Disastrous Billboard
Taking first place is BTS, which should be no surprise to those who know how popular the septet is. BTS' "Proof" sold a whopping 328,000 copies from the day of its release (June 10) up to June 30, when the report was cut off.
This figure puts the boy band far from the following artists on the list. In fact, the U.S. album sales of BTS' "Proof" account for 32.8% of the total sales of the top 10 albums, according to Yonhap News.
READ MORE: Stray Kids Bang Chan Undergoes Minor Surgery - Here's What Happened
Coming in second place is Stray Kids' "ODDINARY," which sold 171,000 units in the United States. When the mini-album dropped, it went straight to No. 1 on Billboard 200, making them the only third South Korean musical artist to reach the top of the chart, following the footsteps of BTS and SuperM.
The U.S. album sales of "ODDINARY" make up 17.1% of the overall sales of the top 10 albums, proving Stray Kids' immense popularity in the country.
Best-Selling Albums in the US (First Half of 2022): TXT, SEVENTEEN, NCT 127 & ENHYPEN
After Stray Kids, the next K-pop album to enter the list is TXT's "minisode 2: Thursday's Child" at No. 4. The EP sold 150,000 copies since its release on May 9. This week ending on July 23, "minisode 2: Thursday's Child" became the first K-pop album released in 2022 to spend nine weeks on Billboard 200 after landing at No. 4.
Additionally, the mini-album made TXT the only second K-pop act in history to chart more than one album and spend nine consecutive weeks on Billboard 200, after BTS.
Next, SEVENTEEN's "Face the Sun" sold 74,000 CDs, becoming the eighth best-selling album in the U.S. in the first half of 2022. "Face the Sun" also entered this week's Billboard 200 at No. 187, marking the band's first time to spend six weeks on the tally.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: SEVENTEEN 'SECTOR 17' Breaks 1st-Day & 1st-Week Sales Records of Any Repackaged Album
Coming after SEVENTEEN is NCT 127's "Sticker" at No. 9 with 66,000 units sold. It is worth noting that "Sticker" is the only K-pop album on the list that was released in 2021. Although it has been nine months since its release, the studio album continued to sell well enough in the U.S. to place on this ranking.
Closing out the top 10 list is ENHYPEN's "DIMENSION: ANSWER," which sold 57,000 copies. Impressively, "DIMENSION: ANSWER" is only the repackaged version of the group's first studio album "DIMENSION: ANSWER." Still, it appears to have become more famous in the U.S. than the full-length version.
Moreover, "DIMENSION: ANSWER" has become ENHYPEN's first album to last for three consecutive weeks on Billboard 200.
Apart from these K-pop releases, the other best-selling albums in the U.S. in the first half of 2022 are Harry Styles' "Harry's House" (No. 3 with 159,000 copies), Adele's "30" (No. 5 with 115,000 copies), the "Encanto" soundtrack (No. 6 with 80,000 copies), and The Weeknd's "Dawn FM" (No. 7 with 77,000 copies).
Congratulations to all artists on the list!
For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.
KpopStarz owns this article
Written by Maria Scott
