[AP / Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL -- BTS members thanked fans with heartfelt messages Monday for their support after they became the first K-pop group to reach the top spot on Billboard's weekly albums chart with its new album, "Love Yourself: Tear".
Rapper Psy entered the Billboard 100 chart, a weekly record chart ranking the 100 most popular songs, with his global hit "Gangnam Style" in 2012 but BTS took the crown in Billboard 200 chart for the first time as a non-English music album which contained 11 songs. Billboard 200 is a weekly record chart published by Billboard Magazine ranking the 200 most popular music albums in the United States.
"I would like to thank our fan club ARMY. We love you and we will try to present you with a better BTS," RM, the leader of the seven-member group, said in a statement. "There were many things I wanted to say, but I felt so surreal to hear news about the Billboard 200 chart."
Jin voiced his gratitude to fans and asked for more attention to K-pop. "We were able to pursue our style of music because of you ARMY," the 25-year-old said, adding that the group topped the charts with an album that contained songs entirely in Korean.
Last week, Suga, a rapper, revealed his ambitious plans of winning the top place in Billboard 200 and becoming the world's most influential artist group. "Last week, I spoke about taking the No.1 spot in the Billboard 200 chart," he said, adding his dream has come true.
J-HOPE shared his thoughts about the group's success: "I am so happy to fulfill my dream. I feel so weird to have the group's name among famous artists in the world." "Wonderful things are happening one after another," Jimin said.
"It's like we have ARMY as our wings. I cannot even estimate how far these wings would take us," said V, a singer-songwriter. Jungkook promised to create good songs.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
