BTS first K-pop band to top Billboard album charts

The South Korean boy band BTS' album sold 135,000 units last week, making it the first K-pop group to reach No 1 on the Billboard top 200.

BTS performs "Fake Love" at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 20, 2018, in Las Vegas.
AP

BTS performs "Fake Love" at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 20, 2018, in Las Vegas.

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.

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