BTS, Selected by British Official Charts... "Most Successful Album of the Year"

[Dispatch=Reporter Gu Min-ji] BTS's 'ARIRANG' has been selected as the year's most successful album in the UK.

The Official Charts UK announced "The Official biggest albums of 2026 so far" on the 17th. 'ARIRANG' ranked at No. 20.

The Official Charts stated, "BTS's 'ARIRANG' has established itself as the highest-performing K-pop project on the UK Official Charts so far in 2026."

The chart compiled rankings by combining physical CD sales, digital downloads, and audio and video streaming cumulative sales from January onwards. It shows global popularity.

Michael Jackson's 'THRILLER' followed at No. 21. Albums from global artists such as UK's Oasis and Queen were abundant in the top 40.

Only 6 teams of artists charted with albums released this year. Including BTS, Drake, Harry Styles, and Olivia Rodrigo.

'ARIRANG' debuted at No. 1 on the UK Official Albums Top 100 in its first week (March 27–April 2). It consistently charted in the Top 40. Recently it surged to No. 21 with the world tour.

It maintained its popularity in the Official latest chart (July 17–July 23). It ranked at No. 35 on this week's Official Albums Top 100, achieving 17 consecutive weeks on the chart.

It also appeared on the Official Albums Streaming chart (No. 42) and Official Vinyl Albums chart (No. 25). It landed at No. 19 and 20 on the Official Album Sales and Official Physical Albums charts.

On Spotify, it has been at No. 2 on the Weekly Top Albums Global for five consecutive weeks. BTS has alternated between No. 1 and No. 2 on the chart over 17 weeks, reaching the top 9 times.

Nine times is the most No. 1 record this year. 'SWIM' ranked at No. 8 on this week's Weekly Top Songs Global, and 'Body to Body', '2.0', and 'Hooligan' also maintained chart positions for 17 weeks.

The new song 'Come Over' released last month is also receiving love. It achieved chart entry for its fifth week. BTS charted a total of 5 songs on Spotify's weekly songs chart.

They released additional audio on the 17th, including the Korean version of 'Normal'. As of 9 AM on the 18th, 'Normal' topped the iTunes Top Songs No. 1 in 69 countries/regions.

'ARIRANG' recorded No. 4 on Germany's official music chart Top 100 Albums (July 17), maintaining a top position for 17 consecutive weeks. 'SWIM' entered at No. 67 on the Top 100 Singles.

BTS will mark the finale of their European tour in Paris, France on the 17th–18th. On the 19th, they will perform at the halftime show of the 2026 FIFA North, Central America World Cup™ finals at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

by. Minji Gu