Last week the Korean band BTS returned to the music chart in a big way – a debut at the number one spot for their album “Arirang”. Not only did they debut at number one, they did so by selling 641,000 equivalent album units (1,500 steams = one album sale) – the most of any group since the chart began in 2014. It was also the biggest selling album so far in 2026.
In fact, there have been just 12 albums to sell a minimum of 500,000 equivalent album units in a single week since January of 2020…and over half of those are from Taylor Swift.
12 – Morgan Wallen – “One Thing at a Time” – 501,000 units
11 – Harry Styles – “Harry’s House” – 521,000 units
10 – Taylor Swift – “Red” (Taylor’s Version) – 605,000 units
9 – Drake – “Certified Lover Boy” – 613,000 units
8 – BTS – “Arirang” – 641,000 units
7 – Taylor Swift – “Speak Now” (Taylor’s Version) – 716,000 units
6 – Adele – “30” – 839,000 units
5 – Taylor Swift – “folklore” – 846,000 units
4 – Taylor Swift – “Midnights” – 1.578 million units
3 – Taylor Swift – “1989” (Taylor’s Version” – 1.653 million units
Taylor Swift – “The Tortured Poets Department” – 2.610 million units
1 – Taylor Swift – “The Life of a Showgirl” – 4.002 million units