BTS tops Billboard Hot 100 for 5th straight week with ‘Butter’

Superband BTS retained the top spot on Billboard’s main singles chart for the fifth straight week with its upbeat summer number “Butter,” once again outpacing the group’s chart record.

“‘Butter’ held at No. 1 with 12.4 million U.S. streams and 128,400 downloads sold (up 15 percent) in the week ending June 24. It also attracted 27.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 6 percent) in the week ending June 27,” Billboard said Monday (U.S. time) on its Twitter account.

“Of the 54 songs in history that have debuted at No. 1 on the #Hot100, “Butter” is just the 11th to spend its first five weeks at No. 1,” it added.

Seven-piece act BTS poses during a news conference for its new digital single “Butter” in eastern Seoul on May 21, 2021. (Yonhap)

“Butter” is the BTS song with the longest run atop the Hot 100. The seven-piece act now has 10 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 records. “Butter” leads the list with five times at No. 1, followed by “Dynamite” with three, and “Life Goes On” and “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” with one each.

It has also had the longest run for a song by a group, since American pop acts Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s 1995 song “One Sweet Day,” at No. 1 on the Hot 100 after debuting. “One Sweet Day” held the top spot for 16 weeks.

On a regional level, BTS last week became the first Asian artist to hit No. 1 for four straight weeks. Previously, Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto held the title with “Sukiyaki” in 1963.

BTS has been refreshing its list of accolades after becoming the first Korean act to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “Dynamite” in 2020. The group’s first English language single also earned its first Grammy nomination.

Later in the year, “Life Goes On,” the main track for its album “BE,” became the first song predominantly sung in Korean to debut at the top spot on the main singles chart.

When including the group’s overall No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, “Butter” is the fourth song to sit atop the main singles chart.

In addition to “Dynamite” and “Life Goes On,” the group also featured in a remix version of “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” by Jawsh 687 and Jason Derulo, which ranked No. 1 in October last year.

“Butter,” released on May 21, is a vibrant dance-pop track that the group hoped would give off good energy during the global coronavirus pandemic.

Upon its release, it topped iTunes top songs charts in more than 100 regions, as well as music charts in South Korea and Japan, a day after its release.

On YouTube and Spotify, the world’s biggest platforms, “Butter” earned 20.9 million streams on its first day of release, marking the most streams in a single day in Spotify’s history.

The English-language single also racked up 108.2 million views on YouTube in its first 24 hours of release, outnumbering “Dynamite” at 101.1 million views.

As of Tuesday, the song had earned 400 million views on YouTube, becoming the group’s 13th music video to reach the milestone.

Adding to the song’s popularity, BTS has released three remix versions — “Hotter,” “Sweeter” and “Cooler” — of “Butter,” which apparently come from the song’s lyrics: “Hotter? Sweeter! Cooler? Butter!”

The group is set to release a physical album for the Billboard-topping hit on July 9, the day that Army — the name of its powerful fandom — was coined eight years ago, according to Big Hit Music. The upcoming release will include the Billboard-topping hit, as well as a new track.

BTS, which has continuously voiced gratitude to Army for its massive success, again thanked its fans for the five-week run.

“It was worth staying up. Five weeks is a bit scary but still (we’re) happy,” member Suga wrote on fan community Weverse. “(We) love you Army! Thanks so much and let’s enjoy!”

Jin also mentioned Army, saying the group is going through “unbelievable experiences” thanks to the dedicated fan base.