Home   >   More   >   Hot Links   >   Korean songs claim No. 2 spot among Billboard Hot 100 non-English top 10 hits

Korean songs claim No. 2 spot among Billboard Hot 100 non-English top 10 hits

August 21, 2023

Korean has been the second most dominant language among the non-English songs that have reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, according to a recent report by Billboard.

The U.S. music magazine said in an online article published Wednesday (U.S. local time) that only 35 songs recorded either entirely or mostly in a non-English language have been in the top 10 since the chart was introduced in 1958.

Of those, 19 are in Spanish, the most of any language, followed by Korean with eight songs. German has three songs, French and Italian have two songs each, and Japanese has one song.

K-pop boy group BTS celebrates its 10th anniversary in this photo provided by fan community platform Weverse. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
K-pop boy group BTS celebrates its 10th anniversary in this photo provided by fan community platform Weverse. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Six of the eight Korean-language top 10 hits are from the K-pop supergroup BTS. They are “Fake Love,” “Boy With Luv (Feat. Halsey),” “On,” “Life Goes On,” “My Universe,” which is a collaboration single with British rock band Coldplay, and member Jimin’s solo song “Like Crazy.”

The remaining two songs are Psy’s global hits “Gangnam Style” and “Gentleman.”

“Twenty three of the 35 top 10s have reached the tier since 2012, following a 16-year break between ‘Macarena’ and ‘Gangnam Style.’ The influx coincides with music’s increased globalization, highlighted by hits from Bad Bunny and BTS, among others,” the magazine said.