NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 31: BTS performs during the Times Square New Year's Eve 2020 ... [+]
Often times when BTS accomplishes something on the Billboard charts or makes history, the focus remains on how they compare to other K-pop figures. They have shown themselves to be the most successful act in their field, and they continue to break new ground and highlight how they are better and bigger than any other name in Korean music...but they’re not just huge for that one genre, they’re one of the most popular groups in the world, and when 2019 closed, they proved that on one very important list.
BTS wrapped 2019 as the fourth-most-successful name on Billboard’s Top Billboard 200 Artists - Duo/Group ranking, which places, in order, the bands, trios and duos that performed the best on the all-genre albums tally throughout the year. It’s important to note that the Korean septet doesn’t just outperform other K-pop superstars (none of whom appear on the list), they land ahead of some of the most familiar names in the music industry.
The chart-topping act settles into fourth place, coming in behind only Queen, Imagine Dragons and The Beatles, all of whom have established themselves as some of the most successful bands on the chart throughout the decades.
BTS makes it to the top five thanks to a number of massive titles that continued to chart on the Billboard 200 throughout 2019. Leading the way is their effort Map of the Soul: Persona, which topped the ranking in the spring and spent most of the year somewhere on the list. A few months later, they followed that success with another, a soundtrack titled BTS World, which rose to No. 26 and which spent over a month on the tally.
In addition to the pair of titles they released in 2019, the seven-member vocal group’s older project Love Yourself: Answer also managed to rack up enough streams and sales to find a home on the Billboard 200 for months, which also helped push BTS up this year-end list. That title, which made it to No. 1 on the chart the previous September, just recently became the first K-pop album to spend a full year (52 nonconscecutive weeks) on the Billboard 200, with most of those taking place in 2019.
BTS ends up appearing ahead of a handful of groups that are also extremely successful on the Billboard 200, some of whom even topped the tally in 2019. Below the Korean act come Twenty One Pilots, the Jonas Brothers, Panic! At the Disco, Dan + Shay, Pentatonix and finally Tool, in order, who close out the 10-spot ranking.
