BTS member V scores his first solo No. 1 ranks on Billboard‘s charts, as — among other moves — he re-enters Emerging Artists (dated Jan. 8) at No. 1, leading the list for the first time.
V (full name: Kim Tae-hyung) leads on the strength of his new solo single “Christmas Tree,” which debuts at No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking his first solo entry on the chart. It also opens at No. 55 on the Holiday 100.
“Christmas Tree” bows with 23,600 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 30, according to MRC Data, following its Dec. 24 release, and launches at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, likewise marking his first leader. It also logged 1.4 million U.S. streams in the tracking week.
As V re-enters Emerging Artists at No. 1, he becomes the third member of BTS to top the tally, joining RM and Suga. RM led the chart for a week in November 2018, while Suga hit No. 1 two weeks ago (on the chart dated Dec. 25). Additionally, BTS members J-Hope and Jin have reached Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. (Suga also appeared on the chart under the moniker Agust D in 2018.)
Further, V is the third member of BTS to chart a solo hit on the Hot 100. J-Hope first did so, as “Chicken Noodle Soup,” featuring Becky G, reached No. 81 in October 2019. Suga followed with “Girl of My Dreams,” with Juice WRLD, two weeks ago, debuting at its No. 29 high. (Plus, Suga’s “Daechwita,” billed as by Agust D, reached No. 76 in June 2020.) As a group, BTS has sent 23 songs onto the Hot 100, with six hitting No. 1.
Among other moves on Emerging Artists, Muni Long jumps 20-7, reaching the top 10 for the first time as her track “Hrs and Hrs” bounds 14-9 on Hot R&B Songs and debuts at No. 83 on the Hot 100. Her first charted song as a billed recording artist follows her having co-written eight top 40 Hot 100 hits (as Priscilla Renea), including Pitbull’s 2014 four-week No. 1 “Timber,” featuring Kesha.
The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and the Social 50. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard‘s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top”album genre rankings.
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