BTS smashes record as 'Butter' tops Billboard Hot 100 for 3rd week

Supergroup BTS once again outran its own track record as the summery single "Butter" ranked No. 1 on the latest Billboard's main singles chart for the third straight week.

"Butter" holds at No. 1 with 15.4 million US streams and 138,400 downloads sold in the week ending June 10. It also attracted 24.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 10 percent) in the week ending June 13," Billboard said Monday (US time) on its Twitter account.

The result beats the seven-piece act's previous record with "Dynamite," which started off at No. 1 upon release and stayed there for two consecutive weeks. The song reclaimed the top spot after spending two weeks at No. 2.

While streams and downloads slipped 19 percent and 1 percent, respectively, the increase in radio airplay drove the song higher on the Radio Songs chart. "Butter," which began at No. 39 in its debut week rose to No. 32 in its second week and No. 28 in the latest chart.

It also spent its third week on top of the Digital Song Sales chart, Billboard added.

Last month, BTS rewrote pop history by becoming the "first group with a trio of No. 1 entrances" with its songs "Dynamite," "Life Goes On" and "Butter."

Billboard noted that among 54 songs that debuted at No. 1, "Butter" is among the 23 songs to stay in the top spot for two straight weeks.

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 summer number that the group hoped would give off good energy during the global coronavirus pandemic.

"What we can do is just releasing (a) cool summer song, making people dance in their rooms or houses, giving them energy and helping them survive," RM said in an interview with Apple Music. "I think that's helping ourselves too."

The song has proven to be a megahit immediately 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. The song debuted at No. 3 on Britain's Official Charts, tying with the group's earlier hit "Dynamite."

On YouTube and Spotify, the world's biggest platforms, BTS outdid its previous records with "Dynamite." "Butter" earned 20.9 million streams on its first day of release, marking the most streams in a single day in Spotify's history, according to the band's management agency.

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. The music video for the new single also recorded more than 3.9 million peak concurrents, becoming the biggest YouTube music video premiere and replacing the band's own record of 3 million for "Dynamite."

Adding on 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 chart result comes in line with the group's eighth year debut anniversary. BTS held a two-day fan meet Sunday and Monday, in which some 1.3 million fans from 195 countries and regions -- also known as Army -- joined virtually.

The septet thanked its powerful fan base for helping achieve the music chart feat.  

"YES! #BTS_Butter is on top of the chart for three weeks in a row. Thanks #BTSARMY," the group tweeted on its official account, adding the hashtag "Got_ARMY_Behind_Us," a line that also appears on "Butter": "Got ARMY right behind us when we say so."

BTS rapper Suga also voiced excitement over the latest result.

"(Reaching) No. 1 for three weeks, this is all thanks to Army... it's really moving," he wrote on the fan community platform Weverse.

BTS is set to release a physical version of "Butter" on July 9, the day that the name Army 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 that will make your heart beat to the rhythm of BTS' positive energy," the label said. (Yonhap)