This week on the music charts, Ateez becomes the latest K-pop act to score the top album with a menu of collectible packages, while Brenda Lee’s 65-year-old chestnut “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” holds as the No. 1 single on her 79th birthday.
Ateez, an eight-member boy band from South Korea, notches its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart with “The World EP.Fin: Will,” which had the equivalent of 152,000 sales in the United States, according to the tracking service Luminate. The vast majority were for physical copies of the 12-track release, which was available in 33 collectible variations, including 26 on CD and seven on vinyl.
Ateez’s album is the fifth one by a K-pop group to top the LP chart this year, after releases by Tomorrow X Together, NewJeans and Stray Kids, which had two titles reach No. 1. In each case, physical copies were key to their success, but Ateez had notably low popularity on streaming services, with just 7.6 million clicks — the least for any No. 1 album this year.
Also this week, Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” which topped last week’s chart, falls to No. 2; Drake’s “For All the Dogs” is No. 3; Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” is No. 4; and Michael Bublé’s “Christmas” — a chart hit each holiday season since 2011 — is in fifth place.
On the Hot 100 singles chart, Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” holds at No. 1 for a second week, while Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” remains at second place.
Ben Sisario
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