BTS’s “Butter” continues to make waves in the US music charts

This week, Billboard announced that “Butter”—the latest single by K-pop legends BTS—topped the Hot 100 chart for a seventh straight week.

For the uninitiated, the Hot 100 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs in the US. Chart rankings are based on digital and retail sales data, radio airplay audience impressions, and streaming activity.

“Butter” extends its record as the longest-running No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 by an Asian act. Its reign atop that chart began on June 5, and since then it has become the song with the longest No. 1 streak from its debut by any group—apart from “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, which logged 16 weeks at the summit.

“Butter” also topped the Digital Song Sales chart for the seventh week in a row. It came in at No. 21 on the Radio Songs chart and No. 26 on the Streaming Songs chart. The song saw a 6% jump in radio airplay audience impressions at 29.1 million. It earned 10.9 million US streams and sold a staggering 108,800 copies in the week ending July 8.

The song’s achievements don’t end there, mind you. “Butter” placed tenth on the Pop Airplay chart, making it the group’s second Top 10 hit on the mainstream Top 40 radio-based chart (“Dynamite” went to No. 5 back in December). BTS is now the first all-Korean act with multiple Top 10 hits on the Pop Airplay chart. PSY is the only other Korean act who managed to get a single in the Top 10 of that chart.

Meanwhile, off the back of these accomplishments, BTS returned to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to celebrate with their American fans. Now, ARMY worth their salt is aware that “Jimin” is the “Filter” singer’s real name and stage name. So Jimmy asked Jimin about the longstanding rumor that he almost went with “Baby J” as his stage name.

Jimin confirmed the rumor and explained that the reason he decided to use his real name was because he realized “Baby J” sounded really weird. His members laughed uproariously at his answer, while Jimmy joked that he could also go by “Jimin Fallon” if he ever decides to change his stage name. Jimin good-naturedly joked he’d take Jimmy up on his suggestion.

They also talked about how they would feel if and when they can go back to performing for large crowds, the way they used to pre-COVID. Jimmy joked that the group should wear sunglasses to hide their tears, because they would most likely get emotional. He then brought up a photo of BTS from their debut days and pointed out that one of them had sunglasses on in a very dark setting.

Jimmy asked the boys which member it was, and RM admitted it was him. Jimin turned around as if he was very embarrassed, while Jin booed RM for his fashion mistake. Meanwhile, SUGA remarked that they look much younger in the photo Jimmy showed them, while V and Jungkook pointed out that they’d grown a lot since then. Finally, in an attempt to save face, RM commented, “I think we got handsome.”

The boys also performed “Permission to Dance,” which marked the song's TV debut.

On the following night, they returned to the Tonight Show stage to perform “Butter.” They filmed it on the World Cup Bridge, which crosses the Han River in South Korea to connect the Mapo and Yeongdeungpo Districts of Seoul. The bridge won't be open to the public until August, but whoever is in charge made an exception for BTS. Isn't that cool?