BTS’s Jungkook has once again proven his unstoppable star power with his debut solo album GOLDEN.
Recently, Korean Sales shared the updated “Top 100 Best-Selling Albums” on Hanteo Chart, covering sales from 2003 to August 10, 2025. Jungkook’s GOLDEN, released in November 2023, claimed the #1 spot for solo artists and ranked #15 overall — making him the only solo artist to break into the Top 20, surpassing countless idol groups.
From the start, GOLDEN made history. It sold over 2 million copies in just five hours after release, instantly becoming a “double million-seller.” It went on to set the highest first-week sales for a K-pop solo artist and sold 2,501,158 copies within two weeks — making it the first solo album in 13 years, since Hanteo revamped its tracking system, to surpass 2.5 million copies.
In the U.S., GOLDEN was the best-selling K-pop solo album for two years in a row (2023 and 2024). The LP version, released in November 2024, sold over 10,300 copies — the highest debut sales for a K-pop male soloist’s vinyl in U.S. history. Jungkook also became the #1 K-pop solo artist in annual pure album sales (physical + digital) in the U.S. for 2024.
With just this one album, Jungkook reached an incredible 9.2 million total sales (EAS), the highest ever for a K-pop solo artist.
On Spotify, GOLDEN became the first and longest-charting album by an Asian solo artist on the “Weekly Top Albums Global” chart, staying for 91 consecutive weeks. It also became the first Asian solo artist album to exceed 5.9 billion streams on the platform.
Billboard saw history too — GOLDEN debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and charted for a record 25 consecutive weeks, the longest ever for an Asian soloist. In the UK, it stayed on the Official Albums Chart for 8 weeks, another record for K-pop soloists.
The album’s impact was recognized with major honors, including “Top K-Pop Album” at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards. It also earned spots in prestigious year-end lists, such as:
- Rolling Stone’s “Best Music of 2023: Staff Picks”
- MTV’s “Record-Breaking Albums of 2023”
- The New York Times’ “Best Albums of 2023”
- UPROXX’s “The Best Albums of 2023”
From smashing sales records to dominating global charts, GOLDEN has cemented Jungkook’s place in history — all with his very first solo album.
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