BTS V has added two more gold certifications to his growing list of global achievements.
His solo track “FRI(END)S” and unit song “Winter Ahead,” with Park Hyo Shin, recently received gold certifications from Recorded Music NZ. V had already earned gold certifications in New Zealand for “Love Me Again” in 2024 and “Slow Dancing” in 2025, bringing his total to four gold certified songs in the country.
“FRI(END)S,” released in March 2024, showed strong results despite being a digital single with no physical album.
The song debuted at No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on Billboard Global Excl. U.S., and No. 5 on the Global 200. It also topped the Worldwide iTunes and European iTunes charts, while reaching No. 1 on iTunes in 100 countries.
The track’s music video also gained major attention, ranking No. 1 on YouTube’s worldwide trending music category for 14 straight days. “FRI(END)S” was later chosen by Amazon Music and Apple Music as one of the best K pop songs of 2024 and was also featured in season 3 of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
“Winter Ahead,” released in November 2024 during V’s military service, also entered the Billboard Hot 100 without separate promotions.
The song debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Holiday Digital Song Sales chart and No. 62 on the Holiday Top 100.
With “Christmas Tree,” “White Christmas,” and “Winter Ahead” all entering Billboard’s Holiday Top 100 and reaching No. 1 on Holiday Digital Song Sales, V continues to show his strong global power as a solo artist.
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