Jung Kook Becomes Fourth BTS Member to Rule Emerging Artists Chart, Reach Hot 100 as a Soloist

BTS member Jung Kook earns his first solo leader on Billboard‘s charts, as he debuts at No. 1 on the Emerging Artists survey (dated Feb. 26), thanks to the first-week activity for his new single “Stay Alive.”

The track, released Feb. 11, debuts at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking his first solo entry on the chart, with 2.9 million U.S. streams and 14,900 downloads sold in the tracking week ending Feb. 17, according to MRC Data. It opens at No. 1 on World Digital Song Sales and No. 6 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales tally.

As Jung Kook (full name: Jeon Jung-kook) debuts atop Emerging Artists, he becomes the fourth member of BTS to have ruled the ranking, joining RM, Suga and V. RM led for a week in November 2018, Suga for a week in December 2021 and V for a week this January. Fellow BTS bandmates J-Hope and Jin have reached Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Suga also appeared on the chart via the moniker Agust D in 2018.

Jung Kook is also the fourth member of BTS to land a solo hit on the Hot 100. J-Hope first earned the honor in October 2019 with “Chicken Noodle Soup,” featuring Becky G (No. 81 peak). Suga followed with “Daechwita” (billed as Agust D) in June 2020 (No. 76 peak) and “Girl of My Dreams,” with Juice WRLD, in December 2021 (No. 29 peak). V became the third BTS member to chart solo on the survey with “Christmas Tree” this January (No. 79 peak).

As a group, South Korea’s BTS has sent 23 songs onto the Hot 100, with six hitting No. 1.

Among other Emerging Artists moves, Yeat rises 11-4, reaching the top 10 for the first time thanks to his release Up 2 Me, which ranks at No. 35 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (13,000 equivalent album units, up 2%). The 21-year-old released his newest LP, 2 Alive, Feb. 18.

Dove Cameron debuts at No. 8 on Emerging Artists as her new single “Boyfriend” debuts at No. 73 on the Hot 100. The track, released via Disruptor/Columbia Records, marks her fifth career entry and first not featured in the Disney film series Descendants, in which she stars. She previously hit the Hot 100, starting in 2015, with “Rotten to the Core” (with Cameron Boyce, Booboo Stewart and Sofia Carson; No. 38 peak), “If Only” (No. 94), “It’s Goin’ Down” (billed as by the Descendants 2 Cast; No. 77) and “Night Falls” (with Carson, Stewart, Boyce, Thomas Doherty, China Anne McClain and Dylan Playfair; No. 84).

Plus, Chase Matthew re-enters Emerging Artists at No. 10, appearing in the top 10 for the first time as his new set Born for This bows at No. 31 on Top Country Albums (5,000 units).

The Emerging Artists chart ranks the most popular developing artists of the week, using the same formula as the all-encompassing Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity across multiple Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, Billboard 200 and the Social 50. (The Artist 100 lists the most popular acts, overall, each week.) However, the Emerging Artists chart excludes acts that have notched a top 25 entry on either the Hot 100 or Billboard 200, as well as artists that have achieved two or more top 10s on Billboard‘s “Hot” song genre charts and/or consumption-based “Top” album genre rankings.

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