A Look At Seventeen’s Major–But Frustrating–Week On The Billboard Charts

Seventeen is back with their new album Seventeenth Heaven, which appears on a number of Billboard charts this week. While the group and their fans must be celebrating the just-released music and its immediate success, there may be a bit of frustration as well, as the group keeps coming very close to hitting the top spot…only to miss it.

Seventeenth Heaven debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the weekly ranking of the most-consumed albums in the U.S. The set opens in the runner-up spot with just under 100,000 equivalent units shifted–99,700, in fact, according to data shared by Luminate.

In another week, shifting 100,000 units may very well have been enough for Seventeen to conquer the Billboard 200. Actually, there have been five frames in 2023 alone when that sum would have given the band a No. 1 on the tally.

This time around, there was no one who could beat the title that ended up at No. 1—not even Seventeen. Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) launches atop the Billboard 200 with 1.653 million units–the largest starting sum in more than half a decade.

Seventeenth Heaven marks Seventeen’s fourth top 10 album on the Billboard 200. That’s a major accomplishment, especially for a musical act from South Korea, but it’s still a bit of a bummer that the new set didn’t rise just a bit higher. The band has now come just one space away from ruling the Billboard 200 twice, with a pair of releases hitting No. 2 in 2023 alone.

Back in May, their album FML also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. That title opened with an even larger debut, launching with 135,000 equivalent album units. That time around, it lost to country singer-songwriter Morgan Wallen, whose blockbuster release One Thing at a Time earned its ninth stay at No. 1 on the chart.

Seventeen is one of the most successful K-pop acts in America, and one of the bestselling groups in the world right now. It’s uncommon for any name to perform so well with regularity, but never hit No. 1, especially when they might have done so if their release calendar shifted slightly. Seemingly, timing doesn’t appear to be on their side…at least for the time being.

Seventeenth Heaven was so massively successful elsewhere in the world, it’s even a bit strange it didn’t hit No. 1 in the U.S.–but again, that was largely due to the competition, as opposed to Seventeen’s popularity. The title sold more than five million copies in South Korea upon its arrival, breaking an all-time record for the most pre-ordered set in the nation’s history.

It’s likely only a matter of time before Seventeen becomes the latest South Korean vocal act to top the Billboard 200. When they finally do chart their first No. 1 on the tally, they will join with other groups from their home nation, including BTS, SuperM, Stray Kids, Blackpink, Tomorrow X Together and NewJeans.

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