New BTS song ‘Butter’ debuts at No. 3 on UK’s Official Singles Chart

Members of K-pop band BTS pose for photographers ahead of a press conference to introduce their new single “Butter” in Seoul, May 21. AP-Yonhap

BTS’s latest single, “Butter,” has debuted at No. 3 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart in another feat for the K-pop juggernauts.

The septet’s new song, released May 21, ranked 3rd on the latest version of the chart, announced Friday (local time). The chart said the song had over 10,000 downloads, the largest number for any song on this week’s chart.

It once again marks the best ranking for BTS on the British music singles chart after the group peaked at No. 3 last year with megahit “Dynamite.”

BTS earlier topped the Official Charts’ albums chart twice, with “Map of the Soul: Persona” in April 2019 and “Map of the Soul: 7” in May 2020. Its latest album “BE” landed at No. 2 in December.

The Official Charts, which dates back to 1952, is considered a key music chart in the pop music industry alongside Billboard. It analyzes rankings based on a number of data on streaming, digital downloads and sales.

The groovy summer song has made a splash on global music charts as well as streaming and video platforms around the world.

The music video for “Butter” racked up 108.2 million views in the first 24 hours after its release, taking over the septet’s own record of 101.1 million views for “Dynamite.” The video also recorded more than 3.9 million peak concurrents, becoming the biggest YouTube music video premiere and replacing the band’s record of 3 million for “Dynamite.”

In addition to topping music charts in South Korea and Japan and the iTunes top songs chart in more than 100 regions, “Butter” earned 20.9 million streams on Spotify on its debut day, marking the most streams in a single day in the service’s history.

The hype surrounding the English-language single has been growing by the day. BTS dropped a more playful version of the song through a “Hotter” remix version Friday, while American fast food giant McDonald’s launched a “BTS meal” in the first celebrity collaboration to go on sale globally.

Eyes are on whether the single will debut at No. 1 on the Billboard’s main singles chart set to be announced next week. (Yonhap)