TWICE’s Nayeon Just Made Major History for a Solo K-Pop Star
Nayeon, a member of the beloved K-pop girl group TWICE, notched a historic placement on the Billboard 200 chart with her debut solo mini-album IM NAYEON.
Billboard confirms the bubbly 7-track album debuted at No. 7 on this week's chart after moving the equivalent of 57,000 album units — placing her just behind Harry Styles, whose chart-topping Harry's House dropped to No. 6 this week. Meanwhile, Styles' current single "As It Was" returned to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Of the 57,000, 52,000 of Nayeon's units were comprised of actual album sales, which was enough to make IM NAYEON the top-selling release of the week. The majority of her remaining unit sales came from streams. Every song on the track list has been streamed more than 1 million times on Spotify. Lead single "POP!" has amassed an impressive 14 million streams alone.
Impressively, NME notes Nayeon has officially become the first K-pop solo star to land in the Billboard 200's Top 10.
But this isn't the first time Nayeon has found herself high on the Billboard 200. She previously charted inside the Top 10 two times as a member of TWICE. The group peaked at No. 3 with their album Formula of Love: T+O=<3 and No. 6 with Taste of Love. Both were released in 2021.
The only other K-pop girl group to pull off the feat is BLACKPINK. Meanwhile, Korean music group BTS managed to top the albums chart six times over the years. Billboard notes they most recently hit the Top 10 in June with their sprawling compilation album Proof.
Nayeon was the first member of TWICE to release a full-length solo project. The vibrant music video for "POP!" has amassed nearly 60 million views and 2.5 million likes on YouTube since it premiered June 24.
Watch Nayeon's "POP!" Music Video Below:
TWICE's most recent group release was their song "Just Be Yourself," which arrived back in March.