Jimin Rules Emerging Artists Chart, Becomes First BTS Member to Score Unaccompanied Solo Top 40 Hot 100 Hit

Jimin is having a big week on Billboard’s latest charts (dated April 1). The South Korean singer/dancer becomes the first member of BTS to score an unaccompanied solo top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as his “Set Me Free, Pt. 2” debuts at No. 30.

The song, released March 17 via BigHit Music/Geffen/Interscope Records, starts with 6.4 million U.S. streams and 63,000 downloads sold in its opening week, according to Luminate. It concurrently launches at No. 1 on both the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart and World Digital Song Sales, marking his second leader on each list.

The single also starts at No. 5 on Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and No. 8 on the Billboard Global 200 (56 million streams; 42,000 sold worldwide).

“Set Me Free, Pt. 2” is Jimin’s second solo entry on the Hot 100 outside BTS (which boasts six No. 1s, among six top 10s). He first charted beyond the group with his TAEYANG collab, “Vibe,” in January (No. 76 peak), and became the seventh and final member of BTS to score a solo entry on the Hot 100.

All 7 Members of BTS Have Now Earned Solo Hits on the Hot 100

Of the 14 solo songs by BTS members to hit the Hot 100, “Free” is the third to reach the top 40, and the first unaccompanied. Juice WRLD and Suga’s “Girl of My Dreams” hit No. 29 in 2021 and Charlie Puth’s “Left and Right,” featuring Jung Kook, peaked at No. 22 in 2022.

Here’s a look at every song by a BTS member to chart on the Hot 100, listed chronologically:

Artist Billing, Title (Peak Position; Peak Date)
J-Hope feat. Becky G, “Chicken Noodle Soup” (No. 81; Oct. 12, 2019)
Agust D (Suga’s alternate billing), “Daechwita” (No. 76; June 6, 2020)
Juice WRLD & Suga, “Girl of My Dreams” (No. 29; Dec. 25, 2021)
V, “Christmas Tree” (No. 79; Jan. 8, 2022)
Jung Kook, “Stay Alive” (No. 95; Feb. 26, 2022)
PSY feat. Suga, “That That” (No. 80; May 14, 2022)
Charlie Puth feat. Jung Kook, “Left and Right” (No. 22; July 9, 2022)
J-Hope, “More” (No. 82; July 16, 2022)
J-Hope, “Arson” (No. 96; July 30, 2022)
JIN, “The Astronaut” (No. 51; Nov. 12, 2022)
RM with Youjeen, “Wild Flower” (No. 83; Dec. 17, 2022)
TAEYANG feat. Jimin, “Vibe” (No. 76; Jan. 28, 2023)
J-Hope with J. Cole, “On the Street” (No. 60; March 18, 2023)
Jimin, “Set Me Free, Pt. 2” (No. 30; April 1, 2023)

Jimin also becomes the seventh member of BTS to hit No. 1 on the Emerging Artists chart, thanks to “Free.” RM was the first, for a week in November 2018, followed by Suga, for a week in December 2021; V (one week, January 2022); Jung Kook (one week, February 2022); J-Hope (one week, July 2022); and JIN (one week, November 2022). (Suga also appeared on the chart via the moniker Agust D in 2018.)

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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