These 7 Korean Groups Are the Only Million Sellers in K-Pop History
Numerous K-Pop groups have broken other records every single day, but have you ever wondered which idol groups have gained million-seller albums ever since K-Pop began in South Korea?
Sechs Kies
If some of you may not have known, Sechs Kies is originally a six-member South Korean boy band that had their debut on April 15, 1997. Considered as one of the first-generation idol groups in K-pop and one of K-pop's first highly successful boy groups. Sechs Kies has earned 1,200,000 copies sold for their album School Byeolgok in 1997, and so, they were credited with pioneering idol fandom culture.
NCT 127
NCT 127 has gotten their first-ever Million Seller album recently with their second album "Neo Zone." They became the first of three groups managed by SMSM Entertainment in this list that earned a record for a million of sales. NCT 127 has started this year with this album with a title track "Kick It," a "powerful" noise-pop R&B record with a heavy metal guitar riff and hip-hop chant throughout the song.
Wanna One
The groundbreaking rookie group from 2017 that was made possible from the second season of the Produce 101 Series, has also made a fantastic record for gaining 1,454,231 sold albums ever since their debut, "1X1=1 (To Be One)." The eleven membered group formed under CJ E&M and debuted under Swing Entertainment, they have gathered as the nation's pick and became one on stage with numerous fans waiting for them.
Despite the group having a promotion for a year and a half, Kang Daniel, Park Jihoon, Lee Dahwi, Kim Jaehwan, Ong Seongwu, Park Woojin, Lai Kuanlin, Yoon Jisung, Hwang Minhyun, Bae Jinyoung, and Ha Sungwoon has incredibly left a fantastic moment and memories along with their fans and are successfully flourishing still up to this date.
H.O.T
Another group from SM Entertainment, Highfive of Teenagers, also known as H.O.T, has made it to artists with more than a million-selling album. Moon Heejoon, Jang Woohyuk, Tony Ahn, Kangta, and Lee Jae-won are considered the first K-pop idol group, and their successful formula became the model for many K-pop groups that followed them that debuted in 1996. Their albums "Resurrection," "We Hate All Kinds of Violence," and "Wolf and Sheep" have reached over 1 Million sales in South Korea.
EXO
Of course, the third and leading group under SM Entertainment in this list, EXO, will never miss it. Ever since they debuted, the group has earned numerous impressions from their fans and has been breaking records ever since then. As the group with the most best-selling albums from 2013-2017, making a million for five different albums ("XOXO," "Overdose," "EXODUS," "EX'ACT," and "The War"), and becoming the group with the "quintuple million sellers" is such a fantastic achievement.
Seo Taiji and Boys
It is incredible how Seo Taiji and Boys have shaped the music industry in South Korea. Not only that, but they have also been the first-ever group that swept all the existing awards ever since 1992. They have destroyed music genres like trot, ballad, and folk music and created new genres that soon shaped the music industry. They are also well known for releasing hip-hop, techno, and heavy metal rock, which made them garner at least 2,400,000 sales in 1995.
Their albums "Seo Taiji and Boys I to IV" and "Ultramania," has made it to the list of records that gained more than 1 Million Sales in their generation and overall albums. With that, Seo Taiji passed their torch to the next artist on this list.
BTS
Seo Taiji and BTS paved the way! Being the two only groups with more than 2 Million Sales, the seven-membered group from Big Hit Entertainment has claimed their first Daesang with their album "Wings" as the Album of the Year, and history books know what happens next. Despite being the group debuting in 2013,
BTS has continuously broken records left and right for gaining millions and millions of sales from "Wings," "Love Yourself Series," to their most recently released "Map of the Soul Series." With more than 4,248,270 sold copies of albums from all around the world, it is impressive how BTS has changed the world along with their message through music.
