The weekly Oricon charts have experienced another ‘first’ thanks to the Korean wave. It’s the first time in the 42-year-long history of Oricon that South Korean artists have claimed first in both, the single and the album ranking at the same time.
The two artists who achieved this are girl group T-ARA with their Japanese debut single, “Bo Peep Bo Peep“, and the now two-member boy group TVXQ with their newest album, ‘TONE‘.
T-ARA sold 50,000 copies in their first week and they’ve also become the first foreign group and first female artist(s) to reach first place with their debut single. The only foreign artist who ever achieved this before T-ARA, was Jang Geun Suk with his debut single, “Let me cry“. Other popular South Korean girl groups such as KARA and SNSD / Shoujo Jidai debuted at fifth and fourth place respectively.
The girls of T-ARA commented, “Thanks to everyone’s support we’ve reached first. We are very happy and will continue to work hard in order to earn the love of even more people. Please continue to support us.”
TVXQ’s album sold 205,000 copies in its first week, which also is an outstanding achievement for foreign male solo artists and groups. The last artist that also sold over 200,000 copies of an album during their first week was Bon Jovi with ‘Crash‘ back in 2000.
Yunho commented, “I’m really thankful to our fans. It makes me happy that our growth as a group seems to have reached our fans as well.”
Changmin added, “We wanted to create an album that is filled with our gratitude towards all of our fans who have been waiting for us. Please also look forward to our nation-wide tour next year!”
