Chart Rewind: In 2021, BTS’ ‘Butter’ Made a Smooth Start Atop the Hot 100
The group sizzled with its eventual song of the summer.
From left: BTS' RM, Jung Kook, V, Jimin, Jin, J-Hope and Suga perform at the American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater Nov. 21, 2021, in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for MRC
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“‘Butter,’ you know, it’s summer,” BTS’ RM told Billboard in 2021. “It’s very, kind of like seasoning. It’s [an] upbeat, fresh dance-pop track, a summer anthem. Just all positive vibes and upbeat energy.”
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The celebratory song glided in atop the Billboard Hot 100 dated June 5, 2021. It went to become not just a summer anthem, but that year’s biggest, ruling the chart for 10 weeks and wrapping atop the Songs of the Summer recap.
“Butter” became BTS fourth Hot 100 No. 1 in a span of exactly nine months, dating to its first, “Dynamite,” on the Sept. 5, 2020, tally. The act ruled again with “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat),” with Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo, that October and “Life Goes On” that December. Among groups, BTS completed the fastest run to four initial No. 1s since the Jackson 5 in 1970.
BTS has since added three more Hot 100 toppers, including two more in 2021: “Permission to Dance,” that July (interrupting the reign of “Butter”), and “My Universe,” with Coldplay, that October. Upon the latter’s coronation, the group had landed six No. 1s over a year and a month-plus. That marked the quickest accumulation of six leaders since The Beatles over a year and two weeks in 1964-66.
This April, BTS “Swim” cannonballed in at No. 1 on the Hot 100. Simultaneously, parent album ARIRANG launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The ARIRANG World Tour kicked off April 10, propelling the group to the summit of Billboard Boxscore’s April Top Tours recap.
In the same Billboard interview in 2021, in which BTS stoked anticipation for its live premiere of “Butter” on that year’s Billboard Music Awards, the group’s Suga reflected on the 2013 debut of septet’s debut release, and its future. “Eight years feels quite a short time for me,” he considered. “I initially thought it was long, but looking back, it feels short. And I think there’s so much left for us to do.”
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