V for BTS 5th anniversary party in LA photoshoot by Dispatch, May 2018 (Credit Dispatch Creative ... [+]
V is enjoying the best week of his solo career on the Billboard charts in America thanks to the release of his timely hit “Christmas Tree.” The tune has brought the BTS superstar both to new heights on rankings he had already appeared on as well as tallies he’d never reached before, as fans in the U.S. rushed to support his seasonal smash. The cut reaches No. 1 on several lists, including one that might be ruled by a K-pop musician for the first time.
“Christmas Tree” opens at No. 1 on this week’s Holiday Digital Song Sales chart, which ranks the bestselling tunes in America that Billboard labels as “holiday,” with that descriptor being just a little bit vague. The tune is certainly the first ruler for the musician, and it may very well be the first track from a South Korean artist to make it to No. 1 on the tally.
V’s “Christmas Tree” opens in first place on the Holiday Digital Song Sales chart thanks to a little more than 23,500 copies sold, according to MRC Data. That puts it far ahead of the runner-up, Mariah Carey’s usually unstoppable “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” That tune, which currently sits at No. 2, sold just under 4,900 copies in the same tracking period. That means that the BTS singer’s new win outsold the classic more than four and a half times over.
In 2021’s holiday season, only a handful of tracks worked their way to No. 1 on the Holiday Digital Song Sales chart, and V’s “Christmas Tree” might be the last new smash to conquer the list. Throughout the past several months, titles like Rich & Rowe’s “Santa's Gotta Dirty,” LadBaby, Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s “Sausage Rolls For Everyone” and of course the aforementioned “All I Want for Christmas Is You” all took turns running the show.
“Christmas Tree” has become a huge win for V, and not just on the Holiday Digital Song Sales chart. Looking at the all-encompassing Holiday 100, which takes into account purchases, radio play and streaming activity, V’s latest solo single opens at No. 54. The tune earns the loftiest start on the tally this frame, beating out debuts from the likes of Sia, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett. The cut also lands on the Digital Song Sales chart at No. 1 and on the regular Hot 100 at No. 79.
