Suga sets new record for first-day sales for a solo K-pop artist

Suga of BTS overtook his bandmate Jimin’s record, selling over 1 million copies of his first full-length album “D-DAY” on the day of its release on Friday and setting a new record for first-day sales for a solo K-pop artist.

Suga’s new album, released under his alter-stagename Agust D, sold 1,072,000 copies on Friday, according to Korean music tracker Hanteo Chart. The previous record was set by BTS member Jimin’s album “FACE” that sold 1,021,000 copies last month.

Of that amount, over 110,000 copies were sold in Japan, shooting Agust D to the top of Oricon’s Daily Album Ranking chart on Sunday.

Eight tracks off the album, including lead track “Haegeum,” sat among the top 10 songs the Daily Digital Single Ranking on the same day.

“Haegeum,” which either means to unlock something that had been forbidden or the name of a Korean traditional string instrument, reached No. 1 on the iTunes Top Song chart in 90 regions around the world. The song was streamed over 3.9 million times on Friday, landing at No. 11 on Spotify’s Daily Top Song Global chart.

“D-DAY” is Suga’s first official solo album and also concludes his Agust D trilogy, following the release of two mixtapes, “Agust D” (2016) and “D-2” (2020). “D-2” included the lead track “Daechwita,” which was derived from the Korean traditional military tune of the same name.

Suga will start his first solo tour on April 26 stopping at Belmont Park, followed by Newark, Rosemont, Los Angeles and Oakland for his “SUGA | Agust D-DAY TOUR.” He will then go on to make stops in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Seoul.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]