"This is insane": Fans laud as SEVENTEEN sets unprecedented records by selling over 10 million copies of FML album in just 9 months
From January to September 2023, SEVENTEEN has sold over 11 million copies (11,043,265 to be exact) of FML or F*ck My Life, shattering all the previously held album sales records by other K-pop groups, according to the Circle Chart. This makes SEVENTEEN the first K-pop group ever to sell more than 10 million copies on the Circle Chart. F*ck My Life and Super served as the EP's twin lead singles.
SEVENTEEN made history by being the first K-pop group ever to achieve this feat in just nine months. Additionally, FML had sold more than 6.27 million copies globally by July 2023, and surpassing the 10 million mark by September was inevitable. The EP was released on April 24, 2023.
"K-Pop Powerhouse": SEVENTEEN broke sales record of their previous album Face the Sun
On March 31, 2023, SEVENTEEN confirmed their comeback with the release of their 10th mini-album, FML, and in the following three days, the group surpassed 2.18 million in stock pre-orders. According to an official announcement made by YG PLUS on April 4, 2023, the 13-member group shattered their own record for the largest stock pre-orders with the mini-album.
FML's first-week sales surpassed BTS' 2019 album Map of the Soul: PERSONA, which had 3 million pre-orders. With 4.02 million pre-orders, BTS' 2020 album Map of the Soul: 7 has a slight lead over SEVENTEEN's FML. Additionally, the track became the first song of 2023 to cross 300 million digital sales on the Circle Chart.
Additionally, the 4 million pre-orders placed in the first week of April 2023 outweighed the sales of their previous group album, Face the Sun. The fourth studio album by the group, Face the Sun, sold 2,067,769 copies in its first week of pre-order sales. Face the Sun was well-received by the fans and achieved remarkable sales across the world by selling over 950,000 copies.
Fans took to social media and congratulated their favorite K-pop group for making history.
Since breaking into the music industry in 2015, the group has been slowly moving up the success ladder. More than six years after their debut, the boy group from Pledis Entertainment—operated under HYBE Corporation—reached a milestone of 10 million domestic album sales cumulatively in 2023, demonstrating the growing popularity of their music and their meteoric climb in the K-pop industry.
Furthermore, FML outsold Adele's 2015 album, 25, which had 3.4 million sales within one week of its release, with 3.9 million sold on Hanteo in less than three hours. Moreover, FML surpassed The Name Chapter: Temptation by TOMORROW x TOGETHER and claimed the top place on Hanteo's list of K-pop albums with the highest first-week sales in April 2023.
In other news, after a period of relative inactivity, Seungkwan held his Weverse LIVE on October 4, 2023, where BTS member Jungkook interrupted his Weverse LIVE and commented using SEVENTEEN's Mingyu's account, which sent CARATs—the fandom moniker of SEVENTEEN's fans—and the BTS ARMY into a frenzied state.
Jungkook also mentioned making a TikTok challenge on his latest song, 3D, with Mingyu, which was filmed by Mingyu's team member, Jeon Wonwoo. This crossover between the two popular boy bands became the highlight of the evening and went viral on October 4 and 5, which overjoyed their fans.
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