SEOUL, Jan. 29 (AJP) — As the countdown to BTS’s long-awaited full-group comeback hits D-51, fans have found a familiar way to pass the time: by sending the group’s solo catalog back up the charts.
Across streaming platforms and social media, past releases by BTS members are enjoying a renewed surge, turning the pause before reunion into a rolling retrospective of individual careers that never truly went quiet.
For V (Kim Taehyung), the moment has arrived in gold. Music Canada recently awarded Gold Single certifications to four of his solo tracks — “Christmas Tree,” “Slow Dancing,” “Love Me Again,” and “FRI(END)S” — underscoring his sustained pull in the Canadian market.
Music Canada, formerly the Canadian Recording Industry Association, bases its certifications on combined digital downloads, streams and physical sales.
Released on Christmas Eve in 2021, “Christmas Tree” made history as the first Korean original soundtrack to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 55. It also charted on Billboard’s Holiday Hot 100 and topped the Digital Song Sales chart, becoming an enduring seasonal staple rather than a one-off hit.
Tracks from V’s first solo album Layover followed a similar path. “Slow Dancing,” built on a jazz-pop sensibility, and “Love Me Again,” a soul-tinged dance-pop track, both earned Gold certification. “Love Me Again” has since crossed the 1-billion-stream mark on Spotify, making it V’s first solo entry into the platform’s Billions Club — a milestone fans continue to celebrate online well after the number itself has passed.
“FRI(END)S,” meanwhile, debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 and entered the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart at No. 13, later gaining new exposure as background music for Amazon Prime Video’s hit series The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3.
If V’s catalog is being rediscovered, Jung Kook’s never left rotation.
His solo debut single “Seven” continues its remarkable longevity, ranking No. 77 on Spotify’s Weekly Top Songs Global chart for the Jan. 16–22 tracking period with more than 12 million weekly streams. Since its release in November 2023, the song has remained on the global chart for more than two years, logging 132 consecutive weeks — the longest run ever for a song by an Asian solo artist.
With cumulative streams approaching 2.8 billion, “Seven” is now Spotify’s most-streamed song released in 2023.
Jung Kook’s first full-length album, GOLDEN, is charting with similar persistence. The album ranked No. 81 on Spotify’s Weekly Top Albums Global chart during the same period, extending its streak to 116 consecutive weeks — also a first and longest for an Asian solo artist. Its cumulative streams have surpassed 6.6 billion, the highest total for a full-length album by an Asian artist on the platform.
Across all credits, Jung Kook’s Spotify streams have now exceeded 10.3 billion, making him the fastest Asian artist — and the first K-pop soloist — to reach the milestone. “Seven” has also maintained long-running positions on Billboard’s Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, setting record-length runs on both.
Beyond charts, the song’s afterlife continues to play out in fan spaces. On YouTube, a recent comment under the official “Seven” music video — “2026 anyone?” — drew thousands of likes, capturing how listeners continue to revisit the track years after release.
Short-form platforms tell a similar story. Fan-made dance covers and clips using tracks from GOLDEN, including “Standing Next to You” and “Seven,” have remained in steady circulation on Instagram Reels and TikTok well into January 2026. One widely shared meme thread — “I have never listened to Jung Kook” followed by “Yes, you have” — humorously captures how often his music surfaces across viral content.
That visibility spiked again in late 2025, when Jung Kook posted a surprise TikTok dance to “FaSHioN” by boy group CORTIS. The clip exploded, passing 30 million views and 7.6 million likes in a single day and triggering a wave of reposts, reaction videos and dance challenges.
Official accounts joined in. TikTok Korea welcomed him back with a playful comment, while CORTIS’s own account called the moment “like a dream.” The clip eventually surpassed 100 million views, joining several other Jung Kook TikToks to cross the same threshold.
Together, these moments show how the BTS countdown has become something more than a wait. As D-51 ticks down, solo songs once released as individual statements are being pulled back into the spotlight — not as placeholders, but as proof that even in pause, the group’s cultural gravity continues to expand.
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