Stray Kids Create Chart History on Billboard 200

Stray Kids, the K-pop boyband that features two Australian singers, Felix and Bang Chan, enter the Christmas break with a special chart gift.

With their new album HOP bouncing to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, dated December 28th, they become the first act to debut at the U.S. chart summit with their first six charting albums, Billboard reports.

For context, the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956.

Stray Kids previously debuted atop the U.S. list with ODDINARY and MAXIDENT (both in 2022), ROCK-STAR and 5-STAR (both in 2023), and ATE (earlier in 2024).

Until now, Stray Kids were tied with the late American rapper DMX, who saw his first five chart entries debut at No. 1 between 1998-2003: It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood (1999), …And Then There Was X (2000), The Great Depression (2001) and Grand Champ (2003).

Stray Kids notably cracked the Billboard year-end charts for 2024, appearing at No. 4 on the frame for Top Artists – Duo/Group, and earlier this month scooped the Top Global K-Pop Artist Award at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards – one of their four nominations on the night.

In Australia, HOP opens at No. 4 for the group’s sixth top 50 entry on the ARIA Albums Chart. That’s after NOEASY hit No. 14 in 2021, MAXIDENT went to No. 4 in 2022, and both 5-STAR and ROCK-STAR peaked at No. 2 in 2023, and ATE went to No. 2 in July.

Stray Kids’ ongoing Dominate World Tour, produced by Live Nation, visited Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and Sydney’s Allianz Stadium in October.

With those shows, the lads graduated from a four-date sold-out arena trek in February 2023, which also visited Melbourne and Sydney.

Formed by JYP Entertainment in March 2018, the eight-member band nailed a podium finish on the IFPI’s Top 10 global recording artists 2023, a tally led by Taylor Swift and SEVENTEEN, respectively.