KATSEYE Lands First Billboard 200 No. 1 with 'Wild'
Key Takeaways
- •Wild debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 170,000 equivalent album units, giving KATSEYE its first chart-topping album in the United States.
- •Album sales made up 145,000 of the total units for Wild, reflecting the strong physical-sales pattern typical of K-pop releases.
- •KATSEYE is the fourth K-pop girl group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since 2020, following BLACKPINK, NewJeans and TWICE.
- •The group’s previous EPs peaked at No. 19 and No. 4, showing a steady rise on the U.S. albums chart.
- •Wild also debuted at No. 2 on the U.K. Official Albums Chart, the group’s best result in Britain so far.
KATSEYE, the U.S.-based K-pop girl group, has topped the U.S. Billboard's main albums chart for the first time with its latest release.
Billboard announced in a preview of this week's chart on Sunday (U.S. time) that KATSEYE's third EP, "Wild," took the top spot on the Billboard 200 with 170,000 equivalent album units, outpacing Phoebe Bridgers' "Lost Weekend" and Stray Kids' "This & That."
The result marks the first time KATSEYE has reached No. 1 on the chart since the group debuted in 2024 through HYBE's U.S. partnership with Geffen Records, a venture conceived to apply K-pop's trainee-and-debut system to an English-language act aimed at Western audiences. It also extends a steady chart climb: KATSEYE's second EP, "Beautiful Chaos," peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in 2025, after its 2024 debut EP, "SIS (Soft Is Strong)," reached No. 19.
KATSEYE is the fourth K-pop girl group to top the Billboard 200 since 2020, following BLACKPINK with "Born Pink" in 2022, NewJeans with "Get Up" in 2023 and TWICE with "With You-th" in 2024.
The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, measured by equivalent album units comprising physical and digital sales, as well as streaming and digital track downloads converted into album sales. Of the 170,000 units earned by "Wild," album sales accounted for 145,000, according to Billboard. The sales-heavy mix reflects a pattern typical of K-pop releases, whose first-week totals are routinely driven by physical editions sold in multiple collectible versions.
Released on Aug. 14, "Wild" explores accepting every facet of one's inner self while pursuing instinct and freedom. HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, British pop star Ed Sheeran, and producers Omer Fedi and Blake Slatkin were among those who took part in the album's creation.
The EP had earlier become KATSEYE's highest-charting release in Britain, debuting at No. 2 on the Official Albums Chart Top 100 released Friday (local time).
KATSEYE was formed through "The Debut: Dream Academy," a survival program jointly launched by HYBE and Universal Music Group's Geffen Records that drew some 120,000 applicants worldwide. The audition process was chronicled in the 2024 Netflix documentary "Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE," and the final six-member lineup brings together members from the United States, Switzerland and South Korea. The group made its U.S. debut in 2024 and has since released hit songs including "Gnarly" and "Gabriela," earning a best new artist nomination at this year's Grammy Awards.
Before KATSEYE, BLACKPINK, NewJeans, TWICE, BTS, SuperM, Stray Kids, Ateez and Tomorrow X Together had reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 among K-pop acts, while the original soundtrack album for Netflix's global hit animation "KPop Demon Hunters" also led the chart.
Meanwhile, Stray Kids' "This & That" fell two places from the previous week to No. 3 with 82,000 equivalent album units.
