Esquire included Be on its year-end list of the 30 best albums of 2020. [75] Idolator ranked the album 53rd on its list of the 70 best pop albums of 2020. [76] The album won Album of the Year – 4th Quarter at the 2021 Gaon Chart Music Awards in January. [77] It also received a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2021 Melon Music Awards held on December 4, but did not win. [78] The following week, it won Album of the Year at the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards. [79] At the 36th Golden Disc Awards, held in January 2022, Be won a Best Album bonsang and earned BTS their record fifth consecutive Album of the Year daesang. [80]
Be debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with 242,000 album-equivalent units, including 177,000 sales, on the chart dated December 5, 2020. The album is BTS's fifth chart-topper in the United States, making BTS the fastest group to earn five number-one albums since the Beatles between 1966 and 1968, as well as the first group to have two chart-topping albums in the country in 2020. [81] Its lead single "Life Goes On" debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 with 150,000 downloads and 14.9 million U.S. streams, becoming the band's third number-one song following "Dynamite" and "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)" remix. With this, BTS became the fastest group in over 42 years to earn three number-one songs in a span of three months since the Bee Gees. They became the second act following Ariana Grande to score three Hot 100 number one entries in 2020, as well as the first group to land two number-one debuts on the chart. "Life Goes On" marked the first song not sung in an English language to debut atop the chart. [82] BTS became the only act apart from Taylor Swift to debut at number one on the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 simultaneously. [83] They also became the first group and ninth overall act to prevail on top of the Artist 100, Hot 100, and Billboard 200 charts at the same time. [84] Seven tracks from the album charted concurrently on the Hot 100 chart, with "Life Goes On" and "Dynamite" in the top-10, "Blue & Grey" in the top-20, and "Stay" in the top-40. This stood as the most simultaneous entries on the Hot 100 chart by a Korean act. [85] With over 252,000 physical copies sold by the end of 2020, according to MRC Data, Be was the fifth best-selling physical album of the year in the US. [86] It was one of two BTS albums to make it on the top-ten ranking, the other being Map of the Soul: 7 in first place, making BTS the only artist with multiple albums on the chart. [87] In Canada, Be arrived at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, giving BTS their fourth chart-topping album in the country. [88]
Be debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart with over 2.2 million copies sold in its first week. This marked the second-highest opening week sales figures in the chart's history, only behind Map of the Soul: 7 which holds the record with over 3.3 million copies its first week. [89] [90] Be became BTS's eighth consecutive million seller in the country. [91] The album exceeded sales of 2,692,000 copies by the end of 2020, achieving the second position on Gaon's year-end chart, only behind Map of the Soul: 7. BTS had the most entries on the 100-spot ranking, with 13 of their albums entering the final chart. [92] In March 2021, the album received a triple million certification from the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). [93] In Japan, Be reached number one on the Oricon Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). [94] [95]
Be debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 19,562 copies, behind Michael Ball and Alfie Boe's Together at Christmas. [96] This became BTS's fourth top-10 album in the country. [97] In Ireland, the album topped the Irish Albums Chart, becoming the band's second chart-topper following Map of the Soul: 7. By doing so, BTS became the first group in eight years to have two number-one albums in the same calendar year since One Direction in 2012, and also the first act since Ed Sheeran in 2017. [98] The album was also a chart-topper in New Zealand, giving BTS their third number one album in the territory. [99] By reaching the same position on both the Norwegian Albums Chart and Ultratop 200 Albums chart, Be became BTS's first number one album in Norway and in the Flemish region of Belgium. [100] [101] It also topped the charts in Denmark, [102] Poland, [103] and Portugal. [104] In Australia, Be entered at number two on the ARIA Albums chart, giving BTS their seventh top-10 entry. [105] The album also attained number two position in Finland, [106] France, Italy, [107] Netherlands, [108] Spain, [109] and Switzerland. [110] Similarly, Be reached number three in Sweden and Wallonia region of Belgium. [111] [112] The album also entered Germany's Offizielle Top 100 at number four, [113] and the Czech Albums at number five. [114]
Following the release of the Essential Edition in February 2021, Be returned to the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 at number seven on the chart dated March 6, [115] with an additional 36,000 equivalent album units sold. Of this number, 28,000 copies were pure sales, giving the album a third non-consecutive week at number one on the Top Album Sales chart. BTS also returned to the top of the Artist 100 chart for their 16th week overall, further extending their record among all duos/groups. [116] In Japan, the album sold an additional 95,853 copies for the period February 15–21 and re-entered the top three of the weekly Oricon Albums Chart at number two on the issue dated March 1, 2021. [117] The album also ranked at number two on the monthly chart for February, with 118,912 cumulative sales. [118] On March 26, Billboard reported that 32 albums saw an increase in sales—for the week ending March 18—following the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Of these, Be was the 12th highest-selling album—experiencing a 6% increase—and moved 15,300 units, which helped push it into the top 40 of the Billboard 200 at number 39. [119] As of August 2021, the album has remained on the chart for 37 consecutive weeks. [120]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Life Goes On" |
| Pdogg | 3:27 |
2. | "Fly to My Room" (내 방을 여행하는 법; Nae bang-eul yeohaenghaneun beob [lit. "How to travel in my room"], performed by Suga, V, J-Hope, and Jimin) |
| Cosmo's Midnight | 3:42 |
3. | "Blue & Grey" |
|
| 4:15 |
4. | "Skit" |
| 3:00 | |
5. | "Telepathy" (잠시; Jamsi [lit. "For a moment"]) |
|
| 3:22 |
6. | "Dis-ease" (병; Byeong [lit. "Illness"]) |
| Brasstracks | 4:00 |
7. | "Stay" (performed by RM, Jin, and Jungkook) |
| Arston | 3:25 |
8. | "Dynamite" |
| Stewart | 3:19 |
Total length: | 28:30 |
Credits adapted from liner notes, Big Hit's website, NetEase Music and Tidal. [10] [121] [122] [123]
Main Musicians
| Instrument
Technical
Extra Vocals
|
Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [161] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [162] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [163] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Japan (RIAJ) [164] | Platinum | 250,000^ |
Poland (ZPAV) [165] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
South Korea (KMCA) [166] | 3× Million | 3,000,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [167] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [168] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide (IFPI) | — | 2,690,000 [169] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Edition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | November 20, 2020 | Big Hit Entertainment | Deluxe | [170] | |
CD | [171] | ||||
February 19, 2021 | Essential | [59] | |||