Billboard on Aug. 16 said that among songs not in English appearing on its Hot 100 singles chart, those in Korean were the second most common, with BTS (pictured) accounting for six of the eight Korean tracks to make the list. (BTS' official Facebook)

By Lee Jihae

Billboard of the U.S. says that among songs not in English entering its main singles chart Hot 100, those in Korean rank second in number.

The American music and entertainment magazine on Aug. 16 said this in its article headlined "Every Non-English-Language Song to Reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100."

"In total, 35 songs recorded either entirely or mostly in a non-English language have reached the top 10 of the Hot 100 in the chart’s 65-year history," it said. "Of the 35 non-English-language top 10 hits, 19 are in Spanish, the most of any language. Korean is the second-most (with eight), followed by German (three), French and Italian (two each) and Japanese (one)."

Six of the eight Korean songs were by the K-pop boy band BTS: "Fake Love," "Boy with Luv," "On," "Life Goes On" and "My Universe," along with member Jimin's solo track "Like Crazy."

The other two songs in Korean were "Gangnam Style" and "Gentleman" both by Psy.

The 10 songs not in English to top the chart also included three in Korean: "Life Goes On," My Universe" and "Like Crazy" all by BTS.

"Life Goes On" was the first non-English track to hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in its first week of release.

Billboard added, "Meanwhile, 23 of the 35 top 10s have reached the tier since 2012, following a 16-year break between 'Macarena' and 'Gangnam Style.' The influx coincides with music’s increased globalization, highlighted by hits from Bad Bunny and BTS, among others." 

jihlee08@korea.kr