BLACKPINK’s History-Making Accomplishments: A Timeline

BLACKPINK’s “Playing With Fire” opened at No. 92 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart dated Nov. 26. The feat made them the first K-pop girl group to chart on the Canadian Hot 100.

Read more about the group’s debut on the Canadian Hot 100.

BLACKPINK managed several firsts on three Billboard charts dated June 30:

The video for “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” snagged 36.2 million views in its first 24 hours to become the most viewed Korean music video of 2018 at that point, a rep for the video platform told Billboard at the time. The service also said that the video was the fastest one by a K-pop girl group to earn 100 million views, accomplishing the feat in only 10 days.

“Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” snagged the YouTube record when the video pulled in a huge number of eyeballs. “With 620.9 million views, BLACKPINK’s ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ is now the most viewed music video by a K-pop group,” a spokesperson for YouTube told Billboard at the time.

The March 2 issue was the first time a female K-pop group appeared on the cover of Billboard magazine. The issue featured five different covers: one with the women together, and an individual cover each for Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Rosé. Read BLACKPINK’s Billboard cover story, and check out the five cover photos.

The music video for “Kill This Love” was the biggest music video debut in YouTube’s history at the time, the video streaming platform confirmed to Billboard. The video, which dropped April 5, pulled in 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours, and also earned 100 million views in less than three days. The video also had an astounding 979,000 peak concurrents, which set a record at the time.

• Hot 100: The group’s “Kill This Love” debuted at No. 41 on the chart dated April 20. That feat made BLACKPINK’s tune the highest charting Hot 100 song by a K-pop girl group. The previous record was held by none other than themselves, when “Ddu-Ddu Ddu-Du” debuted and peaked at No. 55 in June 2018.
• Billboard 200: Their Kill This Love EP debuted at No. 24 also on April 20, making it the highest-charting title by an all-female K-pop group.

Read more about the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 accomplishment.

BLINKs can’t get enough of the girl group! BLACKPINK became the first K-pop group to have a music video reach the 1 billion views mark on YouTube. “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,” which was released on June 15, 2018, reached the milestone in a little more than a year. Fellow Korean artist Psy was the first act to hit that mark with his viral hit “Gangnam Style” in 2012.

If there was any question that “How You Like That” would be a massive hit, the video smashed all doubts when it premiered June 26 with 1.66 million peak concurrents on YouTube. It was also the biggest 24-hour music video debut ever, pulling in an astounding 86.4 million views, beating the record they set the year before with “Kill This Love.”

The girl group snagged three entries in the Guinness World Records thanks to the video for their single “How You Like That.” With more than 86 million views in just the first day of release, the video earned Guinness’ most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours, most viewed music video on YouTube in 24 hours, and most viewed YouTube music video in 24 Hours by a K-pop group. All three records were previously held by fellow K-pop group BTS.

BLACKPINK in early July became the sixth act to surpass 40 million subscribers, making them one of the musical acts with the most followers. They trailed only Justin Bieber (55.6 million), Marshmello (47.2 million), Ed Sheeran (45.1 million), and Eminem (43.6 million). When they first joined the elite list, BLACKPINK was behind Ariana Grande, who had 42.3 million subscribers at the time. But by the end of the month, the quartet had earned more subscribers than the “7 Rings” singer, coming in with 42.7 million followers.

“How You Like That” indeed! BLACKPINK became the first all-female K-pop group to win an MTV Video Music Award when the hit took home the Moon Man in the song of the summer category. The quartet had also been nominated for best group, which went to fellow K-pop stars BTS.

Move over, Justin Bieber! BLACKPINK became the artist with the most subscribers on YouTube when the K-pop quartet officially surpassed 65.5 million followers. “Our BLINKs contributed a lot to this achievement. Therefore we hope they also enjoy this honor,” BLACKPINK said in a statement. “We will continue to bring positivity and great energy through our music and videos.”

How you like that! The K-pop stars became the first musical act on YouTube to hit the 75 million subscriber milestone, keeping them as the artist with the most subscribers.

One by one, then two by two, records are falling at the feet of BLACKPINK. The global stars achieved the biggest music video debut in 24 hours (so far) in 2022 when they dropped the music video for “Pink Venom,” the lead single of sophomore studio album Born Pink. YouTube confirmed the record days after the Aug. 19 launch of the visual, noting that it received an astounding 90.4 million views in just the first day.

“Pink Venom” is currently the third biggest music video debut on YouTube. It trails only BTS’ “Butter” (108.2 million views in 24 hours) and BTS’ “Dynamite” (101.1 million).

The song’s first-day numbers on Spotify were impressive as well. The music streamer told Billboard that “Pink Venom” became the most streamed song by a female artist in a single day thus far in 2022.

Girl power! BLACKPINK debuted atop the Billboard 200 dated Oct. 1 (released Sept. 25) with sophomore album Born Pink. The eight-song set is the first by an all-female group to top the all-genre chart since Danity Kane’s Welcome to the Dollhouse launched at No. 1 on the April 5, 2008, tally.

BLACKPINK is the third K-pop group to top the chart, following BTS’ Proof and Stray Kids’ mini album Oddinary. But unlike those two efforts, Born Pink is mostly in English with some Korean-language lyrics, while the boy bands’ sets are mostly in Korean.

Lisa tripled up on records when the Guinness World Records announced that she had added to her impressive successes as a solo artist. The three new records she earned? Most Instagram followers for a K-pop artist (86.3 million as of Jan. 19, 2023), first solo K-pop winner at the MTV Video Music Awards and first solo K-pop winner at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

Four years after becoming the first K-pop girl group to play Coachella, BLACKPINK returned to headline the annual music event, making the quartet the first Asian act to do so. “Still feels surreal that we did this! Thank you @coachella for having us!” the foursome wrote in a series of Instagram Stories showing off their high-octane stage in the California desert. “And to all BLINKs out there, we could’ve never done this without you guys. We are forever grateful. Thank you again for these unforgettable two weeks and hope to see you all again!”

BLACKPINK is all up in Spotify’s area! The quartet became the first K-pop girl group to join Spotify’s Billions Club when its hit “How You Like That” surpassed one billion streams on the streaming platform.