Stray Kids Make Billboard History With Ninth Consecutive No. 1 Album
Stray Kids have done something no act in the 69-year history of the Billboard 200 has ever done: debut their first nine charting albums all at No. 1. The K-pop group’s new mini album, “THIS & THAT,” landed at the top of the chart dated August 22, 2026, marking their ninth consecutive chart-topper and, in the process, their biggest U.S. sales week to date.
The achievement puts Stray Kids in rarefied company. They now tie the Rolling Stones for the second-most No. 1 albums by a group in Billboard 200 history, trailing only the Beatles, who hold the all-time record with 19. Among all artists — solo or group — active in the 2020s, Stray Kids tie Taylor Swift for the most No. 1s of the decade, with nine apiece.
The Numbers Behind the Milestone
“THIS & THAT” opened with 369,000 equivalent album units in the United States, according to Billboard’s chart preview. Of that total, 357,000 came from traditional album sales — a staggering figure that underscores just how much of Stray Kids’ commercial success is still driven by physical and digital purchases rather than streaming alone.
That sales performance makes “THIS & THAT” the second-largest week of 2026 by pure album sales, trailing only BTS’ “ARIRANG,” which moved 532,000 copies in its debut week back in March.
Looking at overall equivalent album units — which blend sales, track-equivalent albums, and streaming-equivalent albums — “THIS & THAT” ranks as the sixth-biggest week for any album released in 2026.
The mini album’s commercial muscle was helped along by an aggressive release strategy: 17 different CD and vinyl variants, many featuring randomized collectible inserts like photocards, posters, and stickers, plus eight separate digital download variants.
It’s a now-familiar playbook in K-pop, where physical variant strategies reliably drive massive first-week numbers, but Stray Kids’ execution of it has proven unusually effective release after release.
The album also surged on streaming platforms. “THIS & THAT” reportedly generated more than 12.8 million Spotify streams on its first day alone — the biggest single-day streaming opening for a fourth-generation K-pop act in 2026, behind only BTS’ “ARIRANG” and BLACKPINK’s “DEADLINE” among all Korean releases that year. By the end of its first tracking week, the album had accumulated roughly 46 million global Spotify streams.
A Streak That Started in 2022
Stray Kids’ run atop the Billboard 200 began in March 2022 with their mini album “ODDINARY,” a breakthrough that signaled the group’s arrival as a genuine commercial force in the U.S. market. What followed was one of the most consistent chart streaks in modern music history:
- ODDINARY (2022) — the group’s first No. 1
- MAXIDENT (2022)
- (5-STAR) (2023)
- 樂-STAR (ROCK-STAR) (2023)
- ATE (2024) — the album that made them the first group ever to notch five consecutive No. 1 debuts, moving 232,000 units in its first week
- SKZHOP HIPTAPE: HOP (2024/2025) — the release that pushed their streak to six straight chart-topping debuts, another first in Billboard 200 history
- KARMA (2025) — debuted with 313,000 units, including 296,000 in pure album sales
- SKZ IT TAPE: DO IT (2025) — opened with 295,000 units
- THIS & THAT (2026) — the group’s ninth consecutive No. 1 and now their biggest debut ever
Each release built on the last, with the group steadily expanding both its commercial ceiling and its historical footprint.
When “ATE” hit No. 1 in mid-2024, Stray Kids became the first act — of any genre, from any era — to debut five consecutive albums atop the chart, a distinction they shared briefly with only rapper DMX, who had accomplished something similar decades earlier with four. Every album since has only widened that gap between Stray Kids and the rest of the field.
Where They Stand Among Chart Legends
Billboard 200 No. 1s among groups are notoriously hard to stack up, given how the chart has evolved over nearly seven decades of format shifts — from vinyl-only sales tracking to the multi-metric, streaming-inclusive model used today.
Still, the comparison is striking: Stray Kids’ nine No. 1s put them in a tier occupied by only two other acts in the chart’s history among groups, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
The Beatles’ 19 No. 1 albums were compiled across a career spanning the entire British Invasion era into the early 1970s, a run that predates modern chart methodology and reflects a different musical landscape entirely.
The Rolling Stones built their nine No. 1s over a similarly extended, decades-long career. Stray Kids, by contrast, have reached the same number in roughly four years — a pace that has no real historical precedent for a group act.
Restricting the comparison to acts that debuted after 2000, Stray Kids stand alone as the group with the most Billboard 200 No. 1 albums of any act, K-pop or otherwise, in that window.
Within K-pop specifically, no other group comes close to matching their consistency; it is a genre known for passionate, mobilized fanbases capable of driving huge first-week numbers, but sustaining a streak this long, across nine separate release cycles without a single miss, sets Stray Kids apart even within that context.
What “THIS & THAT” Beat to Get There
The new mini album’s debut week put it up against a competitive top five. Ariana Grande’s “petal,” which had opened at No. 1 the week prior, slipped to No. 2 after earning 82,000 units in its second week
a 72% drop that is fairly typical for second-week attrition on a pop blockbuster. Olivia Rodrigo’s “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” held steady at No. 3 with about 72,000 units, essentially flat week over week.
Ella Langley’s “Dandelion” was similarly stable at No. 4 with just over 70,000 units, while Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” slid two spots to No. 5 with 70,000 units, down 6%. Noah Kahan’s “The Great Divide” rounded out the top six.
That “THIS & THAT” outsold all of those releases — several by former or reigning No. 1 acts — by a wide margin speaks to how large Stray Kids’ fanbase mobilization has become. Chart analysts and outlets tracking the album’s trajectory noted the writing was on the wall well before release week: projections from industry tracking service HITSDD pegged the album at around 362,000 units days before its official bow, and the final tally came in even higher than that forecast.
Why This Album Was Always Going to Be Different
Even before the sales figures came in, there were signs “THIS & THAT” was on track to be Stray Kids’ biggest release yet. Every track on the eight-song mini album reportedly surpassed two million Spotify streams within days of release — an unusually broad and even level of engagement for a project still early in its promotional cycle, suggesting the album’s appeal wasn’t concentrated in a single lead single but distributed across the full tracklist.
The album’s most prominent single, “RUN IT,” has served as the commercial and promotional centerpiece, but the across-the-board streaming performance indicates fans engaged deeply with the full body of work rather than just the title track — a pattern that tends to correlate with stronger long-tail chart performance in the weeks following a debut.
The Bigger Picture
For an act that broke through less than five years ago, Stray Kids’ trajectory has been almost uninterrupted. They’ve now out-produced or matched some of the most decorated group acts in Billboard 200 history in a fraction of the time, while simultaneously expanding what’s commercially possible for a K-pop group in the U.S. market — a space that, prior to groups like BTS and Stray Kids, was often treated as a niche or secondary market by the American music industry.
With “THIS & THAT” now the group’s biggest opening week ever, the obvious question turns to what comes next. A tenth consecutive No. 1 would put them within one of tying the Rolling Stones outright, and given the group’s release pace — often two or more projects per year.
That milestone may not be far off. For now, Stray Kids sit at nine, tied with a British rock institution that has been recording since 1962, having built their own legacy in barely a fifth of the time.
This article is based on reporting from Billboard, Variety, The Korea Herald, and other outlets tracking the August 22, 2026-dated Billboard 200 chart.