BTS may have officially ruined our understanding of what constitutes a large number.
Jimin’s “Who” has surpassed 2.5 billion cumulative streams on Spotify, according to BIGHIT MUSIC. The milestone was reached on July 30, a little over two years after the title track from his second solo album, MUSE, was released. For anyone who needs the full number written out to properly appreciate what we’re dealing with, that’s 2,500,000,000 streams.
And somehow, within the BTS universe, we’re becoming alarmingly accustomed to numbers like these.
“Who” Has Had Remarkable Staying Power
Released in July 2024, “Who” arrived with enormous attention, but its longevity has turned out to be an even bigger story. The song debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ultimately spent 33 weeks on the chart, making it the longest-charting song by a Korean soloist in Hot 100 history.
That distinction matters because massive opening numbers are one thing; convincing people to continue listening for months and eventually years is another. “Who” didn’t simply benefit from the excitement surrounding Jimin’s second solo album. It developed the kind of sustained streaming performance that separates a successful release from a genuine long-term hit.
Two years later, listeners are apparently still asking “Who?” The answer remains Jimin, and they’ve now asked approximately 2.5 billion times.
Jung Kook Is Also Collecting Billions
Naturally, Jimin isn’t the only BTS member making the word “billion” sound suspiciously ordinary.
Jung Kook’s “Standing Next to You” has now accumulated approximately 1.5 billion Spotify streams, adding another enormous streaming milestone to his solo career. The song debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for 19 weeks. It became Jung Kook’s sixth entry on the chart and his third Top 10 hit, while also reaching No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts.
Normally, 1.5 billion streams would be the number you put in enormous letters at the top of the press release.
Unfortunately for “Standing Next to You,” it lives in the same discography as “Seven.”
“Seven” Has Entered Completely Ridiculous Territory
As of July 31, Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, has accumulated approximately 3.043 billion Spotify streams. It crossed the 3-billion threshold in June 2026, becoming the first song by a Korean or Asian artist to reach that milestone on the platform.
Three billion streams is one of those numbers that stops being intuitively understandable. For perspective, the world has a population of a little over 8 billion people. Obviously, 3 billion streams do not mean 3 billion individual listeners, but the comparison at least gives some sense of the enormous scale involved.
“Seven” was already historic from the beginning. The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Jung Kook his first chart-topper as a solo artist, and also dominated Spotify and Billboard’s global charts. Three years later, its streaming numbers continue to expand the definition of what a Korean solo artist can achieve internationally.
Three Songs, Around 7 Billion Streams
Put these milestones together and things become slightly absurd.
“Who” has more than 2.5 billion streams. “Seven” has approximately 3.043 billion. “Standing Next to You” has around 1.5 billion. Combined, those three songs alone have accumulated more than 7 billion Spotify streams.
And those are three solo songs from only two members of BTS.
That last point is important because BTS’ individual careers have increasingly demonstrated that the enormous audience surrounding the group doesn’t disappear when the seven members pursue different musical directions. Jimin and Jung Kook have released very different solo projects, yet both have produced songs capable of sustaining extraordinary international streaming numbers long after their initial promotional periods ended.
There was once a time when reaching 100 million Spotify streams was treated as an extraordinary milestone for a K-pop artist. Then 500 million became possible. Then came the billion-stream club.
Now BTS members are apparently collecting billions like loyalty points.
BTS Has Completely Broken Our Sense of Scale
The most impressive part of Jimin reaching 2.5 billion isn’t simply the size of the number. It’s that “Who” continues accumulating listeners more than two years after its release, while Jung Kook’s biggest solo songs are demonstrating similar staying power.
For artists, that longevity can be considerably more valuable than a spectacular debut followed by a rapid decline. Songs that continue attracting listeners years later become catalog assets, introducing new audiences to an artist even when there isn’t an active promotional campaign behind them.
For BTS, it also provides another indication of how large the individual members’ careers have become alongside the group itself.
Jimin now has a 2.5-billion-stream song. Jung Kook has one above 3 billion and another around 1.5 billion. Meanwhile, BTS is back together and touring as a seven-member group.
Apparently dominating streaming as BTS wasn’t enough.
They had to start doing it individually too.
Congratulations to Jimin on another extraordinary milestone—and our condolences to everyone who now has to find increasingly creative ways to explain just how enormous 2.5 billion actually is.
