
Rose of Blackpink sat at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 with solo single “APT.,” according to the chart preview published on Monday in the US.
She claimed the spot last week with her Bruno Mars collaboration, shattering her own record she set the week before as the highest rung for a K-pop solo female singer: No. 5.
Ever since the release of “APT.” in October last year, the artist has been making history as a K-pop solo female singer. It is spending 15 weeks on the main songs chart and is staying atop both Billboard Global excl. US and Global 200, for 14 and 12 weeks, respectively.
The music video for the mega hit blew past 1 billion views on YouTube as of Saturday, 105 days since release -- the shortest time in K-pop history and fifth shortest in the world.
EXO’s Xiumin to return as solo act: report

Xiumin of EXO will make a comeback as a solo singer next month, according to a local media report Tuesday.
Agency INB100 confirmed the news following the report.
He would be bringing out a new album on his own in about 2 1/2 years after his first solo set “Brand New.” He released the album in 2022, 10 years since he debuted as a member of the band. Since then, he participated in original soundtracks including those for dramas “Mr. Queen” and “CEO-dol Mart.” The veteran idol also played a supporting role in the latter.
Meanwhile, he is set to host a fan meetup in Yokohama, Japan Feb. 8-9 as part of EXO subunit EXO-CBX along with Baekhyun and Chen. The three formed the trio in 2016 and dropped EP “Hey Mama!” in Korea and the following year, first EP in Japan “Girls.”