"Map of the Soul: Persona," the latest, record-breaking album of K-pop boy band BTS, came in at 3rd on the Billboard 200 main album chart for this week, one week after it debuted at No. 1, the Billboard website said.

"BTS' 'Map of the Soul: Persona' slips from No. 1 to No. 3 in its second week, scoring 57,000 (equivalent album) units,"



Billboard said in an article posted on Sunday (US time) ahead of its official release of the weekly chart dated May 4.

A week earlier, the BTS album, the opener of its new "Map of the Soul" album series, debuted on the album chart at No. 1, scoring the band's third top-ranked album within a span of less than 11 months.

This made the septet the first band since the Beatles to win three No. 1s on the Billboard 200.

It was also a record for the shortest time to accumulate No. 1 albums by a group since the Monkees, which collected three No. 1s in nine months and three weeks in 1967.

"Boy With Love," the main track off "Persona," ranked 8th on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the highest BTS has climbed on the list.

BTS is competing in two categories -- Top Duo/Group and Top Social Artist -- at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards slated for May 1 in Las Vegas. (Yonhap)