BTS ends 2018 as second top album seller in U.S.

Jan. 8 (UPI) -- K-pop boy band BTS finished the year 2018 as the second-highest album seller in the United States, behind Eminem, U.S. data showed Tuesday.

The 2018 report on U.S. Music Industry Consumption by Buzz Angle Music showed BTS sold 603,307 albums last year, coming after the top seller Eminem's 755,027.

The BTS sales figure was far more than those by two English-speaking music idols, Justin Timberlake and Ed Sheeran, who sold 432,913 and 409,291 albums, respectively, to rank 10th and 11th.

BTS released two albums last year -- "Love Yourself: Tear" and "Love Yourself: Answer" -- which both topped the Billboard 200 album chart, making the septet one of the few musicians to clinch the top spot of the list twice in one year.

The third most sold musician by album sales was Chris Stapleton, an American singer-songwriter who sold 577,287 albums, followed by the American heavy metal band Metallica, which came in fourth with 539,861 albums.

BTS also ranked 15th on the Buzz Angle Music's Top Artists chart, which takes into account album sales, as well as singles and on-demand audio streaming sales. Drake topped the same chart.