Kyu Sakamoto‘s Sukiyaki reached #14 in 1963; Utada ranked #69 in 2009.
Metal Resistance, the second album from the Japanese idol and heavy metal fusion group Babymetal, charted on the U.S. Billboard’s Top 200 at #39 in its first week. It is the first Japanese album to chart on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 since Kyu Sakamoto‘s Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits in 1963, 53 years ago. Metal Resistance shipped on April 1.
In comparison, the group’s debut album, the eponymous Babymetal, charted at #187 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 in 2014.
Babymetal appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on April 5, where they performed the track “Gimme Chocolate!!” from their 2014 album.
The trio’s world tour kicked off with a performance at The SSE Arena Wembley in London on April 2. The tour will then head to the United States on May 4 with stops in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, and more. A European leg will start in June.
Until Babymetal, Hikaru Utada was the only Japanese musical act to chart on the U.S. Billboard’s Top 100 in three decades. She accomplished this feat with This is the One at #69 in 2009. Sakamoto still holds the record for highest ranking, #14. Other Japanese artists who previously landed in the Top 100 include Isao Tomita (1975), Tsutomu Yamashita (1976), Yellow Magic Orchestra (Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto during 1980-1984), Yoko Ono (1980-1984) and Loudness (1986).
[Via Hachima Kikō]
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