Mumbai, Dec 18 (IANS) The latest mini album of the girl group XG, titled ‘AWE’, has debuted on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album landed at Number 175 spot. For Japanese artists, it’s significant as well, as it follows Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s ‘A Symphonic Celebration, Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki’ from 2023, and as the first Japanese girl group to make the list since Baby Metal’s ‘Metal Galaxy’ in 2019.
XG’s success follows the historic achievement of their song ‘Grl Gvng’ which ranked Number 1 on the ‘Hot Trending Songs Powered by Twitter’ chart, making them the first Japanese artist to top the weekly chart in the US.
‘AWE’ was released in Japan on November 8 and in the US on December 6. It ranked Number 3 on both the Oricon Weekly Album Chart and the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. The album also charted as high as Number 12 on the Apple Music Worldwide Album Chart (Daily). It entered the Top 200 in 48 countries and regions, and hit Number 2 on the iTunes Top 100 Pop Albums (Worldwide).
This year, the girl group launched their first world tour, ‘The First HOWL,’ and have performed 29 shows in 26 cities worldwide. The tour has attracted approximately 120,000 fans in Asia, 50,000 in North America, and 30,000 in the UK and Europe, with a total audience of around 200,000—a remarkable feat for a Japanese artist.
XG is also all set to perform at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. This makes them the only Japanese artist to perform at the music and arts festival. They will also be the first Japanese female artist to take the second headliner spot, just below the main headliner, sparking significant excitement in the music world.
–IANS
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