These Were The Top Ten Best-Selling K-Pop Male Solo Artists In 2020
We took a look at the top ten best-selling female K-Pop solo artists in 2020, and now it’s the boys’ turn! The year showed us many great solo releases, both from new and more experienced artists, as well as from both just solo artists and those that have debuted outside of their original group. Here are the top 10 best-selling male K-Pop solo artists of 2020!
10. Kim Wooseok
Kim Wooseok was originally known as Wooshin in the group UP10TION, which he debuted in in 2015. He took part in the survival show Produce X 101 in 2019, placing 2nd and earning him a spot in X1 until their early disbandment. He made a debut as a solo artist this year on May 25 with the EP 1st Desire [Greed] and the title track “Red Moon”. This release earned him the New K-Wave Voice Award at the 2020 Soribada Best K-Music Awards! So far, he’s sold 117.6k copies of his album in 2020.
9. Ha Sungwoon
Ha Sungwoon took part in season 2 of Produce 101, where he managed to become the last member of the group Wanna One that was formed by the show. He was with the group from its debut in August 2017 until its planned disbandment in December 2018, and began his solo career in February 2019 with the EP My Moment and the single “Bird”.
Since his solo debut, he has released four EPs, two of which came out in 2020: Twilight Zone (on June 8) and Mirage (on November 9). Between these albums, he has sold 143.2k units this year.
8. Wonho
MONSTA X fans were devastated when Wonho left the group in October 2019 after allegations that were later proven false. Fortunately, however, he didn’t waste time in starting his solo career, releasing the pre-release single “Losing You” on August 14, 2020 ahead of his debut EP Love Synonym Pt.1: Right for Me, which came out on September 4 with the title song “Open Mind”. With this album, he has so far sold 145.5k units!
7. Park Jihoon
Park Jihoon also competed on season 2 of Produce 101, placing 2nd on the show and earning a place in Wanna One from their debut until disbandment. He wasted no time in starting his solo career, debuting with the EP O’Clock and title track “L.O.V.E” in March 2019 just a couple month after Wanna One disbanded. He is also known for having a fairly successful acting career!
Since his debut, he has released one full-length studio album (Message, which came out on November 4 this year) as well as 3 EPs (including The W, which came out on May 26 this year). In 2020, he has sold 165.2k albums.
6. WOODZ
WOODZ, also known by his real name Cho Seungyoun, debuted with UNIQ in October 2014 as their main rapper and sub-vocalist. He participated in season 5 of the rap competition show Show Me the Money in 2016, and though he was eliminated early on, his appearance was positively viewed. He first debuted as a solo artist under the name Luizy in July 2016, though his stage name later changed to WOODZ in February 2018.
In 2019, he participated in Produce X 101, where he finished in 5th and earned a spot in X1. After their disbandment, he made a full return to his solo career with the EP Equal and title track “Love Me Harder” on June 29, 2020. He also released the EP Woops! and title track “Bump Bump” this year on November 17, and between these he has sold 245.7k album units.
5. Taemin
Taemin first debuted in the group SHINee in May 2008 at the age of 14. After a very successful 6 years as their maknae, he made his solo debut in August 2014 with the EP Ace and lead single “Danger”. Known equally as much, if not more, for his dance skills as his singing skills, he has long been praised for his performance abilities that have seemed to just get better over his solo career. He also debuted in the SM Entertainment super-group, SuperM, in 2019.
Since his debut, he has released 4 full-length studio albums, one reissued album, and 5 EPs. In 2020 he released a two-part series of albums, Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 1 (on September 7) and Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 2 (on November 9) with the title tracks “Criminal” and “Idea:理想” respectively. For this year, he has sold 269.1k album units.
4. Suho
Suho debuted as the leader of EXO in April 2012, and along with being a singer, is also known for starring in various dramas such as The Universe’s Star and Rich Man. He only debuted as a solo artist this year, releasing his debut EP Self-Portrait along with the title track “Let’s Love” on March 30. This made him the fourth EXO member to debut as a soloist! The album debuted at #1 on Gaon’s Album Chart, and has earned him 290.8k unit sales so far.
3. Kim Hojoong
Kim Hojoong is a well-known trot singer in South Korea. Classically trained in the genre, he made his breakthrough in the music industry after appearing on the reality show Mr. Trot in 2020. He placed fourth on the show and released two studio albums, Family Members and My Family, as well as five singles following his appearance. Between these, he has sold 539.0k album units in 2020.
2. Kang Daniel
Kang Daniel, like others on this list, took part in season 2 of Produce 101 and ended up placing in first and securing a spot in Wanna One. After its disbandment, he took a break from the industry to create his own agency to produce music under. By mid-2019, he’d accomplished this goal by creating Konnect Entertainment and released his first EP, Color On Me, with the lead single “What Are You Up To”, on July 25. It earned him his first music show award on Music Bank on August 9!
Since his debut, he has released 3 EPs, with his two most recent, Cyan and Magenta, released on March 24 and August 3 of 2020 respectively. Between these albums, he has sold 604.7k units in the year.
1. Baekhyun
Like Suho, Baekhyun first debuted with EXO in April 2012. He made his debut as a solo artist in July 2019 with the EP City Lights with the title track “UN Village”, which ended up selling over 550k copies and became the best-selling album by a solo artist in the history of Gaon’s Music Chart at the time. In 2019 he was announced as the leader of SuperM, and in early 2020 he released a couple of OSTs for various dramas.
On May 25, Baekhyun released his latest album, Delight, with the title track “Candy”. Once again, the album was a massive hit, earning over 732k pre-orders and becoming the most pre-ordered album by a solo artist in the country. On July 1, it was announced to have sold over 1 million copies, making it the first to do so since Kim Gunmo‘s Another Days in 2001. To date, he has sold 1.05 million album units in 2020.
