As usual, at the end of the year, the prestigious music magazine Rolling Stone released its Top 100 Albums of 2025. While K-pop didn’t have a strong presence on this year’s list, Jennie emerged as the standout, with her debut solo album Ruby landing at #29 — the highest position for any K-pop artist in 2025.

Ruby not only received critical acclaim but also achieved impressive commercial success: debuting at #7 on the Billboard 200, selling over 660,000 copies in South Korea in its first week, and surpassing 1 million global sales within just 7 days. On Spotify, the album became the most-streamed K-pop solo debut of the year, with multiple tracks charting globally.

people-Jennie (Blackpink)-A-long black hair-A-dark red velvet corset top-B-low-rise dark denim jeans with white tie-C-ruby pendant necklace

Notably, the title track like JENNIE ranked #43 on Spotify’s “Most-Streamed Songs of 2025 (Global)” and made Jennie the first female K-pop soloist to appear on Apple Music’s year-end Top 100 Global chart, landing at #62.

In contrast, other BLACKPINK members did not appear in Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Albums of 2025. Despite Rosé’s hit single APT. and the strong chart performance of her album ROSIE, critics felt the album lacked cohesion. Lisa and Jisoo were also completely absent from the list.

A surprise entry came from Chaeyoung of TWICE, whose solo debut LIL FANTASY Vol.1 ranked at #86. The album debuted at #38 on Billboard 200, #3 on Billboard World Albums, and topped South Korea’s Hanteo Daily Chart upon release — a strong showing for a solo newcomer.

Nana Chaeyoung Dayoung solo debutperson' 'portrait' 'hand' 'stripped' 'shirt' 'dark' 'hair.

Beyond K-pop, the 2025 list was packed with global stars. Bad Bunny took the top spot with Debí Tirar Más Fotos, followed by Lady Gaga at #2 with Mayhem, and Taylor Swift at #15 with The Life of a Showgirl.

This year’s Top 100 Albums reflects the diversity of global music and reaffirms Jennie’s growing stature on the international stage.

Top 20 Best Album of 2025 by Rolling Stone:

  1. Bad Bunny – Debí Tirar Más Fotos

  2. Lady Gaga – Mayhem

  3. Rosalía – Lux

  4. Dijon – Baby

  5. Geese – Getting Killed

  6. Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

  7. Tyler Childers – Snipe Hunter

  8. Wednesday – Bleeds

  9. Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

  10. Playboi Carti – Music

  11. FKA Twigs – EUSEXUA

  12. Addison Rae – Addison

  13. Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend

  14. Earl Sweatshirt – Live Laugh Love

  15. Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl

  16. Silvana Estrada – Vendrán Suaves Lluvias

  17. billy woods – Golliwog

  18. Carter Faith – Cherry Valley

  19. Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving

  20. Justin Bieber – Swag


Sources: kenh14