EXO’s holiday song ‘First Snow’ tops charts a decade after release

EXO’s “First Snow” has climbed to the top of the South Korean charts this Christmas season.

But the bigger news is, the winter-themed song, which now ranks first on Melon’s chart, has become the first song to achieve this milestone 10 years after its release. It’s also the first boy group song to top Melon’s Daily chart.

As of 21 December, the holiday-favorite song is also ruling other popular music streaming services in South Korea such as Bugs, Flo and Genie. And it has gone viral as a dance trend on TikTok.

Following the song’s success, EXO’s leader SUHO expressed his gratitude toward fans and listeners with a short yet heartfelt message.

k-pop boy group EXO.

“Let’s have a warm end of the year EXO-L,” the leader wrote in a post.

Due to the song’s popularity, K-pop groups like NCT Dream, aespa, Red Velvet, ITZY, BOYNEXTDOOR, ATEEZ and more have hopped on the TikTok dance challenge.

Luckily for EXO-Ls (EXO’s fanbase), seven out of nine members have participated in the challenge while garnering millions of views. Lay was the first EXO member to do the trend, followed by Sehun, who enlisted in the South Korean military on 21 December.

Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin the dance trend as a trio, while Chanyeol and Suho both did the challenge solo against a snow background.

The song’s popularity has reached the Philippines, with celebrity volleyball player Alyssa Valdez using the song as background music for her Instagram stories on 20 December.

First released in 2013 as part of EXO’s winter album Miracles in December, “First Snow” has become a classic Christmas song that resurfaces consistently on Korean music charts once the holiday season approaches, proving the group’s popularity and longevity through the years.

EXO debuted in 2012 and since then has released a succession of hits, among them “Growl,” “Love Me Right,” “Kokobop,” “Loveshot” and more.

The Chinese-South Korean group made its much-awaited comeback this year with its seventh album, EXIST. With this comeback, three music videos were released, one for the title track “Cream Soda” and the other two for the B-sides “Hear Me Out” and “Let Me In.”