NCT WISH Claims Music Bank Win as 'Ode to Love' Hits 1.82M Sales

NCT WISH claimed the top spot on KBS2's Music Bank on May 1, 2026, with their debut full-length album title track "Ode to Love" — defeating AKMU to take their first music show trophy of this comeback. For a group that debuted with the bold promise to become famous, it is the latest proof that they have delivered on every word.

The win closed out a week of remarkable commercial performance for the six-member group, who released "Ode to Love" on April 20, 2026, to immediate fan enthusiasm. Two weeks in, the album has rewritten the group's own records and placed their name at the top of charts across three countries.

Three Countries, One Chart Domination

Released through SM Entertainment, "Ode to Love" moved 1.825 million copies in its first week, making NCT WISH a three-consecutive-million-seller act. The milestone extends their own precedent — each of their previous releases cleared the million-copy mark, and with their debut full album, the group did it again at a pace that underscores just how much their fanbase has grown.

On the Circle Chart — South Korea's most widely cited music tracking system — "Ode to Love" hit number one on both the weekly album chart and the retail album chart, earning a double crown. The title track charted at number three on Melon's TOP 100 and topped the HOT 100. On Apple Music Korea's TOP 100, it entered at number three — the group's best streaming chart placement to date. Album tracks "Sticky" and "2.0 (TWO POINT O)" also appeared on the weekly charts, showing that listener enthusiasm extended well beyond the title cut.

The global reach was equally striking. In China, NCT WISH topped QQ Music's Korean music video chart and took number one on Tencent Music's integrated K-pop chart for the week. In Japan, they landed at the top of Line Music's weekly album chart. For an act only a few years into their career, simultaneous number-one rankings in South Korea, China, and Japan represent a level of cross-regional pull that most groups spend years working to build.

What Makes 'Ode to Love' Different

The title track is the kind of creative gamble that could easily feel gimmicky but instead landed with genuine impact. "Ode to Love" samples "Ode to My Family" by The Cranberries — the beloved Irish rock band behind '90s classics like "Zombie" and "Dreams." Taking a melody that generations of music fans have grown up with and weaving it into a new UK garage-based dance pop structure was not an obvious choice. But the result preserves the warmth of the original's humming motif while building something genuinely contemporary around it.

The choreography became a separate conversation almost immediately. A point move tied to the song's earworm lyric "뚜뚜루뚜" spread rapidly among fans online, and a gesture — sweeping fingers across the lips — was contributed by member Sion himself. The combination of a meaningful musical sample, an instantly recognizable vocal hook, and choreography with member involvement gave fans multiple entry points into the material. They responded in force, and Signy — as NCT WISH's fandom is known — showed up across every chart and vote that mattered.

What the Members Said After Winning

At Music Bank, the members' acceptance remarks felt grounded and specific. Member Sion reflected on what the achievement meant. "This is our first full album, so we worked really hard to prepare it," he said after accepting the trophy. "Working hard is only natural, but we're so happy that Signy gave us so much love and even let us win this award." He added that the group would continue striving to deserve that support.

Member Ryo directed his words to the fandom directly. "Thank you to Signy for voting so much and listening to our songs to put us at number one," he said. "We'll keep working hard." In the context of what the week looked like — months of preparation followed by days of intense fan mobilization — the simplicity of the message carried its own weight.

NCT WISH's acceptance moments tend to identify the specific things fans did — voting, streaming, purchasing physical copies — and thank them for those particular acts rather than issuing genre-standard blanket thank-yous. It is a small distinction, but one that fans notice and appreciate.

From Debut Promise to Full Album

NCT WISH holds a distinct position within the broader NCT universe. They are the most recently formed unit in a lineup that includes NCT 127, NCT Dream, and WayV — groups with years of catalog and fandom infrastructure behind them before NCT WISH even debuted. For the newer group, building visibility required starting from scratch.

Their debut-era declaration — "우리 유명해지겠다" (we're going to become famous) — became the group's unofficial motto and a rallying phrase for Signy. It was the kind of early-career statement that could have aged poorly, the sort of aspiration that fades under the weight of industry indifference. Instead, NCT WISH made the phrase progressively truer with every release. Three consecutive million-sellers. Charts in three countries. A Music Bank win with their first full album.

The 10-track "Ode to Love" marks a turning point in that story. For a group that built its fanbase incrementally with shorter releases, a full studio album represents a new scale of artistic and commercial ambition. The response — 1.82 million copies in one week, charts across Asia, and now a music show trophy — has met that ambition at every step.

NCT WISH continues their music show appearances in the coming days: MBC's "Show! Music Core" airs May 2, followed by SBS's "Inkigayo" on May 3. With the momentum the group currently carries, their Signy-powered run appears far from over. The famous ones kept their promise. Now they're just getting started.

For listeners unfamiliar with NCT's expanding universe, NCT WISH represents SM Entertainment's most globally-minded unit design: the six members — Sion, Ryo, Jaehee, Zion, Hyuk, and Junhan — were assembled with specific attention to cross-market appeal, with Korean, Japanese, and international fans built into the group's identity from the start. That structural intent has paid off in the data: the simultaneous Korean, Chinese, and Japanese chart performance is not a coincidence but the result of a deliberate approach to how the group communicates, promotes, and performs across different markets.