Unsurprisingly, K-pop mega-group BTS scored another No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with their reunion album, Arirang. This is the seventh time the group has held the sport’s top spot on the chart.
The seven-member band returned for their first album in nearly four years last week, following a group hiatus to complete mandatory military conscription in their native South Korea. Fans of the group, collectively known as ARMY, have been eagerly awaiting the group’s comeback ever since. Arirang It finished its first week with 641,000 equivalent album units, according to Bulletin boardwhich marked the biggest debut for an album of the year and the best opening for a group since the chart began measuring in units in 2014.
In terms of traditional album sales, BTS had the biggest debut week for a group in over a decade with 532,000. They came close to dethroning One Direction, who debuted on their 2013 album Midnight Memories with 547,000 in pure sales, according to Billboard.
ArirangBTS’ debut was BTS’s biggest sales week to date on the chart. It was also the group’s biggest streaming week to date, according to Billboard. Arirang It marks the biggest week for an album in both units and pure sales since Taylor Swift dominated the charts with The life of a showgirl last year.
BTS, a historic pioneer in the globalization of K-pop, celebrated their comeback last week by performing live on Netflix in front of Gwanghwamun, the main gate and historic entrance to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. The choice of venue was not a coincidence, as the new album is in many ways a meditation on the group’s cultural identity.
album name, Arirangpays tribute to a cherished Korean folk song of the same name, which is reputed to be the first song in the country, sung by Korean men, ever recorded (preserved for posterity by American ethnologist Alice Fletcher in 1896). Decorations from the original Arirang It features prominently in the closing minutes of the new album’s opening song, “Body to Body.” One of the most striking tracks on the album is “Number 29”, a song consisting solely of the sound of a bell being rung once, the bell ringing lasting for 1 minute and 38 seconds. The bell used in the recording is the original 1,255-year-old Korean Divine Bell of King Seongdeok. The song’s title is a reference to the official designation of the historical piece as “South Korea National Treasure No. 29”.
On Friday, the group released a documentary on Netflix, which chronicled the group’s balancing act during the making of the film Arirang The group was looking to honor its roots in Korea even as its audience expanded to include the entire world.
BTS returned to US late-night television last week, appearing on two nights The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The first night, the group found a musical guest and host, performing a performance of their single “Swimming” at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The second episode included a performance of the band’s song “2.0”, which was also filmed at the museum.
BTS is currently preparing to embark on their first large-scale all-group tour in years. The tour, which runs from 2026 to 2027, will hit Asia, North America, Europe, Latin America and Australia, making it one of the most expansive tours of the group’s career.
The tour will begin with three nights in Goyang, South Korea, before heading to Tokyo for two nights. BTS is next scheduled to head to the United States for a stop in Tampa. The group then travels around the world with stops scattered throughout the United States. The group is expected to make 82 stops.
