BTS have become the first K-pop act to top the US Billboard 200 albums chart for two consecutive weeks, as their latest album Arirang held the No 1 spot in its second week. The album sold 187,000 equivalent album units, following a debut of 641,000 units, which included 532,000 pure album sales—the largest sales week for any album since Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl.
Arirang is the group's first studio album since they went on hiatus in 2022 for mandatory military service. Released on 20 March, it was accompanied by a free outdoor concert at Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square, live-streamed on Netflix, and a subsequent documentary. The album also recorded around 110 million streams on Spotify on its first day, with all tracks charting simultaneously on its global chart.
This marks BTS's seventh No 1 album on the Billboard 200, having first achieved the milestone in 2018 with Love Yourself: Tear. In the UK, Arirang debuted at No 1 on the Official Albums Chart, while its lead single 'Swim' reached No 2, the group's highest-ever position on the UK Singles Chart. In Australia, the album also opened at No 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained there in its second week.
The group's return to touring begins with shows at Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi from 9 to 12 April, followed by an 82-concert world tour covering 34 cities until March 2027. A surprise hidden track, 'Come Over,' was also released on the deluxe vinyl version of Arirang.
