South Korea’s K-pop supergroup BTS began their global concert tour on Thursday with the first of three concerts at Goyang Stadium near Seoul.
The tour will take the band to 34 cities around the world, setting a new record for the most tour dates by a K-pop artist. According to BTS’ management agency, tickets for the concerts in South Korea, North America and Europe sold out within hours of opening for sale.
Fans dressed in purple, the BTS fan-based color known as ARMY, began arriving at Goyang Stadium in the rain hours before the show started.
back after 4 years
Band members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook are returning to the stage after a nearly four-year hiatus, during which they completed South Korea’s mandatory military service.
They reunited in 2025 to record their fifth studio album “Arirang”, which is also the name of a centuries-old folk song popular in both North and South Korea.
The album was released in March and topped the Billboard 200 chart for two weeks, a first for a K-pop group or artist. The lead single “Swim” debuted at number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, a worldwide ranking.
Performances will be drawn from both the BTS catalog and the new album. Last month, BTS made their comeback with a free concert in Seoul.
BTS is the acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan, or “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean. The group debuted in June 2013 with the hip-hop heavy album “2 Cool 4 Skool”. The group rose to fame with their 2016 album “Wings”.
The group’s first headline tour performance following the 2021–22 “Permission to Dance on Stage” tour will take place in Tokyo before continuing to North America, Europe, South America and Asia. The tour will travel to Australia in early 2027, with the final stop in Manila, Philippines next March.
Analysts say some estimates suggest total earnings from the tour could be as high as $1.81 billion (€1.5 billion).
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher