The king of pop has officially reclaimed the throne. BTS members were on a hiatus for nearly four years to complete their mandatory military service. Now, BTS has returned with their fifth studio album, ARIRANG, released this Friday. ARIRANG was named after Korea’s unofficial national anthem, a folk song.
After three years and nine months, the music world was expecting something big to come. However, even the most optimistic predictions didn’t quite capture what unfolded on March 20, 2026.
BTS Comeback Album “ARIRANG” Set New Sales Records
The scale of this comeback was evident the moment the clock struck 1 p.m. KST on release day. According to Hanteo Chart, ARIRANG achieved “million-seller” status in a staggering 10 minutes. By the end of the first day, the album had sold 3,981,507 copies. To put that into perspective, BTS managed to break their own all-time record for first-day and first-week sales.
The record was previously held by their album Map of the Soul: 7, which recorded 2,653, 050 copies on the first day. The album sold 3.37 million copies in its entire first week back in 2020.
ARIRANG recorded the second-highest first-day sales in history, narrowly trailing behind Seventeen’s FML (3,998,373).
‘ARIRANG’ Dominated Major Music Platforms
Physical sales tell only part of the story. The 14-track album ‘ARIRANG’ has been dominating digital platforms. It surged to the top of the iTunes Top Albums chart in 88 countries and regions, including Italy, Mexico, Sweden, and more. The lead single, “SWIM,” reached number one on the iTunes Top Songs chart in 90 markets, including the world’s biggest music hubs like the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Moreover, BTS fans occupied the entire top 14 spots on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart. Every single track from the album debuted in the Top 14. Furthermore, ARIRANG made history as the first K-pop album to reach number one on the US Apple Music chart on its actual release day. It also secured the most simultaneous entries on that same chart for any K-pop act.
Records Made by “SWIM” Music Video
The music video for the title track, “SWIM,” directed by the renowned Tanu Muino and featuring actress Lili Reinhart, is loved for its cinematic scale. The video, filmed at the Maritime Museum of Lisbon, Portuguese, garnered 33.31 million views and 4.7 million likes within its first 24 hours on YouTube. It quickly became the most-watched and most-liked music video premiere of 2026.
Currently, the video sits at the top of the YouTube Trending Music charts in 70 different countries,
‘ARIRANG’ Dominates Domestic Music Platforms
Streaming platforms have struggled to keep up with the “ARMY” tide. On Amazon Music, ARIRANG recorded the biggest first-day streams for a K-pop album in the platform’s history. On Spotify, BTS set a new record as the Asian act with the most pre-saves for an album. Domestically, the impact was just as overwhelming.
“SWIM” went straight to number one on the Melon and Bugs real-time charts. The album earned a massive 5.6 million streams on Melon within the first day alone. Every track on the album successfully penetrated the Melon Top 100. This effectively “zombified” the chart with BTS hits.
To celebrate this monumental return, BTS is hosting ‘BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG’ tonight, March 21, at Gwanghwamun Square in the heart of Seoul. This is the first time a solo musical act has been granted permission to perform at this historic landmark. The event is expected to draw 260,000 fans in person and is being livestreamed globally on Netflix to over 190 countries, a first for the streaming giant in South Korea.
Next, BTS will embark on an 82-date world tour in April that is set to continue through 2027.
