BTS broke records with Arirang while bypassing traditional media. Here is what their strategy reveals about power in today’s music industry.

BTS have revealed that there's a secret song on their new album ARIRANG — but fans will have to go shopping to hear it. On Wednesday (April 1), Suga teased that the group would be releasing a new track,

Tens of thousands turned up to watch and more than 18 million people live-streamed the one-hour show - a slick teaser of the upcoming BTS world tour, with the group's easy camaraderie on display, almost as if they had not spent much of the last three years apart,

Similarly, their performance of “Fire” featured even more pyro. They flexed their choreography skills on the “Mic Drop” remix (but didn’t drop their mics at the end.) And they kept moving in the round for “Run,” so that all of the 40,000 people gathered for the first night could see one of them at a time.

The BTS concert on April 9 in South Korea kicked off the "ARIRANG' world tour in 2026. Here are the songs that BTS performed and more tour dates.

On Tuesday, BTS released their music video for "Hooligan." It's the third visual from the band's 'ARIRANG' album.

Last week, a No. 1 debut for BTS's Arirang seemed as inevitable as the tides: The K-pop boy band didn't have much competition beyond country star Luke Combs (whose The Way I Am debuted at No. 2), and the group had already banked six No. 1 albums in its career. So it came as no surprise when Arirang became its seventh.

Fans react to BTS’ return to the stage after nearly four years, at the opening night of the K-pop megastars' "ARIRANG" world tour in Goyang, South Korea. (April 9)