3 Years and 9 Months on Break—Nothing to See Here… BTS Breaks Through 4.16 Million with Regular Album 5, ‘ARIRANG,’ for a “Career High”

The group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) hit an all-time career high, breaking through 4.16 million first-week sales with its Regular Album 5, ‘ARIRANG,’ making the three-year and nine-month break feel like nothing.

Breaks through 4.16 million first-week sales, setting a new personal-best record

According to Hanteo Chart, a record sales tracking site, BTS’ Regular Album 5 ‘ARIRANG,’ released on the 20th, logged 4,169,464 copies in first-week sales (sales during the first week after release). This easily surpasses the previous personal best of 3.37 million first-week copies set by Regular Album 4 ‘MAP OF THE SOUL : 7,’ released in February 2020. The new release reached million-seller status in about 10 minutes after being unveiled, then sold 3.98 million copies on the first day alone—achieving the highest single-day sales among albums released in 2026. The figures confirm the explosive anticipation from music fans worldwide for BTS.

Complete sweep of global charts, including Apple Music, Spotify, and Oricon

The momentum on global digital music platforms is just as overwhelming. As of the 27th on Apple Music, the album topped album charts across a combined 115 countries and regions, including the U.S. and Japan, and recorded the highest number of plays among BTS albums on its first day of release. The title track ‘SWIM’ held onto No. 1 for six straight days on Spotify’s ‘Global Daily Top Songs,’ and on Japan’s Oricon charts it swept three major categories, including the ‘Weekly Total Album Ranking,’ setting a record for the highest weekly sales by an overseas artist this year.

Led by Producer Bang Si-hyuk… A festival with fans around the world

This album, for which Chairman Bang Si-hyuk serves as the executive producer, explores universal emotions encountered while living one’s life, delivering deep resonance and comfort to global listeners. A variety of events are also unfolding to celebrate the comeback. At a special event held on the 24th at Pier 17’s rooftop in New York, the U.S., fans drew attention by singing together the ‘ARIRANG’ folk song segment inserted into the track ‘Body to Body.’ Meanwhile, throughout Seoul, the ‘BTS The City ARIRANG Seoul’ project is being carried out in full swing, turning the entire city into a cultural and arts festival.