BTS wraps North American tour with 31 sold-out shows drawing 1.92 million; Arirang sets SoFi attendance record

Los Angeles swept by a sea of South Korean flags as K-pop reaches North American peak

BTS demonstrated its overwhelming global reach by drawing approximately 1.92 million fans during the North American leg of its "Arirang" (ARIRANG) world tour. BigHit Music, the group's agency, said Aug. 8 that all 31 shows across 12 North American locations sold out, culminating in finale concerts held July 1-2 and 5-6, local time, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

The four Los Angeles concerts alone drew a crowd of more than 282,000. The excitement inside the stadium was streamed live on the fan platform Weverse, connecting fans in 177 countries around the world. When combined with the four BTS concerts held at the same venue in 2021 as part of "BTS Permission to Dance on Stage - LA," the group has now performed at SoFi Stadium eight times, making it the act with the most concerts in the venue's history. Cumulative attendance also reached more than 496,000, setting a record for the highest attendance since the stadium opened.

The highlight of the shows was the performance of "Body to Body," a track from the group's fifth album. Tens of thousands of fans waved South Korean flags in unison and sang along in Korean to the country's traditional folk song "Arirang," creating a remarkable scene. The magnificent harmony ringing out thousands of miles from South Korea offered a vivid demonstration of K-pop's deep cultural influence.

"Every moment was a miracle": Birthday celebrations and praise from international media

Special events for the members continued throughout the concert run. On July 1, the entire audience rippled with golden light to celebrate Jungkook's birthday. On the final day, July 6, fans staged a celebration for leader RM ahead of his birthday on July 12. Jungkook pulled out a postcard he had drawn himself and told fans, "You are perfect to me," drawing an enthusiastic response.

BTS said, "It feels like just yesterday that we started the North American tour in Tampa, but it's already our final stop. It doesn't feel real. Every moment was happy, and it passed in an instant. We are always grateful to our fans for showing us the path forward, and we hope we remain connected forever, wherever we are."

Leading local media outlets also heaped praise on the group. The Los Angeles Times called BTS' return "a test of how firmly K-pop's cultural influence is rooted in the United States, its second home," adding that the group "perfectly embodies the delicate balance between loyalty to South Korea and global ambition through 'Arirang,' which fuses traditional folk music with polished pop and hard-hitting hip-hop tracks."

BTS, fresh from heating up North America, will launch its South American tour July 2 in Bogota, Colombia, followed by stops in Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.