South Korean supergroup BTS kicked off a worldwide reunion tour Thursday, opening the first of three shows at Goyang Stadium just outside Seoul. The run will span 34 cities, a new high for a K-pop act, and tickets in South Korea, North America and Europe sold out within hours, according to the band’s management. Fans wearing purple — the color linked to the ARMY fanbase — stood in the rain hours before the performance.
The seven members — RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook — return to full-group touring after nearly four years away while completing South Korea’s mandatory military service. They reassembled in 2025 to record their fifth studio album, Arirang, titled for the traditional folk song common to both Koreas.
Released in March, Arirang became the first K-pop album or release to top the Billboard 200 for two weeks. Its lead single, Swim, opened at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Setlists on the tour will mix the new material with hits from BTS’s back catalog. The group also celebrated its comeback last month with a free concert in Seoul.
BTS, an abbreviation of Bangtan Sonyeondan or Bulletproof Boy Scouts, debuted in June 2013 with the hip-hop–influenced 2 Cool 4 Skool and rose to global prominence with their 2016 record Wings. This is their first headline trek since the 2021–22 Permission to Dance on Stage tour.
After the Goyang dates the tour moves to Tokyo, then onto North America, Europe, South America and other parts of Asia, with an Australian leg planned for early 2027 and a final stop scheduled for Manila next March. Industry analysts estimate the tour could generate as much as $1.81 billion (about €1.5 billion) in total revenue.