BTS' ARIRANG milestone

BTS’ *ARIRANG* has now spent three straight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the longest opening run for a group album since Mumford & Sons’ *Babel* in 2012. (yahoo.com) Billboard reported that *ARIRANG* earned 124,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending April 9, after opening at No. 1 on the chart dated April 4 and holding there again the following week. (yahoo.com) (billboard.com) The same Billboard report said Mumford & Sons’ *Babel* was the last group album to spend at least three weeks at No. 1, and the last to open with its first three weeks on top. (yahoo.com) For BTS, the chart run extends a comeback that began with the album’s March 20 release, their first full-length group album in six years and their first since *Be* in 2020. (billboard.com) When *ARIRANG* debuted, it gave BTS a seventh No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with 641,000 equivalent album units, including 532,000 in pure sales and 99.10 million on-demand official streams for the set’s songs. Billboard said that was the biggest week for an album by a group since the chart shifted to unit-based measurement in December 2014. (billboard.com) The album’s title comes from the traditional Korean folk song “Arirang,” which BigHit Music said in January is associated with “connection, distance, and reunion,” themes the label tied to the group’s return after military service and solo releases. (billboard.com) The milestone landed as BTS opened the *ARIRANG* world tour at Goyang Stadium on April 9, their first full world tour since before the pandemic and their first group concert run since the April 16, 2022 show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. (billboard.com) Billboard’s opening-night coverage said the first Goyang show was the first of three sold-out nights and featured a 23-song set built from new tracks and older hits. During “Body to Body,” which incorporates the folk song “Arirang,” the crowd sang along in the rain at Goyang Stadium. (billboard.com) A separate Billboard setlist report said the April 9 show included songs from the new album such as “Into the Sun,” “Please,” “Body to Body,” “SWIM,” and “Hooligan,” alongside earlier singles including “Dynamite,” “Butter,” “Fire,” “MIC Drop,” and “FAKE LOVE.” (billboard.com) The group’s social posts from Goyang and a themed Spotify playlist arrived as that chart streak was taking shape, tying the album’s U.S. sales run to the first live images of BTS back onstage together. (x.com 1) (x.com 2) (x.com 3)