BTS Hits No. 1
BTS’s new album Arirang debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (chart dated April 4, 2026) — the biggest group album week since One Direction. Its lead single “Swim” also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, underscoring the group’s post‑hiatus commercial power. (forbes.com) (dailyfly.com)
Arirang opened with 641,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, of which 532,000 were pure album sales and 95,000 were streaming-equivalent albums (equaling about 99.10 million on-demand streams). (billboard.com) Physical formats drove most pure sales: BigHit reported 516,000 physical copies sold in week one, including 208,000 vinyl LPs sold across 17 vinyl variants and nine CD editions. ( ) “Swim” logged 15.3 million official U.S. streams, 25.8 million radio audience impressions and 154,000 track sales (digital + physical) in the tracking week used for the Hot 100. (billboard.com) BigHit released KEEP SWIMMING, a remix collection that includes seven member-specific remixes (nine tracks total including instrumental), and the single was offered in seven alternate-cover digital versions during the tracking week to support sales. ( ) The album’s tracks flooded Billboard charts: 13 songs from Arirang entered the Hot 100, BTS returned to No. 1 on the Artist 100 for a 22nd total week, and the set placed nine titles in the Global 200 top 10 while monopolizing the top 13 spots on the Global Excl. U.S. chart. ( ) The group previewed the campaign with a free one-hour comeback concert, “BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG,” at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square on March 21 that was livestreamed globally on Netflix, and the ARIRANG world tour is scheduled to begin April 9 at Goyang Sports Complex with multi-date stadium engagements. ( )
