BTS hits 1M album mark

BTS’s *Arirang* has become the first album released in the United States in 2026 to cross 1 million units sold, extending a comeback run that already reset the year’s sales pace. (billboard.com) The album opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated April 4, 2026, with 641,000 equivalent album units in its first week, according to Billboard and Luminate. Of that total, 532,000 came from pure album sales, the biggest sales week for a group in more than a decade. (billboard.com, forbes.com) Billboard said *Arirang* stayed at No. 1 for a second week and then a third week on the chart dated April 18, giving BTS its longest run atop the Billboard 200 with any album. In week three alone, the album earned 124,000 more equivalent units in the United States. (billboard.com, billboard.com, soompi.com) In chart terms, “units” combine paid album purchases, individual track sales, and streams into one total, which is why a million-unit mark is broader than a million physical copies. Billboard’s charts use Luminate data to count those formats into equivalent album units. (billboard.com) The pace stands out because 2026 has produced few blockbuster album launches in the United States so far. *Arirang*’s opening week was described by Billboard and Forbes as the largest debut of the year to date and the biggest week for a group since One Direction’s *Midnight Memories* in 2013. (billboard.com, forbes.com) The album also arrived as BTS returned from a near four-year group hiatus tied to the members’ military service and solo schedules. Forbes reported that *Arirang* was the group’s first studio album since *Be* in 2020, while Billboard counted it as BTS’s seventh No. 1 album in the United States. (forbes.com, billboard.com) Its consumption mix was unusually strong on both physical and streaming formats. Billboard reported 208,000 vinyl copies sold in the opening week, while Music Ally reported 739.1 million first-week on-demand streams worldwide for the album’s tracks. (billboard.com, musically.com) The album’s launch spilled across Billboard’s other major charts too. BTS returned to No. 1 on the Artist 100, and 13 songs from *Arirang* entered the Hot 100, led by “Swim” at No. 1. (billboard.com) That leaves *Arirang* holding the clearest commercial benchmark in the United States so far this year: a 2026 release that opened huge, held the top spot for three weeks, and has now cleared 1 million units. (billboard.com, billboard.com, soompi.com)