BTS’ ‘Arirang’ tops Billboard 200

K-pop supergroup BTS has debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 with their latest album “Arirang”, achieving the biggest first-week sales for a group in more than a decade.

The album opened with 641,000 equivalent units, including 532,000 in pure sales—marking one of the strongest debuts in recent years. It is the largest weekly performance by a group since One Direction released “Midnight Memories” in 2013.

“Arirang” also saw a major boost from vinyl, selling 208,000 copies across multiple variants, making it one of the biggest vinyl weeks in modern chart history.

This marks BTS’ seventh No 1 album, following previous chart-toppers including “Love Yourself: Tear”, “Map of the Soul: 7”, “Be” and “Proof”. The milestone comes after the members—RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook—completed their mandatory military service and reunited as a group.

To celebrate the release, BTS staged a large-scale concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, which was streamed globally on Netflix alongside a feature-length documentary.

Elsewhere on the chart, Luke Combs debuted at No 2 with “The Way I Am”, followed by Morgan Wallen at No 3. Albums by Harry Styles and Don Toliver also featured in the top five, alongside releases from Bad Bunny and Bruno Mars further down the chart.

With “Arirang”, BTS continues to reinforce its global dominance, setting new benchmarks for group releases in the streaming era.