BTS closed out their North American tour on September 6th at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, right where ARIRANG started. The historic concert brought the band full circle, back to their album’s birthplace.
For BTS, Los Angeles has become a rite of passage responsible for some of their deepest developments as artists. From their first K-Con in 2014 to their first post-military reunion in July 2025, the city is like their “second hometown,” as RM said on night 1 of their LA stop. Before making it big, LA was where the boys (at that time, mostly in their teens) learned about hip-hop from Coolio and Warren G and handed out flyers on Hollywood Blvd for their free concert. It is also where they immersed themselves headfirst for two months into ARIRANG (straight out of their mandatory Korean military service). They nostalgically lived and worked together, just like their early years, albeit in shared spaces that were considerably leveled up from their debut days.
BTS World Tour Impact
, BTS performing opener “Hooligan,” in Tampa, FL.
Boycotting the GRAMMYS: While BTS’ accumulation of numerous accolades is hardly news, perhaps a surprising twist was their refusal of one. After the Recording Academy introduced a new ‘Asian Pop’ category, BTS declined to submit their new music for Grammy consideration.
“We hope music can be heard and loved as music itself, rather than being divided by region or language,” the group shared in a statement on Instagram Stories, which has been noted as a critique to a ghettization of K-Pop from the broader Pop category.
“We used to [experience] a lot of suffering through the creative process,” said Suga in the Netflix documentary “BTS: THE RETURN.” “But now, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. We just move on and direct our energy elsewhere. We don’t feel the same desperation that we used to.”
Following the mega-group’s boycott, the Academy of Music has had second thoughts about the new category that apparently disrespected the very musicians it intended to celebrate. Or in harsher terms, perhaps, at this moment, the Grammys may need BTS more than the other way around.
“The Grammy organization exists to serve all music people, and part of that is working to ensure that no voice or community gets overlooked or misunderstood,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement. “It’s clear from our numerous conversations with many stakeholders over the past two weeks that, regardless of our intent and desire to be even more inclusive, there are some artists in this space who feel that this category isn’t representing the music they work so hard to create, in the way they wish. As a musician myself, I take that to heart.”
More Major Milestones:
And BTS continues to make music history. Their fifth studio album “ARIRANG” officially surpassed 1 million pure sales in the United States, becoming the first album released in 2026 to sell 1 million copies.
The ongoing ARIRANG world tour has generated $433.2 million from just 38 shows, with 2.3 million tickets sold so far, more than doubling the earnings of its previous LOVE YOURSELF tour.
(Pulling back to truly take in the scope of the ARIRANG tour, Taylor Swift’s recent ERAS tour did earn more ($2.08 billion to a projected $1.87 billion from the ARIRANG tour.) But ERAS reached that figure with almost twice as many shows, 149 shows versus ARIRANG’s 82.)
The four-concert finale at SoFi Stadium drew roughly 282,000 attendees and online viewers from 177 countries. BTS has now played eight total shows at SoFi Stadium, more than any other act, drawing about 496,000 fans, a record figure in the stadium’s history.
My mom’s friends posing in their hanboks and traditional headbands at SoFi Day 2.
Tour Finale Significantly Shifts Streaming Patterns: BTS’s North American finale drew nearly 2 million fans, boosting streams of the band’s entire catalog. The tour surge directly influenced fan-created and editorial playlists, amplifying broader K-pop discovery and listening globally.
Highlights
In direct homage to their Korean heritage, “Body to Body” has taken center stage. The ARIRANG Tour’s biggest highlight was “Arirang,” which dates all the way back to the 13th century. The song was “spread orally by members of the working class as they crossed mountains and rivers,” shared Lee Boyoung, BTS’ Executive Creative Director. BTS’ concerts continued this tradition in an iconic movement:
Crowds of up to 92,000 people, with half (or a majority) being non-Koreans, fans belted out the song’s climax, a sample of the Korean folk song “Arirang,” at 44 concerts in 18 cities. The backdrop featured clips of fans from all over the world dressed in hanboks, accessorized in norigae, and waving taegeukseon fans.
While writing the album, BTS fought for a commitment to authenticity through Korean language, expressing concerns when the lyrics felt overly heavy in English. “No matter how much BTS might evolve with our sound, at our core, we’re still just a group of kids from Korea. And that’s never gonna change,” RM said.
Stanford Concert Korean Flag Project: During the Day 3 Arirang chant, fans filled the stadium with taegeukgi, holding up flags with Arirang’s lyrics printed on the back.
Posted by RM @rkive via Instagram on May 23, 2026.
Son Heung-min Appearance: The LAFC Major League Soccer player and South Korean national team captain supported BTS on SoFi night 2. Backstage, the members gifted him clothes and a hat. Son thanked them for the invite, and BTS promised to come watch a game of his in the future.
BTS Concert Boosts Business in Koreatown: The BTS LA Concert “triggered a massive economic boom, sparking global tourism,” in K-Town, according to the Korea Daily.
Jungkook and RM’s Birthdays: ARMYS organized two fan projects for the two September birthdays. The stadium shined blue for RM’s solo album “Indigo” and gold for Jungkook’s “Golden,” as the entire audience waved phone flashlights filtered through stickers.
SoFi Stadium glowing golden for JK’s birthday project.
What’s Next for BTS? Where to Still See BTS
September 18th: BTS will revisit Las Vegas for one last US performance at the iHeartRadio Music Festival.
The finale of the Latin America tour will be aired live in cinemas.
October 24th: Buenos Aires, Argentina broadcast
October 30th: São Paulo, Brazil broadcast
October 3rd, 2026–February 7th, 2027: RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art presents the first-ever museum exhibition featuring artwork from RM’s personal collection. The 200-piece curation will include work from key Korean artists such as Yun Hyong-keun, Park Rehyun, Kwon Okyon, Kim Yun Shin, To Sangbong, and Chang Ucchin.
Next month, the BTS World Tour ‘ARIRANG’ resumes in Latin America, Asia, and Oceania for 38 more shows:
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| Oct 2, 2026 | Bogotá | Colombia | Estadio El Campín |
| Oct 3, 2026 | Bogotá | Colombia | Estadio El Campín |
| Oct 9, 2026 | Lima | Peru | Estadio San Marcos |
| Oct 10, 2026 | Lima | Peru | Estadio San Marcos |
| Oct 16, 2026 | Santiago | Chile | Estadio Nacional |
| Oct 17, 2026 | Santiago | Chile | Estadio Nacional |
| Oct 21, 2026 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona |
| Oct 23, 2026 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona |
| Oct 24, 2026 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona |
| Oct 28, 2026 | São Paulo | Brazil | Estádio MorumBIS |
| Oct 30, 2026 | São Paulo | Brazil | Estádio MorumBIS |
| Oct 31, 2026 | São Paulo | Brazil | Estádio MorumBIS |
| Nov 19, 2026 | Kaohsiung | Taiwan | Kaohsiung National Stadium |
| Nov 21, 2026 | Kaohsiung | Taiwan | Kaohsiung National Stadium |
| Nov 22, 2026 | Kaohsiung | Taiwan | Kaohsiung National Stadium |
| Dec 3, 2026 | Bangkok | Thailand | Rajamangala National Stadium |
| Dec 5, 2026 | Bangkok | Thailand | Rajamangala National Stadium |
| Dec 6, 2026 | Bangkok | Thailand | Rajamangala National Stadium |
| Dec 12, 2026 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | TM Stadium Nasional |
| Dec 13, 2026 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | TM Stadium Nasional |
| Dec 17, 2026 | Singapore | Singapore | National Stadium |
| Dec 19, 2026 | Singapore | Singapore | National Stadium |
| Dec 20, 2026 | Singapore | Singapore | National Stadium |
| Dec 22, 2026 | Singapore | Singapore | National Stadium |
| Dec 26, 2026 | Jakarta | Indonesia | Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium |
| Dec 27, 2026 | Jakarta | Indonesia | Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium |
| Dec 29, 2026 | Jakarta | Indonesia | Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium |
| Feb 10, 2027 | Melbourne | Australia | Marvel Stadium |
| Feb 12, 2027 | Melbourne | Australia | Marvel Stadium |
| Feb 13, 2027 | Melbourne | Australia | Marvel Stadium |
| Feb 20, 2027 | Sydney | Australia | Accor Stadium |
| Feb 21, 2027 | Sydney | Australia | Accor Stadium |
| Mar 4, 2027 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Kai Tak Stadium |
| Mar 6, 2027 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Kai Tak Stadium |
| Mar 7, 2027 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Kai Tak Stadium |
| Mar 13, 2027 | Bulacan | Philippines | Philippine Sports Stadium |
| Mar 14, 2027 | Bulacan | Philippines | Philippine Sports Stadium |
| Mar 16, 2027 | Bulacan | Philippines | Philippine Sports Stadium |
