Arirang (stylized in all caps) is the sixth Korean-language and tenth overall studio album by South Korean boy band BTS. It was released on March 20, 2026, by BigHit Music. The album is the group's first release after their hiatus for each member to complete their military service. It follows their live album Permission to Dance on Stage – Live (2025) and marks their first studio album in nearly six years, after Be (2020).
Arirang was written and composed with other musicians, including Pdogg, Diplo, El Guincho, Ryan Tedder, Jasper Harris, Kevin Parker, Mike Will Made-It, Artemas, and JPEGMafia. The album is a hip hop and pop record, with influences of alternative R&B, synth-pop, EDM and traditional Korean music. It discusses themes of identity, separation, reunion, fame, burnout, resilience, and cultural heritage, with its title alluding to the traditional Korean folk song "Arirang".
Widely anticipated as BTS's comeback release, Arirang generated massive media coverage and anticipation globally upon its release. The album received critical acclaim, with praise for the record's reflective narrative and cohesive production that experiments with various styles. Critics praised the band's lyrical growth and artistic development after their military hiatus. Arirang was a huge commercial success worldwide, debuting at number one in over 25 countries. It became one of the best-selling albums of 2026 and broke streaming records on Spotify and Apple Music. In the United, States, it became BTS's seventh album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. It also became BTS's best-selling Korean-language album in Japan, and broke records for an Asian act in European nations, including topping the charts in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and several other countries. To promote the album, BTS embarked on the Arirang World Tour, scheduled from April 2026 to March 2027.
Background and release On June 14, 2022, BTS announced that they would temporarily suspend their group activities to focus more on solo projects. All members would later enlist in South Korea's mandatory military service from December 2022 to June 2025. In the interim, each member released their solo works: J-Hope with the album Jack in the Box (2022) and EP Hope on the Street Vol. 1 (2024), RM with the albums Indigo (2022) and Right Place, Wrong Person (2024), Jimin with the albums Face (2023) and Muse (2024), Suga with the album D-Day (2023), V with the EP Layover (2023), Jung Kook with the album Golden (2023), and Jin with the EPs Happy (2024) and Echo (2025).
BTS said that they had returned to working together in July 2025, and on August 22, RM said on Weverse that the band was "working diligently" on their new album. On November 1, Jimin told fans that the album was ready for release.
On New Year's Eve 2025, South Korean fans with "Gold Member" status received a postcard teasing the date of the group's comeback. On January 4, 2026, BigHit Music announced the group would come back with an album accompanied by a world tour. The title, Arirang, was revealed on January 15, alluding to the Korean folk song of the same name. BigHit Music stated Arirang "captures BTS' identity as a group that began in Korea". On March 3, BTS revealed the album's track listing and production credits, with the seventh track "Swim" highlighted in black. On March 20, Arirang was released.
Format Arirang has five CD versions: "Rooted in Korea", "Rooted in Music", "Living Legend", and the Travel Tag and T-Shirt CD Box Sets. The album was also released in vinyl, including two deluxe versions, a group version, and one version for each member with a different sleeve and color. On April 3, the deluxe vinyl for the album was released, including an exclusive track produced by Suga titled "Come Over".
Music and lyrics Arirang is primarily a hip-hop and pop record consisting of 14 tracks, with "No. 29" marking the transition between the two genres. The album is named for a well-known Korean folk song that explores themes of love, desire, and separation. The first half is heavily influenced by trap and hip-hop, reminiscent of their early rap albums such as 2014's Dark & Wild, while the second half features "more emotional" and "funky" tracks. In a press release, BTS stated: "The album is tightly structured. We expanded across genres, sounds, and vocal styles. We tried unfamiliar genres and new expressions. It's not perfect, but we're satisfied that we're still evolving".
Songs
The album opens with "Body to Body", which samples the traditional Korean folk song "Arirang". Diplo builds the song using a noisy hip-hop beat, elements of traditional percussion, and sustained harmonic chord. Wren Grave from Consequence described it as a "patriotic song" that reflects on the group's national identity. As the song builds up to its climax, the verse, "The heartbeat of the nation rising up / Be about it, be about it, be about it / You could see about it / Or you read about it", persuades the listeners to be assertive. "Hooligan" features a "chopped-up string arrangement against clashing swords" and "soaring" vocals from V and Jimin. It incorporates an irregular structure with abrupt pauses. Mostly sung in Korean, the lyrics ponder the group's future. "Aliens", an 80s hip-hop inspired track co-produced by Mike WiLL Made-It, reflects on the global rise of BTS and Korean culture as a whole. Kim Gu, one of the leaders of the Korean independence movement known for his belief in cultural strength rather than military force, is mentioned in the line "Pardon me, Kim Gu, tell me how you feel". "Fya" contains elements of pop rap and Jersey club. The song references Britney Spears in its lyrics: "Club go crazy like Britney baby, hit me with it one more time". "2.0" is a rap-heavy song that references BTS's progression as an artist with lyrics such as "We on that brand new" and "2.0 when the update's through".
"No. 29" is a field recording of the Bell of King Seongdeok, the 29th national treasure of Korea. According to RM, the length of the track was set to 1 minute and 38 seconds to match how long the bell vibrates when it is struck. The lead track "Swim" is about going with the flow of life and moving forward despite being pulled off course. It was composed primarily by band leader RM. "Merry Go Round" is a psychedelic rock song which relates to the sensation of being trapped by internal and external pressures. Kevin Parker's inputs makes it recognizable to Tame Impala listeners.
"Normal" is influenced by current pop music with its edgy lyrical style. The track revolves around the theme of navigating between public attention and private life. Lyrically, it highlights coping with the public remarks while being expected to smile for the cameras. "Like Animals" is a pop rock ballad. It was written by British musician Artemas and produced by Diplo. Maria Letícia L. Gomes of Clash stated that the track "feels less distinctive but serves a structural purpose, easing the shift away from the heavier, synth-driven first half" and transitions into an "unexpected guitar-led outro" which introduces a more natural sound. "'They don't know 'bout us", a co-production with Y2K, is an old hip-hop and trap with lyrics affirming the path they have taken. The song's lyrics dismiss the idea that they are unusual. J-hope remarked on people's perception of BTS in lyrics such as "'Those guys are so special among Asians', aye / 'Some kinda heroic beings, too hard to break', uh". "One More Night", with a '90s house instrumental with a "plinking Korg M1 synth melody", focuses on the theme of fantasy, repeating the word throughout the song. "Please" is a love song about "the desire to stay together". "Into the Sun" is a "vocoder-drenched" alternative R&B track.
The deluxe vinyl edition includes a fifteenth track, "Come Over", co-produced by Suga and co-written by RM and J-Hope. Musically, it blends pop with resonant vocals and a fast-paced rhythm reminiscent of stadium anthems; the lyrics, dedicated to their fans, speak of the feeling of finding a loved one and asking for their hospitality in a moment when one feels lost.
Promotion To promote the album, BTS was featured in magazines like GQ and Rolling Stone. The group also made appearances and gave interviews on online and radio shows such as Apple Music 1's Zane Lowe Show,Audacy Check In, Elvis Duran and the Talk Show Wired Autocomplete Interview, Vogue Now Serving, and Hot Ones.
Marketing On February 14, thousands of roses were distributed throughout major cities like Seoul, London, and Los Angeles. The installations included QR codes, and signs that asked, "What is your love song?". They partnered with Google Search to launch a scavenger hunt feature on March 4, with additional sealed quests being unlocked on March 9 and 16. Searching for "BTS" gave rise to a graphic of a blue ship in a bottle, which, upon being clicked, launched a series of trivia questions themed around the group to earn parchment cards with handwritten song titles by the members. On March 10, BTS and Spotify announced their "Swimside" partnership campaign, which includes pop-up events worldwide, in-app experiences, and exclusive material from the group. The group drops hints about the album through "Decoding Arirang". Fans explored Spotify for surprises from the members themselves as part of the in-app Easter egg hunt. On March 16, 2026, Hybe announced a project to mark the release of the album and start of the tour called 'BTS THE CITY ARIRANG SEOUL'. It included activities and programs such as landmark lighting, drone show, listening party, and pop-ups. BTS: The Return, a documentary on the making of the album, premiered on March 27, 2026. BTS collaborated with Arte Museum for an immersive exhibition in cities like Las Vegas, New York, and Busan.
Performances The group held a concert, entitled BTS The Comeback Live | Arirang, at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21, 2026. The concert was exclusively streamed on Netflix, marking the first time on the platform where a concert was streamed live as opposed to being taped as a concert film. The livestream drew 18.4 million global viewers, reaching the weekly Netflix top 10 in 80 countries and the number-one spot in 24 countries. BTS performed "2.0", "Normal", and "Swim" at Pier 17 in New York for their Spotify x BTS: Swimside event. On March 25 and 26, they performed "Swim" and "2.0" at the Guggenheim Museum on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. BTS performed "Hooligan" at the 2026 American Music Awards on May 25, 2026. The performance was pre-recorded at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Tour
BigHit Music announced the Arirang World Tour on January 4, 2026. Spanning 85 dates in 34 cities, it kicked off on April 9, 2026, in Goyang, South Korea, and is set to conclude on March 14, 2027, in Manila, Philippines.
Critical reception
The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a weighted average score of 7.7 out of 10 from seven critic scores.
In a positive review for NPR, Sheldon Pearce called Arirang a "triumphant homecoming", writing that BTS "has never felt more connected, inwardly or to its calling", while Jon Caramanica of The New York Times awarded Arirang a "Critic's Pick" label, writing that "Arirang doesn't pander, and it doesn't overwhelm. Rather, it feels borderline experimental, as close to risky as a project engineered for minimal risk can be". Maria Sherman's four-star review for the Associated Press stated that Arirang showcases "a band atop the music world, returning to their throne on their own terms: with bilingual bangers and avant-garde ambitions", while in a positive review for the BBC, Mark Savage applauded Arirang for helping BTS "rekindle their fire" and said that the album represents "a genuine return to form".