Why Did BTS Come Back BIGGER After Almost 4 Years Away?

In pop music, a four-year break is supposed to end a career. BTS spent almost four years away for South Korea's mandatory military service — and came back bigger than ever. Their ARIRANG World Tour just became the first tour by a pop group to pass $500 million (Billboard Boxscore), and this month they're playing 14 stadium shows across Latin America. So why did it work? We follow the "why" — the solo No. 1s that kept their name on the charts, the 104,000 people at Gwanghwamun, a US stadium singing "Arirang", and a record-breaking first week. Includes short clips of: Butter, Like Crazy, Seven, SWIM, Body to Body, Dynamite. 00:00 A career death sentence? 00:39 14 stadiums, one month 01:17 The $500 million club 01:49 One month: $171.7M 02:25 Venue records 03:00 They never went silent 03:29 Two solo No. 1s 03:59 Why no break-up? 04:32 The name never left 04:52 Going MORE Korean 05:26 A palace on stage 06:04 104,000 in Gwanghwamun 06:39 A stadium sings Arirang 07:19 Day one payoff 08:10 From the bottom 09:09 A $1 billion tour? Sources: Billboard (Boxscore, Billboard 200, Hot 100), Variety, The Korea Times, CNN, PBS NewsHour, Korea JoongAng Daily, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Wikipedia. The $1 billion figure is Billboard's projection, not a final total. Subscribe to K-STAR STORY for the real story behind Korea's biggest stars. Music and video clips belong to their respective owners (credits shown on screen). Thumbnail photo: The White House (public domain). #BTS #ARIRANG #KSTARSTORY