Global K-pop phenomenon BTS have announced a major return to live performance with a 79-date world tour, their first since 2019 and their first global trek following a four-year hiatus. With stops planned across Asia, Europe and North America, the tour is expected to be among the biggest live music events of the year.
The tour will begin with three nights at Goyang Stadium in South Korea on 9 April, 2026, before moving through major cities including Tokyo, Munich, Sydney and Los Angeles. The European leg will include two London shows at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 6-7 July, alongside dates in Paris, Madrid, Brussels and Munich. The band last toured internationally before the Covid-19 pandemic, and have not played outside the US and South Korea since 2019.
Designed as a fully immersive experience, the tour will feature a 360-degree, in-the-round stage, increasing capacity and allowing fans to experience the group from every angle. Additional dates are expected to be announced in Japan, the Middle East and other regions in 2027, according to a message shared on the band’s official website.
Tickets will go on sale to fans on 22 January, with general public sales opening two days later. Given the scale of anticipation, demand is expected to rival recent ticket frenzies seen for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Oasis’s reunion shows.
BTS’ previous tour set new benchmarks for a K-pop act, grossing an estimated $246 million globally and making them the first Korean artists to headline Wembley Stadium. According to Billboard, the group and their label HYBE could generate more than $1 billion from the reunion, factoring in concerts, merchandise, licensing, album sales and streaming.
The financial impact of the group’s absence has already been felt. During BTS’ hiatus in 2024, HYBE’s operating profit dropped by nearly 37.5%, a decline the company partly attributed to “BTS’ temporary break.”
Formed in the early 2010s, BTS played a central role in introducing K-pop to mainstream western audiences, blending polished pop production with hip-hop influences and introspective lyrics. Momentum for their return has been building steadily since rapper and songwriter Suga completed his mandatory military service last June, becoming the final member to return to civilian life after Jin, J-Hope, V, RM, Jung Kook and Jimin.
When the band confirmed comeback plans during a live broadcast on fan platform Weverse last July, more than seven million people tuned in. That level of engagement suggests the upcoming tour may mark the first live BTS experience for many fans in as long as seven years.
Since their last tour, the group achieved several major milestones, including their first US number one single Dynamite, which also became their first UK Top 10 hit. They followed it with Butter and the Coldplay collaboration My Universe. A planned 2020 world tour was cancelled due to the pandemic, and only a handful of shows were staged before military enlistments began.
While streaming numbers dipped during the hiatus, individual solo projects kept fans engaged. Anticipation peaked again on New Year’s Day when the band wiped their social media profiles and revealed the release date of their upcoming album, briefly overwhelming Weverse due to fan traffic. The album, yet to be titled, was recorded in Los Angeles over six months last year and will be released on 20 March.
RM shared an update last August, saying the group were “working diligently,” while acknowledging the adjustment to post-military life had been challenging. “I live, work, and play with the members. It’s a really strange experience,” he said. “Making something ‘together’ with these friends, I’m going to commit myself to this moment… I’m looking for what I’ll become.”
J-Hope previously hinted that the group’s individual journeys would shape the new record. “I think that over time, we each refined our unique identities as each of us work on their own music,” he told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I’m curious to see how it’ll look like… I think it’s going to be a massive energy.”
With a new album on the way and one of the largest tours in their history ahead, BTS’ return signals not just a reunion, but a renewed chapter for one of the most influential pop acts of the past decade.
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