BTS North America Tour Attracts 840,000 Fans and Promotes Korean Culture via 'Arirang' Sing-alongs

BTS, 840,000 fans go wild during North America tour—promoting Korean culture through 'Arirang' sing-alongs (Photo=Provided by Big Hit Music)

Group BTS has once again proven its global influence by successfully concluding the North American leg of its 'ARIRANG' world tour. The performances, held across 5 cities in the US and Mexico, recorded sold-out shows for every seat, with a total of 840,000 fans attending the venues.

According to their agency Big Hit Music on the 30th, BTS held a total of 15 performances in Tampa, El Paso, and Stanford in the US, Las Vegas, and Mexico City in Mexico. While all concert tickets were completely sold out, additional shows were scheduled in Tampa, Stanford, and Las Vegas due to explosive demand, which also sold out.

During this tour, BTS connected with local fans by presenting a stage that spanned tracks from their new album 'ARIRANG' as well as their representative hit songs. The audience, filling the venues, created intense heat by singing along to the Korean lyrics.

In particular, during the 'Body to Body' stage, a scene was created where the audience sang the Korean folk song 'Arirang' together, leaving a deep impression. The voices of tens of thousands echoed through the large stadiums, being evaluated as a demonstration of the power of music that transcends language and borders.

BTS's influence is extending beyond music to an increased interest in Korean culture. The US local broadcaster ABC7 San Francisco reported that interest in the Korean language and Korean culture is rising, triggered by BTS.

Commercial success is also notable. The US music media outlet Billboard reported that BTS ranked No. 1 on the 'April Top Tour' list, recording $76.2 million (approximately 114.8 billion KRW) in revenue and 417,000 ticket sales through 8 performances held in Goyang, Tokyo, and Tampa last April.

Among these, the 3 performances held in Tampa set the record for the highest revenue and largest audience for a single venue as of April. Furthermore, the average revenue per show for the Tampa and El Paso performances was calculated at $12.1 million (approximately 18.2 billion KRW), which was analyzed to be an approximately 64% increase compared to previous US performances.

BTS will meet domestic fans at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium on the 12th and 13th of next month. In particular, June 13th marks the 13th anniversary of the team's debut, which is expected to be an even more special time for the members and their fandom, 'ARMY'.

Following this, BTS will kick off their European tour in Madrid, Spain, on June 26, and from August, they are scheduled to continue the second leg of their North American tour, starting with East Rutherford.

The 'Arirang' sing-along that filled the stadiums showed a new landscape that Korean culture is creating on the global stage, moving beyond K-pop.