BTS are the first K-pop act to top the Official German Vinyl Charts. With “Arirang” the comeback album achieves a record entry.
With “Arirang,” BTS climbed to number one on the Official German Vinyl Charts — the first K-pop act ever since the hit list was founded in 2015.
They still had to wait a month: in April, Harry Styles relegated them to second place. Now the time has come.
comeback
The comeback album was released on March 20th, over five years after “Be” (2020). In between: military service for all seven members, a handful of solo projects and a fan base that simply hasn’t stopped waiting.
“Arirang” — named after one of the most famous Korean folk songs — was intended to mark a return to roots. While the theme is about identity, origins and reunion, the producer line-up reads like a Grammy seating plan: Diplo, Flume, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder. Criticism is divided – the numbers are of little interest.
Sold out stadiums
110 million streams on the first day. All tour dates were sold out before a single new note was heard publicly. The “Arirang World Tour” kicked off on April 9 in Goyang, runs until March 2027 and includes 85 dates in 34 cities. Anyone who was lucky enough to get a ticket can experience BTS live in Germany on July 11th and 12th, 2026 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
A vinyl for every taste
The fact that “Arirang” is topping the vinyl charts could also be due to the fact that it was released in a whopping 17 different vinyl versions – one for each member in an individual color, plus deluxe pressings in black and white and color.
According to Variety, 208,000 vinyl units sold in the first week in the U.S. alone resulted in the sixth-largest vinyl sales week for an album in the modern era.
Part of the success should also be the fans who simply want all the versions of their favorite group. And so BTS manages to take a genre that has not been associated with vinyl records for years to number one in the German vinyl charts.
