The group BTS is rewriting the legendary box office success story of global world tours by sweeping the top ranks of Billboard Boxscore in the U.S.
According to the latest Boxscore released by U.S. music trade publication Billboard on July 28, BTS landed at No. 2 on the "Top Tours" chart with a staggering $102.5 million in ticket sales from the monthlong July run of "BTS WORLD TOUR 'ARIRANG'" (Hanwha about 141.4 billion won).
The achievement is all the more overwhelming because it was accomplished in just eight shows. Compared with The Weeknd, who topped the list with $124.4 million from 16 shows, BTS demonstrated enormous ticket power comparable to that figure with only half the number of shows.
Billboard noted, "BTS is the third artist in history, after Beyoncé and Bad Bunny, to surpass $100 million in monthly revenue across multiple months," highlighting their dominance.
In fact, all of BTS's standalone concerts staged in July swept the Top 10 of Billboard's "Top Boxscore." Starting with the Stade de France show in Paris at No. 3, shows in London, Munich and the Brussels stadium ranked consecutively from No. 5 to No. 7. In Paris alone they drew 185,000 spectators and generated $30.6 million in revenue (Hanwha about 42.2 billion won), an astonishing figure.
As of Aug. 11, BTS recorded cumulative sales of $433.2 million (Hanwha about 599.8 billion won) and a total audience of 2.3 million from just 38 shows, easily surpassing the previous largest tour, "LOVE YOURSELF," which earned $213.9 million. The music industry is watching closely to see what other record they will set through this tour, which continues into the first half of next year.
Their long reign on music and album charts continues. The full-length fifth album "Arirang (ARIRANG)" has been on the U.K. Official Albums Top 100 for 23 consecutive weeks, breaking its own longest-running record each week. It has also held steady in the top three on Spotify's "Weekly Top Albums Global" for five months, and the title track "SWIM" has remained in the top 10 for 23 consecutive weeks, underscoring their enduring global popularity.
[Photo] BigHit Music
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