The comeback live performance by Ok-pop megastars BTS drew an estimated 18.4 million viewers worldwide, streaming large Netflix mentioned Wednesday.
The seven-member group took to the stage collectively for the primary time on the weekend following a years-long hiatus prompted by obligatory navy service, and a day after releasing their newest studio album, “ARIRANG”.
The comeback live performance was held in opposition to the backdrop of the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace — becoming for the “Kings of K-pop”.
Netflix mentioned its livestream of the present on Saturday “drew 18.4 million global viewers… proving the group’s influence has only intensified during their time apart”.
The stay broadcast from Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square reached Netflix’s weekly Top 10 in 80 international locations and secured the primary spot in 24 international locations, it mentioned.
The occasion marked Netflix’s first stay occasion in South Korea, in addition to its first occasion of live-streaming a music efficiency on a worldwide scale.
Netflix added that its estimates had been derived from so-called first-party information.
During the efficiency, they sang “Body to Body,” a monitor from the brand new album that includes a choral pattern of the standard Korean folks track Arirang, after which the album is known as.
The folks track, about longing and separation, is commonly dubbed South Korea’s unofficial nationwide anthem.
Fans waved a sea of glowsticks and sang alongside to the group’s hits, holding their telephones aloft to movie the efficiency as large screens arrange throughout the venue allowed the group to observe.
It drew greater than 100,000 followers to central Seoul, in line with the group’s label.
The determine consists of ticket holders and elements in information from the three main telecom carriers, finances cell customers and international guests.
According to the Seoul metropolitan authorities’s crowd-tracking system, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 individuals had been within the space that evening, a metropolis official mentioned.
Local stories mentioned the figures differ as Seoul’s crowd-tracking system depends largely on cell base station connections and doesn’t seize alerts from international guests.
The group’s label, citing streaming platform Spotify, mentioned “SWIM,” the title monitor of its newest album, topped the Daily Top Songs Global chart for 3 straight days from March 20 to 22, whereas “Body to Body” held at No. 2 over the identical interval.
Around 15,000 cops and safety personnel had been mobilised for the live performance, with barricades lining the roads and close by venues shut.
The newest album, “ARIRANG”, launched Friday, is billed as reflecting the maturing boy band’s Korean id.
It offered almost 4 million copies on its first day, in line with the label.
Following Saturday’s live performance, the superstars will embark on their “ARIRANG” world tour, starting April 9 in Goyang, South Korea.
The 2026–27 tour spans 82 live shows throughout 34 cities in Asia, North America, Europe and Latin America.
Tickets for exhibits in South Korea, North America and Europe offered out inside hours.
© 2026 AFP