BTS ARIRANG tour: why group reunion matters more than solo stardom

For years, one question has hovered over BTS every time the members stepped into solo careers, enlisted for military service, or took on individual creative pursuits: What happens to BTS next? The answer, it seems, has never really changed.With the ARIRANG album, the ARIRANG world tour, and the documentary BTS: THE RETURN, the seven-member group — Jin, Suga, RM, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook — has once again made something abundantly clear: their identity as BTS remains central to everything they do.Their latest interview with Weverse Magazine offers perhaps the clearest insight yet into that philosophy.Tour decisions that prioritise the groupOne of the biggest talking points surrounding the ARIRANG tour is what it deliberately leaves out. Despite all seven members now boasting successful solo discographies, the concerts feature no solo or subunit stages. Instead, the setlist belongs entirely to BTS—a choice the members say was intentional from the outset. “You hit the nail on the head with our intention,” Jung Kook told Weverse Magazine, explaining that it has become increasingly rare for groups to perform concerts made up entirely of group songs. “We wanted to remind everyone what BTS is like as a group, and since it’s been so long since our last tour, we tried to focus on the kind of energy we have when we’re all together,” he said, adding that the members wanted audiences to be “immersed in that feeling of all seven of us putting on the show together, all the way through.”V echoed that sentiment, calling the reunion itself the defining idea behind the tour. “We all felt that we should be focusing on the group rather than subunits or solo songs. I think that is the core of this tour. Having the seven of us back together after all this time feels special, and it’s also our way of saying we want to keep doing this together,” he said.Those remarks reflect something BTS has consistently reiterated over the past few years. Even while pursuing acclaimed solo albums, world tours, and collaborations, every member has continued to describe those projects as individual chapters rather than replacements for the group.RM framed the comeback as both symbolic and strategic. “We wanted to put more weight on reaffirming the BTS brand that’s brought all of us this far. We have to do something to show that we’re locked in as a group, now that we’re back after such a long time away. After all, we’re talking about 13 years of history that the seven of us and ARMY have been building together,” he said, describing the comeback as an opportunity to reaffirm the group’s identity after a long hiatus. SUGA perhaps summed up the group’s chemistry best when he remarked, “I think it’s so ‘Bangtan’ that the seven of us are still so aligned.”A promise made before enlistmentThat alignment extends well beyond music. BTS: THE RETURN reveals that before enlisting, the members made a promise to each other—not to release more music or plan another album, but to return to the fans they couldn’t meet during the pandemic.Jin revealed that the commitment came from the members themselves rather than the label. “Before we went into the military, we said, ‘Once we all get discharged, let’s go see ARMY everywhere we couldn’t tour during COVID.’ It wasn’t really something we were discussing with the label. It was a promise we made together before enlisting,” he recalled.He said they never wanted fans in countries skipped during previous tours to feel forgotten. “When I see them writing to thank us for coming to where they’re at, it means the world to me. It was meant to happen eventually, and now we’re finally doing it,” he added.It’s a reminder that BTS have long viewed ARMY as more than an audience. Throughout their career, the relationship has often been framed as a shared journey rather than a conventional artist-fan dynamic. That philosophy is perhaps best reflected during the ARIRANG tour. Speaking about audiences around the world singing the Korean folk-inspired “Arirang” section of Body to Body, j-hope described it as the emotional heart of the show.“I think that’s the very heart of it—setting aside differences like language, race, geography, gender, and all that to come together as one through love,” he said, adding that communication with fans matters just as much as the performances themselves.Balancing the past with the presentThe tour also balances the present with the past. Alongside songs from ARIRANG, BTS revisit music from their early years, giving longtime fans a chance to relive old memories while introducing newer fans to another chapter of the group’s journey.Jung Kook admitted that revisiting those songs on stage evokes a different kind of nostalgia than simply watching old performances. “There’s a very different hit of nostalgia when I’m actually performing it live instead of just watching a video of it, and I wanted to let ARMY experience the same thing,” he shared.SUGA noted that every fan discovers BTS at a different point in their journey, making those shared moments even more meaningful. Why choosing BTS still mattersPerhaps the biggest takeaway from the interview is that BTS don’t speak about staying together as an obligation or contractual commitment. They speak about it as something they genuinely want.Having promoted and toured on his own during the group’s hiatus, Jin said the experience only deepened his appreciation for performing as BTS. “These guys are the best, you know? I’ve done promotions and even toured without the others before, and there was a lot of pressure there. There was this fear in the back of my mind. Performing without them taught me something—how grateful I am that we get to do this together and how much it means to me. When I’m with them, we end up laughing our way through everything, and onstage, too, I’m so happy that I just can’t help smiling,” he admitted.Jimin called the reunion a vivid reminder of what the group means to him. “Reuniting like this was a vivid reminder of just how grateful and happy I am that all seven of us get to perform together. I think seeing all seven of us onstage together from start to finish during this tour says everything about how we see our group and how we feel about each other,” he said.For j-hope, BTS’ greatest strength lies in the fact that every member is indispensable. “With our group, you could never replace any of the members. Each of us has our own role to play, and there’s a kind of beauty you only get when we’re all lumped together. And more than anything, I think this connection with people all over the world only exists when all seven of us are together. Since this tour is our first time being back with our fans in a long time, we wanted to give them as much time with the whole group as possible. That’s really all there is to it,” he observed. That belief is perhaps what continues to distinguish BTS. In an era where many successful groups naturally evolve into collections of equally successful solo artists, BTS has shown that individual growth and collective identity do not have to compete. Their solo years strengthened each member as an artist, but their reunion suggests those experiences ultimately flow back into the group.Their message isn’t simply that BTS are back. It’s that after 13 years, military service, record-breaking solo careers, and global success, they are still making the same choice they always have: choosing BTS.- EndsPublished By: bhavna agarwalPublished On: Jul 17, 2026 11:00 ISTALSO READ | BTS turn fake scandal into viral campaign ahead of NORMAL music video release