When BTS Comeback: this is it… the hiatus is over, military service is behind them, the world is spinning normally again: BTS is Back!
After a long time of speculation, the first clue about when the long awaited BTS comeback would happen came during the unforgettable surprise live on July 1, 2025, when they themselves said the new album should be released “in the spring of next year” (that is, 2026) and that they had already started working on the new songs.
A promise made is a promise kept, in that very Bangtan way: a few “almost spoilers” in lives or interviews, until some ARMYs (Membership Gold) received handwritten letters from each of the members at the end of December. Along with the affectionate messages came a mysterious symbol made up of three red circles and a date: 03.20.2026. Could this be the official comeback date?
We did not have to wait long for official confirmation from HYBE across all of its social media on the very first day of January 2026: March 20 really was the official release date of BTS’s new album!
What everyone wanted to know was: when is BTS coming back? Well, now we know. Keep reading to find out everything we truly know about the long awaited When BTS Comeback.
What Day Is BTS Coming Back?
Ok, we already know that When BTS Comeback is set for March 20, 2026, a date that will go down in ARMY history. The official announcement has arrived and brought a series of important details, so it is worth reading and rereading it:
Hello.
This is BIGHIT MUSIC.We are excited to share some details about the release of BTS The 5th Album, and the start of their World Tour.
The new album holds special significance as it marks the first album released by the group in three years and nine months, while also indicating the direction the group will take going forward. The members were deeply involved in the creation of the songs, infusing their own thoughts and colors into them while musically expressing the emotions and struggles they have experienced along their journey.
Featuring 14 tracks, the album is packed with honest stories that BTS wants to share with ARMY, who have been waiting for their pm comeback as a whole group. Filled with the music that’s most true to BTS, the album is their heartfelt way of saying thank you to ARMY, who have been there this whole time.
We are also pleased to announce that, following the release of their BTS The 5th Album, BTS will be going on a world tour. The tour schedule will be announced separately on January 14 at 12 am. We ask for your continued love and support for BTS as they embark on a fresh start through these new promotional activities.
Lastly, we would like to sincerely thank all the ARMY who have waited patiently for so long.
Pre-Order Opening Date: From 11 am, Friday, January 16, 2026 (KST)
Release Date: 1 pm, Friday, March 20, 2026 (KST)
Opera summary: a full album with 14 tracks, a release date set for March 20 and pre orders on January 16, plus a world tour!
It was not just ARMY who went wild. All social media exploded, and from that day on the topic became a fixture in global media, not only in music outlets but also in major news portals.
After all, this is not just any comeback. It is the first When BTS Comeback after a long wait, since the last one happened on June 10, 2022, with the release of the triple anthology album Proof, which brought three new tracks: Yet to Come, Run BTS, and For Youth.
On top of that, it is the comeback of the biggest K pop group, the only one capable of breaking through every possible bubble. It is worth looking back at how we got here.
When BTS Comeback: the hiatus that never was and the preparations for the return
Even before that OT7 live in July, j-hope had already announced BTS’s return loud and clear on June 13, during his second to last show of the tour HOPE ON THE STAGE: . That day, with all the members present at the concert, including Jin and Jungkook on stage, j-hope said the long awaited “We are back!” that we had been waiting to hear all this time, the same phrase that had been displayed on the HYBE building since the very first preparations for FESTA 2025.
What Are the Members Doing After Military Service?
BTS never stops! Each member lived their own journey. Take a look:
- RM attended Art Basel in Switzerland as the ambassador for Samsung Art TV. He talked about his dream of opening an art gallery — after BTS, that’s clearly his greatest passion!
- j-hope dropped new music — the incredible Sweet Dreams, Mona Lisa, and Killin’ It Girl (the last one featured heavily on TV shows). He also wrapped up his world tour and shone at major events like Paris Fashion Week.
- Jin he wrapped up his solo tour after releasing the album EECHO, which put Don’t Say You Love Me on global charts as the most listened to K pop song of 2025. Alongside j-hope, he hosted FESTA 2025.
- SUGA moved everyone with the creation of a treatment center for autistic children. He made the biggest donation ever by a K-pop artist — 5 billion won — funding the Min Yoongi Treatment Centre at Severance Hospital, where he likely served during his military service.
- Jimin, Jungkook, and V shined as ambassadors for major global brands. Jimin and Jungkook starred in the second season of the travel reality show Are You Sure (available on Disney+), showing in fun detail their trip to Switzerland and Vietnam, which took place shortly after they were discharged from military service. V, in turn, also shared his trips to Los Angeles and Hawaii in delightful vlogs that you can watch on Bangtan TV.
While each of them focused on these individual projects, ARMY kept a close eye on the signs of the long awaited When BTS Comeback, which promises to bring all this energy together into a new and unforgettable moment for the group.
The Impact of BTS’s Return
When BTS comeback is more than just a music event — it’s an economic, political, and social phenomenon. Did you know BTS has a direct impact on South Korea’s GDP? Never in music history has an artist been so vital to an entire country’s economy.
GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, which is the total value of all goods and services a country produces in a year — and BTS contributes to about 0.3% of South Korea’s GDP, generating jobs and over $4.6 billion USD annually!
BTS is a key part of the Hallyu wave — the global rise of Korean culture — helping boost South Korea’s image worldwide. From speaking at the UN to promoting social causes and shaping pop culture, BTS has become a true ambassador of Korean soft power.
It’s no surprise that when BTS comeback, it’s being treated as a global cultural milestone — their return goes far beyond music and may reignite their global presence even more.
Will the BTS Comeback Be the Biggest in History?
We can safely say: yes! We’ve seen huge comebacks in K-pop and global music — TWICE, Taylor Swift, Adele… but nothing compares to the anticipation surrounding when BTS comeback.
With all the cultural, emotional, and artistic weight it carries, when BTS comeback, it has everything to become the greatest comeback in contemporary music history. And we’ll be right here, living every second together. Without a doubt, it will be the biggest of all BTS comebacks — and that’s saying something.
This isn’t just any comeback. It’s the first after a long hiatus, post-military service, and it marks the beginning of “Chapter 2” of BTS’s story — a story being written by seven brilliant minds.
When we think about how and when BTS comeback happened in the past, every era marked something special.
The HYYH era (2015–2016) changed everything, giving a new direction to a group that had already debuted with impact. Then came the Wings (2016) and Love Yourself (2017–2018) eras, bringing global success and taking K-pop to the world for the first time. That momentum continued with Map of the Soul (2020) and BE (2020), which comforted and inspired fans during the pandemic — even attracting millions of new listeners.
Now, as the new when BTS comeback approaches, the entire world is preparing to witness a brand-new milestone in music history.
Chapters 1 and 2: when BTS comeback Happens Within a Bigger Story
BTS themselves refer to everything that happened before the group’s hiatus in 2022 as “Chapter 1.” So what we’re about to experience now is what they call “Chapter 2.” What will it be like? Honestly, we have no idea — and that’s part of the thrill.
One great thing that came out of Chapter 1 was each member’s “solo era,” a time when they could grow even further as individuals. Of course, their personal styles have always shone through — even during group activities — with mixtapes and side releases throughout the years.
During their solo journeys:
- RM explored deep artistic experimentation in Indigo and the critically acclaimed Right Place, Wrong Person. He also released the beautifully melancholic Stop the Rain in collaboration with Tablo.
- j-hope, bold as always, left behind his bright persona in Jack in the Box and later celebrated dance in Hope on the Street. Then came another creative leap with the EP Charm of Hope, featuring the now-iconic Sweet Dreams, Mona Lisa, and Killin’ It Girl, showcasing a more mature — and sexy — side.
- Jimin took us from the lunar melancholy of Face to the sunny confidence of Muse, home to the hit track Who.
- Jungkook fully embraced pop in Golden, his all-English album that dominated charts across the globe.
- SUGA wrapped up the Agust D trilogy with D-Day — a raw, complex, and deeply personal project.
- V offered us the elegant and versatile Layover, blending pop, jazz, and R&B with his signature style.
- Meanwhile, Jin showed his colors through the romantic pop of The Astronaut, the emotional ballad Happy, and the rock-pop edge of ECHO.
BTS’s last group release was the anthology Proof, in June 2022. A collection of their greatest hits, it was a way to celebrate — but also to close — “Chapter 1” of their story. The album featured new tracks like Yet To Come, Run BTS, and For Youth.
The last performance with all seven members together happened at Yet To Come in Busan, a free concert held in October 2022 — a symbolic farewell before the military enlistments began.
In 2025, HYBE launched the BTS 7 Moments project, described as a “timeless testament to the brilliant moments shared between BTS and ARMY.” Through videos and photos, it revisits the best memories from each member’s solo era, but through an OT7 lens.
All this narrative care reinforces that when BTS comeback, it won’t be “just another return” — it will be a carefully crafted milestone in a continuous journey.
From now on, BTS is ready to begin writing Chapter 2, bringing together the depth of their solo experiences with the brilliance of seven artists who learned to walk alone — precisely to make when BTS comeback something unforgettable, not only for ARMY, but for the entire modern music landscape.
And it’s this mix of journey, talent, and purpose that promises to make when BTS comeback one of the most impactful events in global pop culture.
Is the BTS Universe (BU) Coming Back Too?
If you’re a fan of theories and symbolism, you might be hoping the BTS Universe (BU) will make a return in some form.
The BU connects music videos, webtoons, books, and more into a powerful narrative about youth, choices, and redemption — with Jin as the central character, a time traveler trying to save his friends from recurring tragedies.
The BTS Universe began with The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1, released in 2015 “(mental note: the album turned 10 in 2025)”. A return to that story, after the members’ solo journeys and military service, could bring deeper meaning and maturity to those original themes.
Many fans believe that when BTS comeback, there might be hidden references to the BU — reviving one of the most complex and emotional storylines in K-pop history.
Why do we think BU might come back? First, because we love the storytelling behind it (and okay, maybe it’s wishful thinking… but BU is fiction after all). And second, because it subtly showed up during SUGA and j-hope’s solo tours. Let’s break that down:
In one of the VCRs from D-DAY Tour, SUGA is shown surrounded by flames in a burning room — a direct reference to his BU character’s storyline. Similarly, j-hope included visual nods to his own BU character in the Hope on the Stage VCRs — we covered this in detail in a previous article.
Of course, this is all just fan speculation. But that’s what the BU is all about: building wild, amazing theories.
BTS World Tour 2026–2027: everything we already know about the When BTS Comeback tour
According to Big Hit’s announcement, BTS’s new world tour will feature all seven members and already has dates scheduled across Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America. The tour kicks off in April 2026 in South Korea and runs through 2027, with more cities to be announced later. In other words, get your heart and your wallet ready, because there is a lot coming!
When and where does the When BTS Comeback tour start?
BTS’s world tour will begin with shows in Goyang, South Korea, on April 9 and 11, 2026. That is where everything will start, and you can be sure the whole world will be watching these first concerts to get a sense of what is coming in terms of setlist, performances, and, of course, those surprises only BTS knows how to deliver. The When BTS Comeback officially comes to life on stage from that date on!
Confirmed dates around the world
Take a look at all the places BTS will visit, in chronological order:
ASIA
- Goyang: April 9 and 11–12, 2026
- Tokyo: April 17–18, 2026
- Busan: June 12–13, 2026
- Kaohsiung: November 19, 2026
- Bangkok: December 3 and 5–6, 2026
- Kuala Lumpur: December 12–13, 2026
- Singapore: December 17, 19–20, and 22, 2026
- Jakarta: December 26–27, 2026
- Hong Kong: February 6–7, 2027
- Manila: March 13–14, 2027
NORTH AMERICA:
- Tampa: April 25–26, 2026
- El Paso: May 2–3, 2026
- Mexico City: May 7 and 9–10, 2026
- Stanford: May 16–17, 2026
- Las Vegas: May 23–24 and 27, 2026
- Los Angeles: August 1–2 and 5–6, 2026
- Foxborough: August 5–6, 2026
- Baltimore: August 10–11, 2026
- Arlington: August 15–16, 2026
- Toronto: August 22–23, 2026
- Chicago: August 27–28, 2026
EUROPE:
- Madrid: June 26–27, 2026
- Brussels: July 1–2, 2026
- London: July 6–7, 2026
- Munich: July 11–12, 2026
- Paris: July 17–18, 2026
- East Rutherford: August 1–2, 2026
SOUTH AMERICA:
- Bogotá: October 2–3, 2026
- Lima: October 9–10, 2026
- Santiago: October 16–17, 2026
- Buenos Aires: October 23–24, 2026
- São Paulo: October 28, 30, and 31, 2026
OCEANIA:
- Melbourne: February 12–13, 2027
- Sydney: February 20–21, 2027
And there is more to come!
BIGHIT MUSIC has already confirmed that more cities will be announced, including shows scheduled for 2027 in Japan, the Middle East, and other regions. In other words, this When BTS Comeback tour promises to be the biggest and most ambitious of the group’s career so far.
Stay tuned to the official channels and here on Bangtan Now for more information about ticket sales, show details, and everything else about this historic tour!
The When BTS Comeback is just the beginning of a new era
So that is it, ARMY. After so many “when?”, “will it?”, and “maybe?”, we finally have concrete answers: March 20, 2026 for the album, a historic world tour, and many shows around the globe. The wait is over, but in a way it is also just beginning, because now it is that sweet kind of anxiety that comes when you know something incredible is on the way. It is like Christmas Eve, except it lasts for months and we barely sleep because of all the excitement.
BTS’s “Chapter 2” promises to be just as intense as everything we lived through in “Chapter 1,” only now with seven artists who are even more mature, talented, and ready to show everything they learned while walking on their own. If you thought you had already seen the best of BTS, get ready. They always manage to surprise us, and make us cry too, let’s be honest.
Now we want to hear from you: what are you most excited about in the When BTS Comeback? Which song are you hoping will be on the setlist? Leave a comment and let’s talk about this historic moment we are about to experience together! 💜
