Written by Maria Sherman
NEW YORK (AP) Their reunion? It’s smooth as silk.In the spring of 2026, the K-pop septet BTS will make a comeback with a new album and a global tour.
During a livestream on Weverse, an online fan platform owned by BTS management business Hybe, members Jin, RM, V, Jimin, J-Hope, Jung Kook, and Suga made the revelation on Tuesday. For the first time since September 2022, all seven members streamed live together.
In the spring of next year, a new BTS album will be released. The band released a statement saying, “All seven of us will start working closely together on new music starting in July.” Being a group album, it will represent the opinions and ideas of every member. We’re going into the record with the same attitude that we had at the beginning.
The band will be in the US this month to start working on new music, according to a press release.
The 2026 album will be their first after the publication of their 2022 anthology Proof, their 2021 Japanese compilation album BTS, the Best, and their 2020 last studio album, Be.
In addition, they revealed their first world tour in almost four years. The announcement comes only weeks after BTS members RM, V, Jimin, and Jung Kookwer were released from South Korea’s military after completing their required service.
All physically fit men between the ages of 18 and 28 are legally obligated to serve in the South Korean military for 18 to 21 months as part of a conscription program designed to ward off North Korean aggression. Suga, the last member to return, performed his duties as a social service agent, an alternative to military service, while six of the group’s seven members served in the army.
The oldest member of BTS, Jin, was let go in June 2024. October saw the discharge of J-Hope.
According to South Korean law, athletics, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers are granted special exemptions if they have won major awards in specific categories and are thought to have improved their country’s reputation. Such advantages are not granted to K-pop singers or other celebrities. However, in 2020, BTS decided to postpone their duty after the National Assembly of South Korea amended the Military duty Act to permit K-pop artists to wait until they were 30 years old to enlist.
