The ARIRANG tour's biggest emotional hook wasn't the production — it was seeing seven members back on one stage after years apart. When BTS hit London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in July 2026, it was the first time UK ARMY saw the full group since 2019. Every member walked out carrying their own solo-era story — seven different roads that all led back to the same stage. This is the member-by-member version of what the comeback actually meant.
Why "member versions" is the right lens for ARIRANG
Between 2022 and 2025, all seven members ran parallel solo careers while completing mandatory military service. ARIRANG is the first tour where those seven individual eras fold back into one group show — so understanding each member's journey is basically understanding the setlist's DNA. Here's the map:
| Member | Solo era highlights | Service completed |
|---|---|---|
| RM | Indigo (2022), Right Place, Wrong Person (2024) | June 2025 |
| Jin | The Astronaut (2022), Happy (2024), Echo (2025) | June 2024 |
| SUGA | D-DAY as Agust D (2023) + Agust D world tour | June 2025 |
| j-hope | Jack in the Box (2022), Hope on the Street Vol.1 (2024), festival headline slots | October 2024 |
| Jimin | FACE (2023), MUSE (2024) | June 2025 |
| V | Layover (2023) | June 2025 |
| Jung Kook | Golden (2023) | June 2025 |
Seven solo albums eras. Seven discharge dates that staggered back to the same June 2025 finish line. And then, on July 7 in London, seven people on one stage for the first time in front of a UK crowd in seven years.
RM — the leader's return
RM's solo catalog gave ARIRANG its introspective spine. Indigo (December 2022) was the first statement of the hiatus — a full-length that framed the pause as an artistic beginning rather than an ending. Right Place, Wrong Person (May 2024) went further: experimental, restless, and widely reviewed as his most personal work. His June 2025 discharge was the moment the full-group timeline became real for everyone — the leader was back, and the clock everyone had been watching started its final countdown.
Jin — the first one out
Discharged first (June 2024), Jin immediately resumed the group's public life — releasing Happy (November 2024) and Echo (2025) on top of his The Astronaut era with Coldplay. Through 2024–25 he was the most visible member on variety shows and fan-meeting stages, effectively re-opening the door for the other six. When ARMY talk about the "bridge" from the hiatus to the reunion, they start with Jin.
SUGA — the standard-setter
As Agust D, SUGA built the heaviest solo résumé of the era: D-DAY (2023), a full world tour of his own, and years of production credits across K-pop's biggest names. His June 2025 discharge completed the group's military block. On tour, the rap line's technical standard — delivery, pacing, breath control — leans on the bar SUGA set across that solo run.
j-hope — the live-performers' live performer
j-hope dropped Jack in the Box in 2022 and Hope on the Street Vol.1 in 2024, then used his October 2024 discharge to go straight back to large stages — festival headline slots included. He was the first member to return to big-crowd live performing post-service, and the reviews said what ARMY already knew: nobody moves like that. ARIRANG's dance-forward moments run straight through the standard j-hope set.
Jimin — the chart history-maker
FACE (March 2023) and MUSE (July 2024) made Jimin the first BTS member to top global album charts solo. His June 2025 discharge, alongside the rest, reset the group clock. On stage, his vocal-center stagecraft and dance-driven moments come directly from that two-album run — the era that proved a BTS member could carry a global solo campaign alone.
V — the left turn that worked
V's Layover (September 2023) was a jazzy, retro-pop detour that surprised even longtime fans — a deliberate, confident step away from expectation, paired with acting work and one of the era's strongest visual campaigns. His June 2025 discharge completed the seven. The London shows were his first UK stadium appearance since that album reshaped how casually he's perceived — from "visual" to full artistic identity.
Jung Kook — the global soloist
Jung Kook's Golden (November 2023) made him a global pop soloist in his own right — a Billboard-topping era with stadium ambitions of its own, carried by the loudest post-2022 singalongs in the fandom. Discharged June 2025 with the group. ARIRANG folds that solo pop energy back into the group format, and the London crowd's reaction to his segments said everything about how much that era landed.
What the London nights actually delivered
UK coverage was euphoric across the board: The Guardian — "pure joy and astonishing versatility"; Rolling Stone UK — "dazzling stadium spectacle." The run drew around 130,000 fans across two nights and set a Tottenham Hotspur Stadium single-show attendance record, topping the group's own Wembley-era UK numbers. The setlists blended classic-era hits, the new ARIRANG-era material and nods to the solo years — with the tour's signature surprise-song segment rotating night to night (Forbes has tracked the surprise-song list across the tour's dates).
One honest note: we don't list specific songs here, because exact per-night selections varied and inventing setlist details helps nobody. Full published setlists from the London dates are the reliable reference — outlets like Official Charts and The Honey POP ran them during the run.
Why the reunion hit differently in London
London was the tour's European crown: the January on-sale crashed through in minutes, the city spent a week in "Arirang red," and the shows themselves closed a seven-year gap — 2019's Wembley-era UK run to 2026's Tottenham records. For the members, it was the proof-of-concept for the entire post-service era; for UK ARMY, it was seven separate solo eras finally collapsing into one shared night.
FAQ
Did the London ARIRANG shows include solo member songs?
The tour leans on the members' post-2022 solo output alongside group classics; exact selections varied by night. Full published setlists from the London dates are the best reference — we don't invent setlist details.
Was this the first time all seven performed together again?
The group reunited publicly after all members completed military service by June 2025; ARIRANG, announced January 2026, is the first full world tour of that era — and London was its first UK stop in seven years.
Which members released solo albums during the hiatus?
All seven: RM (Indigo, Right Place, Wrong Person), Jin (Happy, Echo), SUGA (D-DAY as Agust D), j-hope (Jack in the Box, Hope on the Street Vol.1), Jimin (FACE, MUSE), V (Layover) and Jung Kook (Golden).
When did each member finish military service?
Jin: June 2024. j-hope: October 2024. RM, Jimin, V, Jung Kook and SUGA: June 2025 — which set up the 2026–2027 ARIRANG world tour.
Which member topped global charts solo first?
Jimin — FACE made him the first BTS member to reach No. 1 on major global album charts as a soloist, with MUSE extending the run.
Whose solo era toured the most before ARIRANG?
SUGA — the Agust D world tour gave him the largest solo live footprint of the seven before the group reunited.
Member discography details are historical fact; tour-night specifics are drawn from July 2026 London coverage in The Guardian, Billboard, Rolling Stone UK, Forbes and Official Charts. Accurate as of November 10, 2026.
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