BTS gave Rolling Stone its most ambitious cover package ever for the May/June 2026 issue — eight different covers, one per member — to coincide with the release of their reunion album Arirang. In individual interviews with each member, the group discusses the creative process behind a record that sold 641,000 copies in the United States in its first week, topped Apple Music in 115 countries, and marks their first full-group release since members began mandatory South Korean military service in 2022.
RM's interview, the most expansive of the eight, addresses the stakes of the reunion directly: what it means for seven artists who have spent the last several years developing as individuals to return to a group identity — and why that return required pushing into genuinely new creative territory rather than retreating to the sound that made them famous.
Note: All quotes in this article are drawn from Rolling Stone's May/June 2026 issue. Quotes have been edited for length and clarity where indicated.
Key Facts
- BTS's Arirang sold 641,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week
- Album topped Apple Music in 115 countries upon release
- Rolling Stone dedicated 8 separate covers to the group — one per member
- All seven members flew to the U.S. together for joint recording sessions — a departure from their usual process
- The reunion follows mandatory South Korean military service completed by all members
- RM: the album is "an answer to the people wondering, 'What is BTS in 2026?'"
RM: "No Reason to Keep Going Without Challenge"
RM's central statement in his Rolling Stone interview is both a creative manifesto and a group mission statement: the decision to push Arirang into genuinely unfamiliar sonic and lyrical territory was, he argues, the only justification for the reunion existing at all.
"If we don't challenge anymore, then I think there's no reason that we should keep doing this as a team."— RM, Rolling Stone, May/June 2026
He frames Arirang — named after a traditional Korean folk song that functions as something close to a national anthem — as the group's attempt to answer a question that their military hiatus made urgent: what does BTS actually represent now, in 2026, having individually evolved and returned?
"These 14 tracks could be an answer to the people wondering, 'What is BTS in 2026?'"— RM, Rolling Stone, May/June 2026
V: "Every Single One Is My Style"
V's individual Rolling Stone interview offers a complementary perspective — where RM focuses on the group's challenge to itself, V speaks to the album as a genuine creative expression rather than a commercial obligation. His framing is striking in its confidence: not a compromise between seven distinct sensibilities, but a full realization of each.
"There's not a single song on this album that is not my style — every single one is my style and the kind of music I've wanted to make."— V, Rolling Stone, May/June 2026
The Recording Process: Flying to America Together
J-Hope revealed in his individual interview that all seven members flew to the United States together for joint recording sessions — a logistical and creative departure from the process that produced most of their catalog, which was built through a combination of label-coordinated songwriting camps, remote collaboration, and individual contributions assembled in post-production.
The decision to record together in person, in a country that isn't their home, signals something deliberate about how the group approached the reunion: not as a restoration of what existed before, but as a new formation. The physical togetherness was itself a creative choice — and one that J-Hope suggests produced results that their usual process would not have.
Background: BTS and the Military Hiatus
BTS are South Korea's most commercially successful musical act and one of the most globally recognized entertainment properties of the past decade. Between 2022 and 2025, all seven members completed mandatory military service in the South Korean army — a requirement that applies to all male South Korean citizens. The hiatus was the longest sustained break in the group's career since their 2013 debut, and it generated enormous fan anticipation globally.
Arirang's commercial performance — 641,000 first-week U.S. copies, Apple Music No. 1 in 115 countries — confirms that the fanbase not only survived the gap but intensified through it. The album's 14 tracks are being described by critics as their most creatively mature output, though full critical consensus is still forming. For more interview coverage, read Noah Kahan's equally candid Rolling Stone cover story.
What Comes Next
Tour announcements for the Arirang era have not yet been confirmed as of publication. Given the scale of the album's commercial debut, a world tour is widely anticipated. Follow LoudDrip for tour date announcements, chart tracking, and full BTS coverage as the rollout continues.
