They came back, they performed, they conquered: BTS doubles up at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 this week (on the charts dated Apr. 4), topping both charts for the first time since going on hiatus in 2022.

The group’s new album ARIRANG, released Mar. 20, enters with 643,000 first-week units — the biggest number of 2026 so far, and also the most for any album by a group since the chart began measuring by units in December 2014 — becoming the group’s seventh leader on the chart. It’s also BTS’ seventh time besting the Hot 100, as lead single “Swim” debuts at No. 1, followed by 12 more tracks on the album also bowing on the listing.

How should BTS feel about those week numbers? And does it seem like the group has changed a good deal since it last left us? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.

1. BTS debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week with new album ARIRANG, moving 641,000 units in its first frame. Is that number higher, lower or about what you expected? 

Christopher Claxton: I figured the album would perform well and it did. It even outpaced 2022’s Proof, which debuted with 314,000 equivalent units (including 266,000 in pure album sales) and topped the Billboard 200. ARIRANG also marks the biggest week for a group album since the chart began tracking units in December 2014. Honestly, the scale of this achievement shows not just their dedicated fanbase but also how much global anticipation had built around this release since their hiatus. 

Lyndsey Havens: A bit higher! But only because of the context around that number; on its own, it sounds like exactly what I’d expect, but once I learned that it’s not only the group’s biggest sales week ever but also the biggest sales week for an album by a group in over a decade, it makes that figure even more impressive.

Abigail Park: I’m honestly not that surprised! It’s a big number, but it lands comfortably within expectations. Their last release before enlistment, Proof, was an anthology album culminating the last decade of BTS (and those kinds of projects tend to underperform a bit), so it set more of a floor than a ceiling. We’ve seen similar post-military bumps with other boy groups like 2PM and SHINee, where the fanbase comes back more concentrated and ready to spend. BTS just amplifies that effect on a global scale. And since they never really lost momentum during hiatus, this debut reads less like a spike and more like a continuation.

Andrew Unterberger: Hard to argue with any chart stat that includes “biggest in measured history,” huh? It’s not miles ahead of what I expected, but it’s still a tremendous number, especially when you consider how far ahead it is if the first-week numbers the group was producing the first time around, even when BTS was already clearly the biggest pop group in the world.

Abby Webster: BTS seemed really nervous that time off would kill their momentum instead of building anticipation — but since those 641,000 units mark both their biggest sales week and biggest streaming week for an album, I’d say they had nothing to worry about!

2. Does the album sound to you like a markedly different group than the one who went on hiatus four years ago, or are they more picking up right where they left off? 

Christopher Claxton: This album feels like a clear shift, leaning more into their version of hip-hop than traditional K-pop. It’s a return to their roots, considering BTS was originally formed as a hip-hop crew before evolving into a global idol group. That direction shows in the production choices too. Hip-hop heavyweight Mike WiLL Made-It contributes to two tracks, while rapper-producer JPEGMAFIA helps shape the jersey club–inspired “FYA,” bringing a raw, experimental edge to the project.

Lyndsey Havens: It sounds like a more grown BTS in all the right ways — familiar yet evolved. The group already had an incredible foundation to build on, and I feel like as individuals and collectively, they came together for ARIRANG even stronger. They worked with a compelling group of collaborators across genres — Diplo, Ryan Tedder and Kevin Parker, among others — and also had time during the hiatus to explore and develop their own voices and tastes as maturing individuals. All of those ingredients, I think, contributed to ARIRANG sounding like the perfect evolution for BTS.

Abigail Park: BTS has never shied away from Western collaborations, influences, or even singing entirely in English, which is notable since they’re one of the only major K-pop groups without a foreign member. The group has also explored many concepts — boy-next-door, dark/mature, even experimental — which is very on brand for them. Listening to ARIRANG, the album feels familiar at heart, and their core qualities are definitely still there, but it also reveals a more mature, confident, and edgy side that we’ve never heard from them before.

Andrew Unterberger: Considering that there’s nothing on here confusable for “Butter,” “Permission to Dance” or even “My Universe,” it’s pretty clear the group has decided to take its music in a different direction since we last heard from them — or multiple different directions at once, really. The bangers hit harder, the down-tempo numbers get weirder and more aqueous; there’s a decent amount going on here. Is it still recognizable as BTS? Certainly, but no one would mistake it for something the septet has had lying around since 2022.

Abby Webster: It reminds me more of 2014 BTS than 2022 BTS. I saw people calling this album Dark & Wild’s evolved sibling, and I’m tentatively inclined to agree (while still preferring D&W). Despite the English lyrics and Diplo/Ryan Tedder/Kevin Parker production credits on ARIRANG, I see this as a version of BTS that is much more willing to take risks than the group we saw putting out “Butter” or “Dynamite.”

3. “Swim” also debuts atop the Hot 100, marking the group’s seventh No. 1 song on the chart. Do you think it will be a long-lasting hit, or will it fall back quickly after its impressive entrance? 

Christopher Claxton: BTS has the most Hot 100 No. 1s among groups this decade with seven. However, of the group’s six previous No. 1s, only two, “Dynamite” and “Butter” stayed at the top for more than a single week. With that context, “Swim” could realistically hold the No. 1 spot for a second week, but it’s unlikely to extend beyond three.

Lyndsey Havens: Despite not having that same explosive energy or sticky social media sensibility like “Dynamite” or “Butter,” I think “Swim” could become a lasting hit because of those exact things. The laid-back hit leans a bit more into velvety pop-R&B — proof of the group’s evolution across ARIRANG — and the repetitive “swim, swim” is trance-like in all the right ways, making it almost too easy to repeat for hours without noticing. 

Abigail Park: An impressive entrance indeed! I could potentially see it sticking around at No. 1 for a second week, maybe even a third if lucky, but after all that initial hype, it’ll probably lose a little steam. Still, even if it slides a bit, it’s another massive moment for BTS and another chart milestone to add to their run.

Andrew Unterberger: I think its run at No. 1 might not last too much longer, but I could see it sticking around the top tier a pretty long time. Its No. 2 debut on Streaming Songs was the group’s highest yet, and the song is still rating pretty high on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart, while even the early radio numbers are decently encouraging. It doesn’t feel like a hit that’s just gonna disappear anytime soon.

Abby Webster: I’m struggling to see “Swim” sticking around on the charts, but I’d love to be proven wrong.

4. Are there any other songs on the album that you think have hit single potential — or just that show a new and interesting side of the group? 

Christopher Claxton: I think the opening track “Body to Body” shows a different and really compelling side of the group, and honestly could’ve worked as a single for the album. You can hear the hip-hop influences blended with more traditional Korean elements, all wrapped in a fast-paced, high-energy sound.

And to back that up, it stands as the highest-charting track outside of “Swim,” landing at No. 25. There’s definitely an argument that “Body to Body” should’ve been pushed as a single, but it feels like that idea lost out, with the consolation prize being its spot as the album’s opener.

Lyndsey Havens: “Body to Body” is the way to open an album — let alone one that ARMY has been patiently waiting for. It has that classic BTS energy to it, except feels somehow even more fierce and impassioned, and perhaps that’s because for as long as ARMY has waited, BTS has too for this exact moment. It feels like an appropriate unleashing — and given the inspiration coming in part from the togetherness felt during stadium concerts, it feels even more fitting to begin the album here. As Billboard Korea wrote in the album’s tracks ranked: “It is, in the span of a few bars, the entire album in miniature: where BTS come from, who they are now, and why they came back.”

Abigail Park: One track that’s really caught my ear is “Merry-Go-Round,” produced by Kevin Parker/Tame Impala. Honestly, it’s my favorite on the album so far. Parker has this incredible knack for making hooks and beats that are catchy enough to be the next viral audio on TikTok, while still being a genuinely good song. You can see the same energy in his recent collaboration with BLACKPINK’s JENNIE on “Dracula,” which hints that this one might gain some traction online in the future.

Andrew Unterberger: I’m very into the alt-leaning second-side tracks like “Like Animals” and “Into the Sun,” though I don’t know if I see any of them necessarily becoming breakout hits. “Body to Body” feels like the emerging popular favorite, which should only become truer when it’s setting off their live set across their upcoming world tour.

Abby Webster: I’m honestly surprised “2.0” is up next. While it makes sense thematically for their new era, I’ll continue to ring the bell for “Body to Body” — though I think it’s possible that they’re concerned about the song’s commercial viability given the length of the “Arirang” sample. I would probably still take “Hooligan” or “Aliens” over “2.0,” though!

5. Between the debuts of the album and its lead single, as well as the accompanying comeback concert and Netflix documentary, does it all feel like a comeback week befitting the group’s status?

Christopher Claxton: Yes, they’ve definitely had a massive comeback week. On top of everything mentioned, the group put on a light show in NYC, performed a secret set with Spotify, and another surprise performance with The Tonight Show. They’re clearly on a roll and who knows what else they still have up their sleeves. This past week has been a showcase of their global reach and star power.

Lyndsey Havens: Totally. The release of ARIRANG felt — and still feels — like a global celebration. I think given the wait, BTS are hitting all their marks with this album’s release and rollout: late night TV bits to gorgeous performances in New York and Seoul; a doc that brings fans into the action no matter where they are in the world; and, of above all else, an album worthy of all its hype.

Abigail Park: Forgive the pun, but “Swim” is really making waves! Press coverage has been strong across the board — from back-to-back performances on The Jimmy Fallon Show to their massive live comeback concert in Gwanghwamun Square, to the Netflix documentary — all of it adds up to a comeback that truly befits their status. It’s been incredible to see the group jump back in and dominate after all these years. I remember staying up late in elementary school to watch BTS promote themselves on Music Bank, Inkigayo, and other music shows, back when they weren’t trending quite yet. Seeing them now, commanding global attention on every front, is absolutely mind-blowing.

Andrew Unterberger: I mean, they’re really only competing with themselves — and not even their past selves, but more our imaginations of how big they could possibly be. There’s no other groups in any genre that couple hope to put numbers like they are currently doing, and only one or two solo artists.

Abby Webster: Yes and no! This comeback has been all over the place. Since I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in Seoul, I primarily saw how it was received here, which was mixed — especially after live attendance for the comeback show massively paled in comparison to the 260,000 the city had prepared for. The Netflix doc also caused discourse in its own right by shedding light on the many time and label constraints under which this album was made. But the messiness has been almost charming to me — even the biggest boy band in the world can’t control everything! In the end, it’s hard to imagine that the negative commentary won’t just get more eyes on them.

Country artists Mitchell Tenpenny and Meghan Patrick are expecting their first child together, the couple revealed on social media on Tuesday (March 31).

They shared the news of their expanding family through a video post on Instagram, which showed the moment Patrick revealed the pregnancy to Tenpenny. The clip shows the two preparing to share a meal together. As they pray together, Patrick ends the prayer by saying, “Most of all, thank you for my amazing husband, who I know is also going to be an amazing dad.” Tenpenny then turns to Patrick and says, “Wait, what? Are you kidding me?,” before they hug each other.

The video also shows moments of the couple sharing their news with close family members, and celebrating their gender reveal party, where Tenpenny and Patrick are each seen putting cups into a cake, then pulling out the cups to reveal pink frosting inside, signaling that they are expecting a baby girl. They will welcome their daughter in the fall.

“We’ve been blessed with the greatest gift of all this year! God is so good and always right on time… We can’t wait to be Mom and Dad,” they captioned the social media video.

Patrick and Tenpenny wed in Tennessee in October 2022.

Tenpenny is known for songs including his Billboard Country Airplay top 5 hits “Truth About You” and “Drunk Me,” as well as his Country Airplay chart-topper “At The End of a Bar” with Chris Young. He also recently released a new song, “Speed of Light.” Patrick’s recent radio single “Golden Child” reached No. 17 on the Country Airplay chart, and in January, she released the album Golden Child (The Final Chapter).

Some parents will do anything to seem cool to their kids. In Zayn’s case, he decided to collaborate with one of his daughter’s idols.

In a Tuesday (March 31) interview with SiriusXM’s The Pulse, the former One Direction member spoke about upcoming album, Konnakol, and sharing his music with his five-year-old daughter, Khai, to get her opinion on his work.

In a clip from the interview, host Joe “Brady” Blum asked the “Pillowtalk” singer if he, like other artists, tests out if new music works by getting his daughter to be the judge of it.

“She loves my music and she definitely gives me an opinion,” Zayn replied. “You know, she does this thing where she does like thumbs up, thumbs down, thumb sideways and if you get a thumbs up and a thumb sideways, it means it’s pretty good.”

Khai gave her opinion on the tracks on the album as well. “She gave me a double thumbs up for a few songs and there was like a side one for one or two, I think, that she wasn’t really into,” said Zayn.

How Khai really directed Zayn’s musical path, though, is with her love of K-pop.

“She’s into TWICE. She’s into BLACKPINK,” explained Zayn. “And that was kind of, you know, a big reason behind why I did the feature with Jisoo, if I’m being honest, because my daughter’s such a big fan, and I wanted to be cool, you know.”

Last year, Zayn and Jisoo partnered up for the Billboard Hot 100 hit single “Eyes Closed,” dropped just months after Zayn brought Khai to see BLACKPINK live. The singer seems to think that his mission to impress his daughter was successful.

“I got some good dad points for that,” he said before sharing that he’s always thinking of his daughter when making new music.

Zayn’s fifth solo studio album, Konnakol, drops on April 17. The next month, the star will embark on the Konnakol Tour, his first headlining arena and stadium tour as a solo artist.

Watch the full clip of Zayn speaking about Khai below.

This week, Billboard is publishing a series of lists and articles celebrating the music of 20 years ago. Our 2006 Week continues here with the pop-comedy GOAT “Weird Al” Yankovic, who scored the first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit of his already-25-year hitmaking career in 2006 with his pitch-perfect Chamillionaire parody “White & Nerdy.”

Even amid “Weird Al” Yankovic’s entire singular music career, 2006 was a particularly unique year. Roughly three decades in, the masterful pop parodist and accordionist achieved his biggest chart success yet with “White & Nerdy,” a song that embodied the many layers of both his talent and his sense of humor — that certain something that might just be called “Weird Al”-ness.

“White & Nerdy,’ off his twelfth studio album, Straight Outta Lynwood, smartly parodied Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’,” replacing the “ridin’ dirty” chorus with a decidedly less intimidating refrain. The Houston rapper’s track (featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Krayzie Bone) calling out racial profiling and police abuse became an unlikely party anthem — and decades later would soundtrack countless TikToks and Reels — and climbed the Hot 100 to spend two weeks at No. 1.

Trading references to tinted windows, pistols and 40s for a tour through the geek lexicon ranging from D&D and Minesweeper to JavaScript and Klingon, “White & Nerdy” works as dead-on parody thanks to Yankovic’s trademark immaculate writing and production and surprisingly dexterous flow; a music video featuring both Easter eggs for hardcore fans and celebrity cameos for a wider audience (including an early-career Key & Peele) no doubt helped attract listeners, too. (Both the original and the parody landed in the top 40 of the Billboard staff’s recent 100 Best Songs of 2006 list, “Ridin’” at No. 10 and “White & Nerdy” at No. 35.)

Yankovic is no nostalgist — likely one reason why his career has lasted as long as it has — but he nonetheless remembers the moment when “White & Nerdy” came out fondly, both as an interesting moment of transition in the music industry and an unexpectedly robust time in his own trajectory. “Any kind of success always opens doors, but it’s a bit of a spectrum,” he reflects. “It certainly gave me hope, like, ‘My career is in a good place; I’m charting higher than I ever have before.’ Like, this is a nice trajectory to be on.”

Below, the recent Billboard cover star — who will soon set out on the 2026 leg of his monumental Bigger & Weirder tour (which kicks off May 26 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.) — speaks about dual discs, MySpace shoutouts, his own affinity for Chamillionaire and much more.

Take me back to 2006 in your life. I assume that a lot of it was just about the lead up to releasing Straight Outta Lynwood. But what was your own music and media diet like at the time?

My daughter would have been about three years old — when we were doing the behind-the-scenes footage for that album there’s some shots of her as a toddler, walking around the recording studio, very, very cute. So, I mean, my life mostly revolved around having a toddler. Gosh, what was she into back then? She listened to my [The] Food Album — she liked that a lot. The Juno soundtrack, there were some songs on that that she was really into. But yeah, probably mostly kids’ music around the house at that point.

The music industry was at an interesting inflection point, firmly out of the CD era and into the iTunes era. How were you experiencing that at the time?

It was kind of a transitional period. I was still pretty focused on physical media. Straight Outta Lynwood was a dual disc, because I was trying to think of ways to get people back to physical media, instead of just like streaming it or downloading it. Which was a format that lasted about a week (laughs), but at the time [seemed like] extra value for your money. It had the making-of video and a few other things. I think also I provided a lot of stems, the instrumental versions of the songs. In 2006, I guess we thought, “Oh, well, this is what you do now!”

So you weren’t totally gung-ho on digital yet.

Well, I wasn’t sure if it was the future. I knew streaming was taking off, but I was more about seeing what I could do to make the physical medium more valuable, because I figured people could either torrent their music, or they could buy it legally through iTunes and I think my royalty rate on streaming and even on the digital downloads wasn’t as high as from CD sales. So I think I was trying to really guide people toward that, if possible.

Music videos weren’t quite what they were in your first heyday, but they still had value — and you clearly invested in this one.

It was sort of when I realized that YouTube was a real force to be reckoned with. The previous album, which came out in 2003, was sort of in a dead zone when MTV had stopped for the most part playing music videos, and YouTube wasn’t a thing yet, so at that point it was sort of like, why even make a music video? But in 2006 YouTube was really coming into its own, and I realized that doing a big-budget music video at that point made sense again. So we kind of put all our eggs in the “White & Nerdy” basket because we thought that that had a good shot — and it actually did quite well.

The celeb cameos in it are great. How did you land specifically on Seth Green, Donnie Osmond and Key and Peele?

Well, I just kind of went through my rolodex and thought, “Who would be fun to have in this video?” Seth Green of course produces Robot Chicken, so I thought of him immediately for all the action figures, because that’s sort of his thing — his house is full of action figures.

And then Key and Peele, at the time they didn’t have their eponymous sketch comedy show, they were most famous for being on Mad TV, but I knew them. It’s hilarious to me that people, you know, 20 years later watch the “White & Nerdy” video and they go, “Is that Key and Peele?” It was certainly an early appearance for them, before they really hit it big.

And Donnie, I just thought, who would be a better white and nerdy icon than Donny Osmond? We contacted him, and he flew out from Salt Lake City as a favor. I knew him a little bit, but we’re closer friends now. You never know what you’re gonna get when you have a celebrity doing you favors — you don’t know how into it they’re gonna be, or how prepared. And Donnie was so into it and so prepared, and just a hoot. He really brought it.

Was there ever any doubt that “White & Nerdy” would be a single?

When I wrote it, that was certainly the intention, but I honestly didn’t think it would do as well as it did. The original idea for that album was to have a James Blunt parody be the single. I was going to do a parody of “You’re Beautiful” called “You’re Pitiful.” I’d recorded it, I was going to do the video, and then we found out that James’ record label didn’t want me to do it, and it became a whole thing. And ultimately we decided not to go to war with Atlantic Records and I backed off.

And “White & Nerdy” I thought was good? In my mind it was conceptually very similar to a song I’d done a decade earlier called “It’s All about the Pentiums” — a very nerdy, computer geek kind of song, which I thought was really good, but it didn’t set the world on fire when it came out in 1999. So I thought, “Well, this is sort of like another version of that, and I’m sure it’ll do fine.” But I didn’t realize it was going to be my highest charting and biggest selling single. So I was very, very happy that happened.

Was it the song “Ridin’” itself that inspired you in the first place, or were you more generally a Chamillionaire fan?

I mean, I liked his music, and certainly when “Ridin’” came out, I enjoyed the song and it was No. 1 on the charts, it did quite well, and it came at the exact point where I was like, “Okay, I can’t do James Blunt. What should I do?” I worked on every variation on the theme, until the phrase “white and nerdy” popped into my head, and I thought, “Well, I can do something with that.”

It kind of checks all the boxes for me. It’s got a great memorable hook. I have come to really enjoy doing rap parodies, because there’s so many words to play with. A lot of pop songs are either repetitive or they don’t have a lot of lyrics and rap music — and in particular Chamillionaire’s song, had a very ambitious flow. It was something that I could really sink my teeth into.

It seems like the whole thing is a tongue twister, but are there any particular phrases or bars you’re proud that you got down?

I think there were three verses in Chamillionaire’s original song and I only did two. And I think the second verse I did was sort of like the Krayzie Bone verse, and that was very fast and a lot of interesting and internal rhymes. That was maybe more of a challenge, you know, but I love a challenge. That was a fun puzzle to put together.

Do you remember the first time you heard it in the wild?

It was probably on VH1 when they premiered it. I remember VH1 was very supportive. It was on their countdown — and I remember it hit No. 1 a few times on the countdown, which, you know, for me, that was a big deal. VH1 really kind of helped get that out into the world.

Were there any other unexpected places you encountered it?

I do remember when Chamillionaire put it on his MySpace page. Yeah, there’s a throwback. But that was a real big deal at the time! To have him be that supportive and excited about the parody, that was really fun. I always mention that Chamillionaire came up to me on the red carpet of the Grammys that year and thanked me for writing it, because he had just won the Grammy for rap song, and he said he thought my parody was a big reason why.

How did you feel when you heard about how the song was charting?

I’m a numbers guy — I’m obsessed with the Billboard charts. For many years of my life I would study those charts, I would keep careful lists of all the songs that ever made the Billboard top 10 singles. So then to have one of my own songs be one of those top 10 singles, that was a huge deal. And I mean, not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed it in my 20s, but it also just felt really good to, you know, not be a footnote at that point in my life and career — to actually be charting higher and be more successful than I ever had been up to that point.

This is still your highest-charting Hot 100 single. Do you feel it deserves that accolade? Are there songs in your catalog you think deserved this more?

I think there are songs that could have and should have hit a higher position on the chart. But if I have one song to have the title of my highest charting single, I’m happy with “White & Nerdy.” I think it’s a good embodiment of me personally, as well as, you know, kind of a fun song, and it’s something that we play in concert at every show. I tend not to dwell too much in the past; I’m very thankful for the success it had, and I doubt that I’ll ever hit those heights again. But it’s nice to think back now and then, like, “Oh yeah, at that point in my life, I was doing pretty well!” I’m proud of that song.