In January 2020, BTS released "Black Swan" along with a choreography art film performed by Slovenian-based MN Dance Company as the first single from their fourth Korean-language studio album, Map of the Soul: 7. According to album distributor Dreamus, the stock pre-orders of the album reached a record-breaking 4.02 million, surpassing their previous record of 2.68 million with Map of the Soul: Persona. "Black Swan" debuted at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 46 on the UK Official Singles Chart. Following the single's release, BTS performed alongside Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diplo, and more in a special segment at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, making BTS the first Korean act to perform at the Grammy's.
Map of the Soul: 7 was released on February 21 to universal acclaim. The album was supported by the lead single "On" and an alternative digital release featuring Australian singer Sia. In just 9 days of its release, Map of the Soul: 7 sold more than 4.1 million copies, surpassing the record of their previous album Map of the Soul:Persona to become the best-selling album in the history of South Korea and the first album to be certified "Quadruple Million" in Gaon Chart history. The album debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 with a first-week tally of 422,000
album-equivalent units, making BTS the fastest group to earn four number one albums since the Beatles in 1968. The album marked the biggest Billboard 200 debut in 2020 and maintained the record until The Weeknd's
After Hours was released on March 20. The album debuted at number one in many countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, making BTS the first Asian group to top the charts in the five largest music markets of the world. The lead single "On" debuted at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 86,000 downloads, becoming BTS's first top five and their biggest sales week for a song. The song became the group's third top ten and highest charting single on the chart, making them the Korean act with most top 10 hits on Hot 100. In support of the Map of the Soul series, BTS will embark on their fourth worldwide concert tour and second stadium tour, Map of the Soul Tour, starting in April in the United States, after the initial tour dates in Seoul were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In April, BTS became the first South Korean artist to sell more than 20 million albums cumulatively, becoming the best-selling artist in South Korea of all time. The same month BTS held a two-day online streaming concert event titled "BANG BANG CON", where the band shared footages of several of their past concerts on their YouTube channel. The virtual concert series which lasted 24 hours, garnered over 50.5 million views with 2.24 million concurrent viewers worldwide.