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\n\tCountless bands and musical artists have celebrated new album releases on late-night television, but no one has done so with quite the art world flair as BTS, the mega-famous K-pop boy band fronted by art enthusiast and collector RM. (The other six members are Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook.)<\/p>\n
\n\tFresh off a four-year hiatus, BTS\u2019s new album Arirang<\/em> came out on Mar. 20. The band was interviewed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/em> on Wednesday night. But instead of performing their new single \u201cSWIM\u201d in Studio 6B, Fallon played a previously recorded video from a secret live performance at the Guggenheim Museum earlier that day.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the video, Fallon stands in front of a circular stage on the ground floor of \u201cNew York\u2019s iconic Guggenheim Museum,\u201d as the host puts it, and introduces the song. All seven BTS members take turns singing while strolling separately down the museum ramp, with Carol Bove\u2019s colorful metal sculptures acting as a backdrop to the performance. They meet up on the stage just in time for the first chorus.<\/p>\n \n\tDuring the interview portion of the The Tonight Show<\/em>, RM explains that they named the album\u2014their first as a group since taking a hiatus in 2022 due to compulsory service in the Korean military\u2014after the Korean folk song \u201cArirang.\u201d The album, RM said, includes a lot of emotions: joy, sorrow, longing, sadness, resistance. \u201cWe hope our new songs can be universal, like Arirang.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBTS also performed a second single at the Guggenheim, \u201c2.0.\u201d This one involved more choreography, with the 150 audience members watching from the ramps above rather than from around the stage. (RM hurt his ankle during a recent rehearsal, so performed from a stool.)<\/p>\n