CORTIS just joined an extremely short list. Their second album GREENGREEN has now moved nearly 3.1 million cumulative copies in Korea—making it only the second album ever released in the country to clear the 3-million mark. The other one? BTS’s fifth full-length, ARIRANG. That puts the BigHit Music rookies in rare company and underlines how quickly they’ve scaled from promising newcomers to genuine commercial force.
The numbers arrive alongside another major win: CORTIS took home Record of the Year at the 2026 KM Chart Awards. While TXT claimed Artist of the Year, BTS took Album of the Year, and Hwasa won Song of the Year, the Record of the Year trophy lands as further proof that GREENGREEN is resonating far beyond pure sales charts.
The Tour That Sold Out Before It Started
Momentum is translating straight into live demand. CORTIS’s first headlining world tour, Put Your Phone Down, opens with sold-out Korean dates at Incheon’s Inspire Arena before heading into a six-city North American run from August 4–16 (Toronto and San Francisco among the stops—every date already gone). Japan shows are also locked in.
Festival bookers have noticed too. The group is the only K-pop boy act on the 2026 Lollapalooza Chicago lineup (July 31 / August 1) and will later appear at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. For a group still early in its career, the combination of arena headlining and major Western festival slots is unusually aggressive—and clearly working.
Roblox Collab: First Artist in Music Festival Tycoon
That Lollapalooza debut now comes with a virtual companion. CORTIS has become the first featured artist in Music Festival Tycoon, a new Roblox experience from Live Nation and Livewire that lets players build and grow their own festivals. The experience has already pulled in more than 3.5 million visits and generated over 23 million in-game performances.
Fans can watch virtual CORTIS performances, unlock exclusive member-inspired avatars, and create festivals around a dedicated CORTIS stage—launching right as the group steps onto a real Lollapalooza stage for the first time. Lollapalooza itself joins as the first real-world festival in the game, bringing its main stage, iconic lollipop mascot, official merch stand, and even a Chicago-style hot dog vendor into Roblox. It’s a smart, low-friction way for the group to meet fans who might not make it to Chicago but still want a piece of the festival energy.
First Into the Dark on SUMBAKKOKJIL 2
On the variety front, CORTIS will be the first players on SUMBAKKOKJIL 2, Mnet’s chilling hide-and-seek survival show. Season 1 featured TREASURE, NCT WISH, RIIZE, ZEROBASEONE, TXT, ALLDAY PROJECT, TWS, and BOYNEXTDOOR. Season 2 shifts the format: instead of simply dodging an unseen “seeker” for 4,444 seconds, contestants step into story-driven scenarios built around urban legends and ghost stories, trying to escape unknown spaces while playing assigned roles.
The first episode drops on Mnet Plus on July 31 at 6 p.m. KST, then airs on Mnet the following night at 11 p.m. KST. Expect the usual mix of genuine nerves and idol banter—CORTIS gets the honor (or burden) of opening the new season.
A Concerning Security Incident
Not every recent update has been celebratory. In the early hours of July 23, two Chinese women were arrested in connection with the group’s dormitory in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Around 2 a.m., the group’s manager reported that a package left outside the dorm had been opened and the front door was ajar. Police located the women on a different floor of the same apartment building and took them into custody.
During questioning they stated they had purchased the dormitory address via social media and gone there; they denied opening the packages or entering the unit itself. Yongsan Police Station is investigating them on residential trespass charges. Details on whether they actually entered the dorm and any further circumstances remain under active investigation.
CORTIS’s current chapter is defined by scale: historic album sales, a daesang, a sold-out first world tour, major festival slots, a Roblox headlining collab timed to Lollapalooza, and a high-profile variety debut—all while the industry watches how the group navigates the sharper edges of sudden visibility. GREENGREEN already rewrote the sales record books. The next few weeks will show how far that momentum can travel.
