SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- K-pop king BTS has sold more than 600,000 tickets on its first stadium tour "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" in the United States, South America and Europe, Billboard said.

"The K-pop act's first U.S. stadium tour grossed US$44 million, in addition to the $35 million earned in Europe and South America," Billboard said Friday (U.S. time).

BTS performed its first North American stadium tour with two shows apiece at Pasadena's Rose Bowl (May 4-5), Chicago's Soldier Field (May 11-12) and New Jersey's MetLife Stadium (May 18-19).

"The results were staggering, as the South Korean megastars grossed $44 million from six shows, selling 299,770 tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore," Billboard said.

Followed by stadium dates at Allianz Parque in Sao Paulo (May 25-26), London's Wembley Stadium (June 1-2) and Paris' Stade de France (June 7-8), the group added $35 million to the "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself Tour" total for a combined $78.9 million and 606,409 tickets, it said.

"Their double-header at the Rose Bowl earned $16.6 million, making it the single highest-grossing engagement in the venue's Boxscore history, outpacing previous high marks by Taylor Swift and U2, as well as co-headlining stints by Beyonce & Jay-Z and Eminem & Rihanna," Billboard said.

BTS will continue its stadium tour in two Japanese cities next month -- Yanmar Stadium in Osaka (July 6-7) and Stadium Ecopa in Shizuoka (July 13-14).

Meanwhile, the Hyundai Search Institute, a Seoul-based economic think tank, said in a recent report that the group's agency, Big Hit Entertainment, is estimated to have become a unicorn startup whose valuation is $1 billion or more.