BTS won’t submit music for 2027 Grammys after Asian – National pop category added
K-pop group BTS announced Wednesday that they will not be submitting their music to the 2027 Grammys in a joint Instagram post shared on each of the seven members’ accounts.
“We have decided not to submit our music to the Grammys this year. We hope that the music can be heard and loved as music itself, rather than divided by region or language. Thank you to the ARMY and everyone who has been with us,” a translated version of the statement read, according to the Associated Press.
The announcement follows a nearly four-year hiatus while the members completed their mandatory military service, as well as a record-breaking comeback, with the group’s fifth studio album. Arirang at the top of the Billboard 200 after achieving the biggest first-week sales of the year.
Their album also broke records on Spotify, becoming the most streamed album of 2026, according to Variety, setting Grammy buzz in motion.
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Last week, Forbes published a story suggesting that the group could be having their biggest Grammy year yet Arirang and the launch of the new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category announced last month by the Recording Academy.
The album’s first single, Swimmingwhich debuted at number one in the US, was also a predicted contender for song of the year; however, it could not be classified as Asian pop because its lyrics are written in English. The section specifies that selected songs must include “meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.”
More than 80 percent of the lyrics Arirang are sung in English, reports the BBC.
BTS’ statement explaining their decision not to release their music in 2027 was written in Korean.
The introduction of a new category of awards led to suggestions that, instead of celebrating Asian artists, it would separate them and move the pole ahead of a year when BTS seemed poised to win in established categories.
South Korean boy band BTS accepts the Artist of the Year Award on stage during the American Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 25, 2026.
VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said the Recording Academy’s decision to introduce the new awards spoke to “the breadth of today’s music industry and the many genres, crafts and creators that shape it.”
“We are happy to see these updates happen in the coming year as we celebrate the music people who are pushing the music forward,” he continued.
BTS has never won a Grammy, although they have been nominated five times: three times in the category of best pop group performance and album of the year (for their contributions to Coldplay’s. Music of the Spheres) and the best music video It’s comingand was the first K-pop band to receive a nomination.
No K-pop act had ever won a Grammy before this year, when Gold from the Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters took home the award for best visual media song.
It closed the most visible night of K-pop at the Grammys – an institution where the genre has long been under-celebrated despite its many international fans.
— via files from The Associated Press
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