South Korean boy band BTS announced on July 29 that they will not submit any music for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards, citing opposition to the Recording Academy’s introduction of a new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The seven-member group, which has received five previous Grammy nominations but never won, said in a statement, "We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year. I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language" [1].
The new Grammy category, unveiled by the Recording Academy on June 16, is designated for recordings featuring meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. BTS’s latest album, Arirang, which they released after completing South Korea’s mandatory military service, is primarily in Korean and would qualify for this category [1, 3, 5]. Some K-pop fans and Korean netizens have criticized the category, urging other Korean pop acts to boycott the Grammys in solidarity with BTS [6]. Critics argue that creating this category risks segregating Asian artists from the main Grammy awards, a concern shared by BTS [1, 2, 3, 5, 6].
Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr expressed sadness at BTS’s decision but defended the new category as a way to celebrate the "depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia" [3]. He added that submitting in the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category does not exclude artists from also competing in the general field categories such as Album of the Year or Record of the Year. "Recognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive. An artist can absolutely pursue both," Mason said [5].
BTS is notable as the first all-South Korean act to top the U.S. Billboard singles chart, achieving this with their 2020 English-language hit "Dynamite" [2, 3]. The group has performed at the Grammys multiple times and holds five nominations in total [2, 3, 5, 6].
The deadline for submissions to be eligible for the 2027 Grammy Awards is August 28, 2026, with nominations scheduled to be announced November 16, 2026 [7]. The 69th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony is planned for February 2027 [4].
