BTS says it will boycott the 2027 Grammys over new category

BTS said it would not submit music for the 2027 Grammy Awards, turning a routine awards decision into a direct challenge to the Recording Academy’s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. The seven members, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, posted matching statements to their individual Instagram stories on July 29, 2026.

In the statement, BTS said, “We have decided not to submit our music to the Grammys this year,” and said it hoped music could be heard and embraced “for what it is, beyond region or language.” The refusal was widely interpreted as a protest against the Academy’s new category, with BTS arguing that it could complicate competition for the Grammys’ top honors.

The group’s Grammy record gives the move extra weight. Grammy.com lists BTS with five nominations and no wins, including Best Pop Duo/Group Performance nods for “Dynamite,” “Butter” and “My Universe,” along with a Best Music Video nomination for “Yet To Come.” For one of the world’s biggest pop acts, the lack of a win has become part of a larger argument over whether the Grammys have fully recognized music made outside the United States on equal footing.

The Academy’s own submission rules also make the boycott unusually pointed. Consideration begins through the Online Entry Process, and only registered media companies and Recording Academy members can submit recordings. The 69th Grammy Awards eligibility period runs from Aug. 31, 2025 through Aug. 28, 2026, and submissions for the 2026 Grammys guide closed Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, at 6 p.m. PT, 9 p.m. ET.

The announcement quickly drew attention from global fans and foreign media, underscoring how closely BTS’s relationship with the Grammys is watched far beyond South Korea. It also put a sharper spotlight on a basic legitimacy question for the Recording Academy: whether a newly created Asian pop category expands recognition for non-U.S. artists, or signals that the institution still sees global pop through a separate, less central lane.