BTS skips Grammy submission in protest of new Asian pop category

BTS said on July 29, 2026, that it would not submit songs from its comeback album “Arirang” for Grammy consideration, taking direct aim at the Recording Academy’s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. All seven members, RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, posted identical statements on Instagram as the group removed itself from the 2027 awards race.

The decision came about a month after the Recording Academy announced five new categories and rule updates for the 69th Grammy Awards, scheduled for Feb. 7, 2027. The Asian pop category was among the changes set to debut with that cycle, part of the academy’s broader overhaul of its award structure for the next ceremony.

BTS said it hoped music could be “heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language,” framing the move as a rejection of the idea that non-English pop needs a separate lane to be recognized in the United States. That stance puts the new category in a fraught position: for some artists, it can look like overdue inclusion, but BTS’s choice suggests the group saw it as a limit on how Asian music is validated rather than an expansion of where it can compete.

The move also underscored how much Grammy recognition has mattered to the group. BTS has been nominated for five Grammys since 2020 and has never won, even after becoming one of the highest-profile K-pop acts to pursue top-tier Academy attention. The new album, “Arirang,” was expected to be part of that conversation, especially after pre-announcement commentary had suggested BTS could be heading into a major Grammy year.

Instead, BTS declined to enter any of its songs from “Arirang” for the 2027 awards season, leaving the academy’s new category to launch without the group that has done more than any other to force U.S. institutions to confront the status of non-English pop. The 69th Grammy Awards will be handed out with that category in place, but without BTS in the submission pool.