BTS will not submit their Arirang album or its songs for the 2027 Grammy Awards, appearing to link their decision to the Recording Academy’s new award for best Asian pop music performance. The South Korean group, the biggest pop act in east Asia, said they wanted music to be judged on its own merits rather than by region or language.
Writing on Instagram, each of the group’s seven members said:
“We have decided not to enter the this year. I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”
The remarks amount to a gentle but pointed rebuke of the Academy’s newly announced category. The award was introduced last month as part of what Harvey Mason Jr, the Academy president, described as a response to requests from the “music community” for more chances to celebrate different and new genres.
When announcing the Asian pop award, as well as another regionally specific prize for best Latin song, Mason said the decision reflected feedback from artists and industry figures. His wording was seen by some as awkward, given that Asian and Latin pop are not new markets: both have long been established, command major audiences and revenues, and include listeners and commercial success in the US.
That has fuelled concern within the Asian pop world that the new category could effectively fence artists off from the top general-field prizes. The Recording Academy has not commented on BTS’s decision. has requested comment.
Asian pop acts have long been overlooked by the US-centric awards show, with no Asian act nominated until BTS in 2021. Yet the genre had a strong showing at this year’s ceremony, including a milestone win for Golden from the hit film KPop Demon Hunters.
Golden won best song written for visual media, the first time a K-pop act has taken a Grammy. It was also nominated for one of the “big four” awards, song of the year, alongside another K-pop artist, Rosé, for her Bruno Mars duet APT.
APT was also nominated for record of the year and best pop duo/group performance, but lost in all three categories to US or British artists. The majority of the lyrics in both Golden and APT are in English, which means they may not have qualified for the new Asian pop category, which requires “meaningful use” of an Asian language.
BTS’s recent material on their hugely successful album is overwhelmingly in Korean, making the group a near-certain fit for the new category. This year’s Grammys also marked the first time a Spanish-language album has won album of the year, with Bad Bunny winning for Debí Tirar Más Fotos.
Other new categories being added for the 2027 ceremony are best R&B collaboration or duo/group performance, best traditional pop vocal performance and best traditional folk album.
The 2027 Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on 7 February in Los Angeles.
