South Korean K-pop group BTS announced on Wednesday, July 29, via social media that they will not be nominating their studio album Arirang and its songs for the American Grammy Awards, which will take place on February 7, 2027. The statement did not give specific reasons for the decision, but contained a possible hint of a new regional nomination.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which annually awards the Grammy Awards, has announced a new category for Best Asian Pop Performance this year. To qualify for this category, artists must have released a successful K-pop, Japanese J-pop, or Chinese C-pop composition during the reporting period in which the artist's language must at a minimum “play a significant role in a bilingual or multilingual structure.”
BTS's smash hit “Swim,” released in March as the lead single from Arirang, is sung entirely in English, as is “Normal,” which the group released a video for in July. In total, more than 80% of the lyrics on BTS's latest album are in English.
It is unknown whether innovations at the 2027 Grammys were the main reason for BTS refusing to nominate their entries, but the statement included reference to “regions and languages.”
“We have made the decision not to nominate our work for the Grammy Awards this year. We hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, regardless of regions and languages,” BTS said in a statement posted on their Instagram accounts.
Grammy organizers have previously faced accusations of racism. So, after criticism from rapper Tyler, the Creator in 2020 that the category of “urban” music was a euphemism for obscene descriptions of black artists, the Academy renamed the nomination “Best Progressive R'n'B Album.”
The company HYBE, which manages BTS and publishes their music, emphasized that the group’s decision is not a general policy for their other wards. Nominees for the 2027 Grammy Awards will be announced on November 16, 2026, with the registration period ending in August.
Billboard, in a July review, suggested shortly before BTS' announcement that Swim could be in the running for Record of the Year, but was more likely to expect other songs to be nominated. The leading US music media did not count on the success of the South Korean group in other major categories.
BTS has never won a Grammy yet, but has been nominated five times. Including three times in the category “Best Pop Duo or Group Performance” – for the songs Dynamite and Butter in 2021 and 2022, respectively, as well as a duet with Coldplay My Universe in 2023. In connection with this collaboration, BTS also received a nomination for “Best Album” for the Coldplay album Music of the Spheres, and in the same 2023 they claimed the award for the best video (Yet To Come).
