Why did BTS not submit for the 2027 Grammys?

BTS said it wanted its music to be heard and loved for what it is rather than divided by region or language. The statement came after the Grammys created Best Asian Pop Music Performance, but BTS did not provide a longer explanation or say that the new category was the sole reason.

Did BTS withdraw from the 2027 Grammys?

BTS said it would not submit ARIRANG or its songs for consideration. That is different from withdrawing after receiving a nomination and does not necessarily mean the members will boycott the February 2027 ceremony.

Has BTS ever won a Grammy?

No. BTS has received five Grammy nominations, including three consecutive nominations for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, but the group has not won.

Can Asian pop songs still compete in the main Grammy categories?

Yes. The Recording Academy says a genre-category entry may also be submitted to general-field categories when eligible. The new Asian pop category does not formally prevent a song from competing for Record, Song, or Album of the Year.

Why Did BTS Skip the 2027 Grammys?

BTS will not submit its comeback album ARIRANG or its songs for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards. The July 29 decision reopened a question that has followed the group for years: why has the relationship between BTS and the Grammys remained so important—and so uneasy?

The short answer is not simply that BTS “quit the Grammys.” The group declined to enter this year's awards process after the Recording Academy created a Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. BTS said it hoped its music could be heard without being divided by region or language, while the Academy said the new award was intended to expand recognition rather than limit Asian artists.

What BTS actually said about the 2027 Grammys

All seven members—RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook—shared the same message on Instagram on July 29, 2026. According to the Associated Press, they said they would not submit ARIRANG or its songs for the 69th Grammy Awards and thanked ARMY (아미, BTS's fandom) and others who had supported them.

The key sentence was about classification: BTS said it wanted the music to be heard and loved for what it is instead of being separated by region or language.

That wording matters. The members did not publish a detailed attack on the Recording Academy, identify a single category they had been asked to enter, or announce a permanent boycott. A BTS representative gave the AP no additional comment. It is therefore reasonable to connect the timing to the new Asian pop category, but not to invent motives beyond the group's statement.

It is also more accurate to say BTS declined to submit than that the group “withdrew from” or “skipped” the ceremony. Grammy entries come before nominations. With no entry, ARIRANG cannot become a nominee through the standard process, but the announcement did not say whether BTS would attend or perform at the ceremony on February 7, 2027.

Why the new Asian pop Grammy category became controversial

On June 16, the Recording Academy announced Best Asian Pop Music Performance as one of five new categories for 2027. Its rules cover vocal singles or tracks associated with Asian markets—including K-pop (케이팝), J-pop, and C-pop—that make meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.

The Academy says musical style, not an artist's nationality or ethnicity, determines eligibility. A fully English-language recording is ineligible for this particular award but may enter another appropriate category. The new category also sits within the Pop & Dance/Electronic field, not in a separate Asian awards show.

Supporters can see a practical benefit: one more Grammy can place Asian-language pop in front of voters who previously overlooked it. Critics see a different risk: music with global chart reach may be directed toward a regional label while English-language pop continues to be treated as universal.

Recording	Asian pop category	Other Grammy categories
K-pop track with meaningful Korean lyrics	Potentially eligible	May also be eligible where rules permit
K-pop artist's song performed entirely in English	Not eligible	Remains eligible in appropriate categories
Song by a non-Asian artist in a qualifying Asian pop style	Eligibility depends on the music, not ethnicity	May be eligible elsewhere
Asian artist working outside the category's musical criteria	Not automatically eligible	May enter another fitting category

This is the distinction behind the dispute. Creating a category can produce more representation and still raise questions about who gets placed inside it.

The Recording Academy's response to BTS

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. responded on July 30. He said he was saddened that BTS had chosen not to participate in the process, while respecting the decision. He also argued that the Asian pop award was created to recognize the scale, diversity, and growth of pop music from Asia—not to divide artists.

Mason emphasized another technical point: entering a genre category does not block an eligible artist from also entering the four General Field (제너럴 필드, the Grammys' top cross-genre field) categories. Those are Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

That answer addresses the formal rules, but it does not settle the cultural argument. The disagreement is less about whether two submissions are mechanically possible and more about how voters understand Asian pop. BTS's message asks whether globally successful music should require a regional frame before the institution fully hears it.

BTS and the Grammys: from presenters to five nominations

BTS's Grammy history began before its first nomination. The group attended the ceremony and presented Best R&B Album in 2019, becoming the first K-pop group to present a Grammy award. In 2020, BTS joined Lil Nas X and other artists for the “Old Town Road” stage.

The group then accumulated five nominations:

Grammy year	Work	Category
2021	“Dynamite”	Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
2022	“Butter”	Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
2023	“My Universe” with Coldplay	Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
2023	Coldplay's Music of the Spheres	Album of the Year, as a credited contributor
2023	“Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)”	Best Music Video

BTS did not win any of the five. Yet the nominations changed the visibility of K-pop inside the ceremony. “Dynamite” made BTS the first K-pop act nominated for a Grammy, and the group delivered its own Seoul-filmed Grammy performance in 2021. Its elaborate “Butter” performance followed in 2022.

The result is a relationship built on both recognition and frustration. The Grammys used BTS as a presenter and high-profile performer, and Grammy voters nominated the group repeatedly. At the same time, none of those nominations produced a win, and the three performance nominations centered on English-language collaborations or singles.

Is BTS rejecting all awards for Asian music?

No such broad claim appears in the members' statement. BTS objected to having its music divided by region or language and chose not to enter one edition of the Grammys. That does not tell us how the group views every regional category, every Asian music award, or every artist who decides to compete in the new field.

It would also be unfair to treat another K-pop act's future entry as agreement with the Academy's definition—or as disagreement with BTS. Artists make awards decisions for many reasons: label strategy, eligibility, campaigning resources, artistic priorities, and the chance to reach new voters.

For international readers, there is one more useful Korean term: chulphum (출품, submission or entry). A Grammy submission is not a public vote and not an automatic nomination. Eligible recordings are entered by registered media companies or Recording Academy members, screened for category placement, and then considered by voting members. BTS stopped this year's journey at the first major step.

What happens next for BTS and the Grammys?

The 2027 nominations have not been announced, so BTS's choice removes one of the year's most closely watched comeback albums from the race before ballots are revealed. It may also make the first Best Asian Pop Music Performance lineup a test of how broadly the Academy applies its new definition.

Three things are now worth watching:

whether other major K-pop, J-pop, or C-pop artists enter the new category;
whether Asian-language releases also appear in the General Field nominations; and
whether the Academy revises the category's name or eligibility rules in future cycles after feedback from artists and voters.

For BTS, the decision arrives during a much larger post-military-service comeback. The commercial story of ARIRANG and its tour will continue whether or not it appears on a Grammy ballot. Our analysis of BTS concerts and HYBE's stock price shows why awards, touring, fan response, and company performance should not be treated as one scoreboard.

The deeper question is no longer simply “When will BTS win a Grammy?” It is whether the world's best-known K-pop group still sees Grammy recognition as the right measure of its music—and whether the Grammys can celebrate Asian pop without making “Asian” feel like a boundary around it.