Global K-pop sensation BTS has announced that it will not submit its music for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards, saying it hopes music will be recognized without being categorized by region or language.
The decision was revealed through a coordinated Instagram post, with all seven members—RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—sharing the same message on their individual accounts.
“We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year,” the statement read. “I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”
The announcement comes just a month after the Recording Academy introduced the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. Under the new rules, eligible songs must feature a “meaningful use” of an Asian language. Since more than 80 percent of the lyrics on BTS’s latest album Arirang are in English, the group’s music would not have qualified for the new award.
Despite that, BTS had been widely expected to compete in several of the Grammys’ top categories. Their comeback album Arirang has become one of the best-selling records of the year, while its lead single Swim topped the US charts and was considered a strong contender for Song of the Year.
The introduction of the new Asian Pop category sparked debate among K-pop fans, with many arguing that it risked separating Asian artists from mainstream Grammy competition rather than celebrating their achievements. BTS’s reference to “region and language” in its statement appeared to echo those concerns.
The group concluded its message by thanking its global fanbase, known as ARMY.
“Thank you to ARMY and everyone who is always with us,” the statement said.
The Recording Academy has not yet publicly responded to BTS’s decision.
Since debuting in 2013, BTS has become one of the world’s most successful music acts. The group earned its first Grammy nomination in 2021 for Dynamite, becoming the first K-pop group to receive a nomination from the Recording Academy. Since then, BTS has collected five Grammy nominations, including recognition in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video categories, but has yet to win a Grammy.
All seven members have been voting members of the Recording Academy since 2019 and have performed on the Grammy stage multiple times.
BTS now joins a growing list of artists who have distanced themselves from the Grammy Awards, including The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Drake, Morgan Wallen, and Will Smith, all of whom have criticized the awards for various reasons in recent years.
The Recording Academy has expanded Korean representation within its voting body over the past two years, adding artists and producers from groups including Enhypen, Seventeen, Le Sserafim, Katseye, Twice, and Stray Kids. Earlier this year, Blackpink’s Rosé received prominent Grammy recognition, while Golden from KPop Demon Hunters became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
However, that song, like much of BTS’s recent music, would also have been ineligible for the newly created Asian Pop category because it was performed almost entirely in English.
