Overview
- BTS announced Wednesday, July 29, 2026, that it will not submit music for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards and said it refuses to have its work categorized by region or language.
- The Recording Academy introduced five new categories in June, including Best Pop Asian Performance, and set an eligibility rule requiring a “significant use” of an Asian language for that category; BTS cited that rule as the reason for its withdrawal.
- BTS’s 2026 album Arirang and its single “Swim” have strong commercial credentials, with “Swim” reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard chart, but the album is reported to be over 80% in English and could be excluded under the new language test.
- Fans and critics in K-pop communities have pushed back against the changes as a form of segregation, while the Recording Academy has said the new categories reflect the growing breadth of global music.
- Unless the Recording Academy changes its eligibility rules or BTS reverses its decision, the group will be absent from Grammy consideration in 2027, a development that could reshape discussions about how awards recognize multilingual and global pop.