Overview
- On Wednesday, July 29, all seven BTS members posted identical Instagram statements saying they would not submit any recordings for consideration at the 69th Annual Grammy Awards.
- BTS’s decision means their March comeback album Arirang cannot be nominated for the 2027 ceremony because the Recording Academy requires artists or their representatives to submit recordings to be eligible.
- Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. responded that he was saddened by the choice and said the new Asian pop category was meant to expand recognition and would not automatically bar entries from the Grammys’ general-field awards.
- The Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, announced in June, requires the ‘meaningful use’ of one or more Asian languages, so songs performed entirely in English are not eligible for that prize.
- The move has reignited debate about whether dedicated regional or language categories increase visibility for underrepresented music or risk confining Asian artists to separate lanes, and it could prompt further artist pushback or policy scrutiny.