BTS are withholding their No. 1 album Arirang from the 2027 Grammys over a new Asian pop prize they say divides music by language

BTS are boycotting the 2027 Grammy Awards, and they have done it in the most complete way possible: by refusing to enter at all.

All seven members posted an identical message on Instagram on 29 July. “We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year,” it read. “I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”

Because Grammy contenders must be submitted by artists or their labels, the group’s silence is absolute. No submission means no nominations, no performance slot and no chance of the first Grammy win of their career.

Why is BTS boycotting the 2027 Grammys?

The protest is aimed at one specific change. The Recording Academy, which runs the awards, announced a new category earlier this year: Best Asian Pop Music Performance, open to songs that make “meaningful use” of one or more Asian languages.

BTS have not published a longer statement, but their Instagram post makes the objection plain. In their view, a prize reserved for Asian-language music risks becoming the place where Asian artists are sent, rather than a door into the main competition. Fans made the same point within hours of the announcement, arguing that a dedicated category could quietly cap how far Asian acts climb on the biggest night in American music.

What is the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category?

The award was created to recognise pop music coming out of Asian markets, including K-pop from South Korea, J-pop from Japan and C-pop from China. It arrived alongside another regional addition, a prize for best Latin song, in a ceremony that already handed out 95 awards in 2026.

The eligibility rule is the detail that matters. A song qualifies through its language, not its origin. That single line is doing most of the work in this dispute, and it produces a twist covered further down.

How do Grammy nominations actually work?

Songs and albums never reach the ballot automatically, however successful they are. Artists and labels submit work to the Recording Academy, screening committees sort entries into categories, and roughly 15,000 voting members decide the nominations and winners.

That process is why a boycott of this kind carries force. BTS have not asked voters to snub them. They have removed the choice entirely.

What has the Recording Academy said?

CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said he was saddened by the group’s decision but defended the new award. It was created, he said, to “celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia”.

“The spirit of this new category is to shine a dedicated spotlight on these important artists,” he added. “More categories mean more artists’ work is recognised. It’s never to divide, but to expand who is recognised by our 15,000 Grammy voters.”

Mason also stressed that entering a genre category does not lock an artist out of the general field. A song submitted for Best Asian Pop Music Performance could still compete for Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

Could Arirang have won Album of the Year?

On numbers alone, BTS were walking away with a strong hand. Arirang, released in March 2026, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US, the Circle Chart in South Korea, Japan’s Oricon chart and the UK Official Albums Chart. Its lead single Swim topped the Hot 100 and was widely tipped for a Song of the Year nomination.

Here is the twist. Arirang carries a traditional Korean title, yet most of its vocals are in English. Under the language rule, the album’s biggest songs might not even have qualified for the category BTS are protesting. The boycott, in other words, is not about their own eligibility. It is a stand on behalf of artists who would have no route around the new award.

Has BTS ever won a Grammy?

No, and the near misses explain some of the frustration. The group have been nominated five times without a win, and they performed at the 64th ceremony in 2022 during the peak of that run.

K-pop’s first actual Grammy arrived this February from an unexpected direction. Golden, from the Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters, won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2026 ceremony, the first K-pop track to take home any Grammy.

What happens next?

The 2027 ceremony will go ahead with its new category, and without the biggest act the category was arguably built around. The open question is whether other Asian artists follow BTS out the door or compete for the prize in their absence.

The dispute also revives an older argument. Black artists have long said the Grammys steer them toward genre awards and away from the general field, a criticism the Academy has faced for decades. BTS have now put the same charge on the table from a different continent, and this time the Academy’s answer will be judged against an empty seat.