BTS has boldly announced that it will not submit its music for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards.
The seven-member group shared the surprise decision through a coordinated post on Instagram, with RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook all publishing the same statement.
“We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year,” the translated message 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 despite expectations that BTS would be strong contenders at the 2027 ceremony following the commercial success of their comeback album, Arirang.
The record became one of the year’s best-selling releases, while its lead single, Swim, topped the US charts and was widely tipped as a potential contender in major Grammy categories.
Many fans believe the group’s decision is linked to the Recording Academy’s recently introduced 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 per cent of Arirang is sung in English, it would not have qualified for the category.
Although BTS did not directly mention the new category, the group’s statement emphasising that music should not be “divided by region or language” has been widely interpreted as a response to the controversy.
The band ended its message by thanking its dedicated fanbase, known as ARMY.
“Thank you to ARMY and everyone who is always with us,” the statement concluded.
BTS has made history at the Grammy Awards before, becoming the first K-pop group to receive a Grammy nomination in 2021 for Dynamite, their first all-English single. Since then, the group has earned several additional nominations and delivered multiple performances on the Grammy stage, though it has yet to win a Grammy.