BTS Decline to Submit ‘Arirang’ for 2027 Grammy Awards

BTS Rule Out 2027 Grammy Submission for Chart-Topping Album ‘Arirang’

K-pop superstars BTS have confirmed that their fifth studio album, Arirang, will not be entered for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards, despite the record being widely regarded as a leading contender this season. All seven members announced the decision through matching statements posted to their individual Instagram Stories.

Seven Identical Instagram Statements and a Pointed Message on Language

According to the posts shared by RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, the group will not put forward any of their music for Grammy consideration in this cycle. The timing is striking: the announcement arrived roughly a month after the Recording Academy unveiled a new Asian Pop Performance category for the upcoming awards.

In their shared message, the members explained that they want their work to be judged on its own merits rather than filtered through regional or linguistic labels. “I hope the music itself can be heard and loved rather than being distinguished by region and language. Thank you to the ARMY and everyone for always being with me,” the statement read.

The choice reportedly caught fans and industry watchers off guard, given the album’s dominant run. Released in March, Arirang opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as well as the top album charts in South Korea, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Its lead single, “SWIM,” became the group’s seventh chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100, and nearly every track from the project landed on that chart — form that had positioned the album as a serious threat in marquee categories such as Album of the Year.

What Stepping Away From the Grammy Race Signals for Global Pop

BTS have long stood at the centre of debates about how non-English-language artists are recognised by major Western institutions. By declining to campaign at the height of their commercial power, the group is effectively making a statement about categorisation itself — that success on this scale should not need a regional lane to be acknowledged.

The move is expected to fuel wider conversations across the music business about representation, how award categories are drawn, and whether artists from non-English-speaking markets are treated as equals on the industry’s biggest stages. However the debate unfolds, the group’s message is clear: the music, not the label attached to it, should come first.

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"BTS’ decision to not submit to the Grammys signaled their next stage of growth. They demonstrated self-validation by being sure of their worth, the worth of Asian artists and no longer needing the validation of a Western award to prove that they’re good enough" – Anna Cristina Tuazon, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The Wright Institute in Berkeley

— Ria⁷◾🌱🍅|| (@__gaciria) View on X

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