Unpacking BTS’ Decision to Boycott the Grammys

By Jae-Ha Kim
Here & Now
August 3, 2026

BTS fans are still luxuriating in the release of new music with the band’s most recent album “Arirang.”

But the new tunes won’t have their moment on stage at the Grammys next year. BTS announced last week that the group would not be submitting an entry for consideration.

The decision came on the heels of the Grammys’ creation of a new category, Best Asian Pop Music Performance.

Host Scott Tong unpacks the decision with Jae-Ha Kim, a journalist and syndicated columnist at The Chicago Tribune writing about K-Pop and culture. She also wrote about this for Rolling Stone.