Stray Kids follows BTS in Grammy boycott over Asian pop category

Stray Kids is boycotting next year’s Grammys by not submitting music for consideration, following BTS and amid backlash over the Recording Academy’s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. JYP Entertainment confirmed the decision. The move comes after the Academy said it would keep the category despite criticism that it separates K-pop and other Asian music from the Grammys’ main awards.

The Recording Academy announced the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category in June and said it was meant to recognize contemporary Asian popular music, including K-pop, J-pop and C-pop.

Critics argued the category could be discriminatory and could sideline Asian artists by placing them in a separate regionally defined space.

BTS announced in July that it would not submit its music for Grammy consideration in any category through all seven members.

Stray Kids has topped the Billboard 200 nine times, the second-highest total for any group after The Beatles.

All eight members of Stray Kids hold voting membership in the Recording Academy.

Published Oct 4, 2026 3:33 pm KST

K-pop boy band Stray Kids pose during a press conference in Seoul, Aug. 6. Yonhap

K-pop group Stray Kids is boycotting next year’s Grammys, following BTS in its decision not to submit music for consideration amid mounting controversy over the award show's newly created Asian pop category.

The BBC reported on Friday that JYP Entertainment, the boyband's agency, confirmed that the group did not submit any music for consideration for the 69th Grammy Awards.

"Stray Kids did not submit for the Grammys," the agency was quoted as saying.

The decision came less than a day after the Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammys, announced that it would move forward with its Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.

Stray Kids has been considered a leading contender for the new award, given the group’s strong presence in the global music market.

The group has topped the Billboard 200 nine times, the second-highest tally for any group after The Beatles. All eight members also hold voting membership in the Recording Academy, underscoring their growing presence in the U.S. music industry.

The Academy first announced the creation of the Asian pop category in June. It argued the creation was to recognize contemporary Asian popular music, including K-pop, J-pop and C-pop.

However, the move sparked criticism that grouping K-pop and other genres under a separate Asian music category was discriminatory and risked sidelining Asian artists from the Grammys’ broader awards structure.

BTS performs at the Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, April 3, 2022. AFP-Yonhap

Critics argued that such a distinction was increasingly difficult to justify as K-pop has built a global audience and become a major presence in the international music industry. Rather than expanding recognition, they said, the new category could limit Asian acts to a regionally defined space instead of allowing them to compete on equal footing in the Grammys’ major and established genre categories.

In July, BTS announced it will not submit its music for Grammy consideration in any category through an online post by all of its seven members, who said they hoped that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.

Following BTS’ boycott and growing backlash, the Recording Academy signaled that it was open to revising the category. But on Thursday, it confirmed it will push through with the category, saying support for the new award had outweighed opposition.

With BTS and Stray Kids, two of K-pop’s biggest acts and leading potential contenders, now boycotting the Grammys, attention is turning to whether other K-pop artists will follow suit.

Hongjoong of another famous boyband ATEEZ also weighed in on the controversy in a recent interview with the U.S. entertainment magazine Variety, saying he sympathized with BTS’ stance and was considering his own position on the issue.

"No one can recognize the real reason. But it seems like, for me, (and this is) very individual thinking: I think I agree (a little) with what BTS did," he said.

继BTS之后，Stray Kids宣布抵制明年的格莱美奖，不会提交任何音乐作品参选。此举也源于美国录音学院新设立的“最佳亚洲流行音乐表演奖”引发的争议。JYP娱乐公司​​已证实了这一决定。此前，尽管有人批评该奖项将K-pop和其他亚洲音乐与格莱美奖的主要奖项割裂开来，但录音学院仍表示将保留该奖项。

美国录音学院于6月宣布设立“最佳亚洲流行音乐表演奖”，并表示该奖项旨在表彰当代亚洲流行音乐，包括韩国流行音乐、日本流行音乐和中国流行音乐。

批评人士认为，这一分类可能具有歧视性，并将亚洲艺术家置于一个单独的、按地域划分的空间中，从而边缘化他们。

BTS 于 7 月宣布，七位成员将不会携其音乐作品参加格莱美奖的任何奖项评选。

Stray Kids 曾九次登上 Billboard 200 排行榜榜首，是继披头士乐队之后获得该奖项次数第二高的组合。

Stray Kids 的八名成员全部都是美国录音学院的投票会员。

发布于2026年10月4日下午3:33（韩国标准时间）

韩国男子组合Stray Kids于8月6日在首尔举行新闻发布会。（韩联社）

继BTS之后，韩国流行音乐组合Stray Kids也决定抵制明年的格莱美奖，此前BTS已决定不提交音乐作品参选，原因是该奖项新设立的亚洲流行音乐类别引发了越来越多的争议。

BBC 周五报道称，该男子组合的经纪公司 JYP Entertainment 证实，该组合没有提交任何音乐作品参加第 69 届格莱美奖的评选。

该经纪公司表示：“Stray Kids没有提交格莱美奖的申请。”

就在格莱美奖主办方美国录音学院宣布将继续设立“最佳亚洲流行音乐表演奖”不到一天后，这项决定就出台了。

鉴于 Stray Kids 组合在全球音乐市场的强大影响力，他们一直被认为是该新奖项的有力竞争者。

该组合曾九次登上公告牌二百强专辑榜榜首，是继披头士乐队之后获得该榜单冠军次数第二高的组合。所有八位成员也都是美国录音学院的投票会员，这凸显了他们在美国音乐界日益增长的影响力。

学院于6月首次宣布设立亚洲流行音乐奖项。学院方面表示，设立该奖项是为了表彰当代亚洲流行音乐，包括韩国流行音乐、日本流行音乐和中国流行音乐。

然而，此举引发了批评，认为将 K-pop 和其他音乐类型归入单独的亚洲音乐类别具有歧视性，并有可能将亚洲艺术家排除在格莱美奖更广泛的奖项体系之外。

2022年4月3日，防弹少年团（BTS）在拉斯维加斯举行的格莱美颁奖典礼上表演。（法新社-韩联社）

批评人士认为，随着K-pop在全球范围内建立起庞大的受众群体，并在国际音乐产业中占据重要地位，这种区分越来越难以令人信服。他们指出，新设立的类别非但不能扩大K-pop的知名度，反而可能将其限制在地域性的范围内，使其无法在格莱美奖的主要奖项类别中与其他音乐人公平竞争。

7 月，BTS 通过七位成员在网上发布的声明宣布，他们将不会提交他们的音乐作品参加格莱美奖的任何奖项评选。他们表示，希望音乐能够被人们听到和喜爱，而不是被地域或语言所分割。

在防弹少年团抵制该奖项并引发日益高涨的反对声浪后，美国录音学院曾表示愿意修改奖项类别。但周四，学院确认将继续设立该奖项，并称支持新奖项的声音已经超过了反对的声音。

随着韩国流行音乐界两大巨星和最有希望的竞争者——防弹少年团 (BTS) 和 Stray Kids——抵制格莱美奖，人们的注意力转向了其他韩国流行音乐艺人是否会效仿。

另一支著名男团 ATEEZ 的成员洪中最近在接受美国娱乐杂志《综艺》采访时也对这场争议发表了看法，他表示同情 BTS 的立场，并且正在考虑自己对此事的立场。

“没有人能说清真正的原因。但对我来说，这似乎是（一种非常个人化的想法）：我觉得我（在某种程度上）同意BTS的做法，”他说。