The prestigious music award ceremony Grammy took place recently and aroused keen attention from music lovers worldwide. Beyoncé won Album of the Year for “Cowboy Carter”, increasing the number of her Grammy trophies to 35 and becoming the most-winning Grammy winner in history. Kendrick Lamar won 5 trophies with only one song – “Not Like Us”, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year. However, many people were surprised to find out that Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande did not win any awards at the Grammy this year.
However, the Grammy this year once again disappointed K-pop fans. No K-pop stars appeared at this year’s award ceremony or performed. In fact, ever since the Grammy 2025 released their nominations in November last year, no K-pop representatives successfully made it to the list. This is the second year consecutively that Korean stars failed to enter the nomination list of the Grammy.
Until now, BTS is still the only K-pop artist that has been nominated at the Grammy for three years in a row, from 2021 to 2023.
Last year, BTS members, including RM, J-Hope and Jimin, also submitted nominations for their solo songs. BLACKPINK’s youngest Lisa even submitted 6 nominations for her two songs ROCKSTAR and New Woman. Despite that, all their submissions got canceled by the Grammy, leaving great regrets to K-pop fans.
USA Today also expressed disbelief when K-pop artists could not enter the nomination list of the Grammy despite their rising popularity and influence. Groups like BLACKPINK, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, etc. have been making huge achievements and touring big stadiums in the US, but still get no nominations. In fact, the Grammy has also been criticized intensely for ignoring K-pop artists.
Regarding K-pop stars’ absence from global awards ceremonies, like the Grammy, experts pointed out that Korean artists still lack global influence, which was what BTS got in the past. They said, “No other K-pop groups aside from BTS have been nominated, and no one has been able to reach the level of BTS’s impact. Stray Kids and TXT have been doing so well but not enough to get considered for a nomination at the Grammy”.
In addition, music experts have been raising heated debate about whether K-pop is a genre or just “Korean music”. One said, “Latin pop and Afrobeats already established themselves as separate genres, but K-pop has not been able to do this. In the US, performing music, which is the core of K-pop, still has a long way to gain recognition from experts.”
K-pop, and also the Hallyu Wave, is the spread of Korean culture. After US-UK entered Korea, K-pop collected and mixed all kinds of genres and then combined them with choreographies for group performances. Many K-pop artists successfully gained global popularity and strong fandoms. However, a music award like the Grammy does not consider the public’s references to give awards.
It is a rare case when a K-pop artist like BTS became a phenomenon in the US with their mega-hit songs “Dynamite” and “Butter”. Music critic Lim Hee-yun said, “The fact that a K-pop group got nominated three times is like a miracle”.
However, it does not mean K-pop already lost hope at the Grammy. This year’s award ceremony shocked everyone when they invited The Weeknd to perform again 4 years after the male singer was criticized and boycotted in 2021. This is the Recording Academy’s effort to consider the public opinions regarding the mistreatment of The Weeknd and the need to diversify music culture.
Many K-pop stars are also “globalizing” their music. BTS and BLACKPINK members have been releasing English songs and promoting them earnestly in the US. As such, fans believe that their efforts will bear fruits one day.