NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 12: (L-R) Han, Hyunjin, Bang Chan, I.N, Felix, Lee Know, Seungmin and Changbin of Stray Kids perform onstage during the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV)
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Stray Kids just joined K-pop juggernauts BTS in withdrawing their work from upcoming Grammy consideration.
Korean press, later confirmed by BBC, first reported that fourth gen titans Stray Kids did not in fact submit any works to the 69th Grammy Awards before the August 21 deadline. They are now officially the second major K-pop act to announce sitting out the ceremony following BTS’s withdrawal in July.
JYP Entertainment confirmed the non-submission to Edaily, saying simply: “It is true that they did not submit an entry.” The agency did not provide a statement connecting the decision to the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.
The announcement came one day after the Recording Academy confirmed on October 1 that the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category would go ahead at the February 7, 2027 ceremony unchanged. On the same day, right before their non submission was confirmed, Billboard had named Stray Kids among the leading contenders for the new category in an outlook piece. All eight members joined the Recording Academy as voting members this year, giving them the right to vote on Grammy winners.
The group had declined to give a direct answer when asked about Grammy submissions at a press conference for their tenth EP This & That on August 6, with member Hyunjin only saying they “never once set any award result or record as a goal in our activities.”
Immediately after BTS’ withdrawal, this contributor had also placed Stray Kids as a top K-Pop contender for the Asian Pop category, especially in BTS’ absence.
Why Stray Kids’ Grammy Decision Is Important
When the Recording Academy announced the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, BTS said they hoped “music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being categorized by region or language.”. The Recording Academy spent the months following the BTS exit in consultation with K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, and Indian music communities, including BTS’ label HYBE, before confirming the category would go ahead, no changes specified.
Stray Kids are one of K-pop’s largest active touring acts, recently headlining Rock in Rio and the Governor’s Ball in New York alongside Lorde and A$AP Rocky. They have shipped over 40 million albums across Korea and Japan as of May 2026, and scored their ninth US number one album in 2026.
The Recording Academy now faces a Best Asian Pop category at its February 7 ceremony without the two acts most prominently associated with K-pop’s mainstream global breakthrough — and with a growing question about which acts will fill the ballot.
ATEEZ leader Hongjoong weighed in on the controversy recently in a Variety interview. “I saw the many articles and I’d love to think about that too,” he said. “I’m not sure because no one can know about the real reason they tried to make that title. 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 added that winning a Grammy is “a dream” for both himself and ATEEZ, but that he also believes music “has no boundary.”
BTS and Stray Kids down. Perhaps more to go?
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