The 2025 Grammy Award nominees were announced on Friday. Beyonce led the pack with 11 nominations for her album Cowboy Carter, surpassing Taylor Swift and other notable artists. What shocked fans was the total exclusion of K-pop artists and acts from the nominations, despite their global influence and massive success over the past year. K-pop fans had hoped to see acts like BTS, BLACKPINK's Lisa, Stray Kids, Seventeen and others making to the list, but were left disappointed as K-pop artists were entirely absent from the main categories.
Several K-pop stars had submitted work for consideration. BLACKPINK member Lisa, for instance, had hoped to secure nominations for her song New Woman in the categories of Record of the Year and Song of the Year, along with Best New Artist and Best Pop Solo Performance for her track Rockstar. Stray Kids also submitted their album Ate for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, while their track Chk Chk Boom was considered for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Though no Korean band was nominated, there were a few indirect connections to the K-pop scene in the nominations. Aespa contributed to Djesse Vol. 4, an album by Jacob Collier that received a nod for Album of the Year, while Stray Kids were featured on the Deadpool & Wolverine soundtrack, which was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. Additionally, BTS member Jungkook was mentioned in Usher's track Coming Home from his album, which was nominated for Best R&B Song.
This snub led to disappointment and frustration among fans, particularly as many felt that K-pop artists, who continue to break records and enjoy global success, deserved more "recognition". "Jungkook is the most overlooked artist in the music industry," one fan vented on social media, referencing the lack of nominations for his hit songs. Another questioned the Grammy nomination process, asking whether the voters truly considered the submissions or if they simply "favoured" the same artists each year. "Well, what we expected from racist Grammys," a user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
To date, BTS remains the only K-pop group to have received direct nominations at the Grammys, earning five nominations over the past three years, although they have yet to win in any category. ICYDK, K-pop fans have long accused the Grammys of using BTS members' popularity to increase viewership without truly recognising the group's accomplishments or the contributions of other K-pop artists.