BTS Are Now Two-Time Grammy Award Nominees — But the Recording Academy Still Managed to Snub the Band
On Nov. 23, the Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 2022 Grammy Awards. As always, the nominations were highly anticipated and dreaded by music fans. True to form, there were predictable and baffling nominations. While BTS earned a nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the second year in a row, the Korean septet was kept out of major categories at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
BTS are nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for ‘Butter’ at the 2022 Grammy Awards
On May 21, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook of BTS released their second English-language single, “Butter.” The band released a remix of the song featuring Grammy Award-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion on Aug. 27.
Jenna Andrews, RM, Rob Grimaldi, Stephen Kirk, Ron Perry, Alex Bilowitz, and Sebastian Garcia wrote the BTS single.
For the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, BTS are nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Butter.” At the 2021 Grammy Awards, BTS were nominated for the same award for their first English-language single, “Dynamite.”
In the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category, BTS are nominated alongside Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga for “I Get a Kick Out of You,” Coldplay with “Higher Power,” Doja Cat featuring SZA for “Kiss Me More,” and Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco with “Lonely.”
BTS were kept out of major categories at the 2022 Grammy Awards
BTS’ second Grammy Award nomination comes on the heels of the fan-voted 2021 American Music Awards. At the award show, which took place on Nov. 21, BTS won every category they were nominated in, taking home awards for Artist of the Year, Favorite Pop Duo or Group, and Favorite Pop Song for “Butter.”
Before the 2021 AMAs, Billboard crowned “Butter” as the top Song of the Summer in 2021, and the single won Best K-pop and Song of the Summer at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. At the upcoming Variety’s Hitmakers event, BTS’ song “Butter” will be honored with the Record of the Year award.
Following its release, the single was well-received by critics, broke records on YouTube and Spotify, set Guinness World Records, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks.
Despite the accolades already surrounding “Butter,” the song was not nominated for Song of the Year or Record of the Year at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
This is not the first time the Recording Academy has snubbed BTS
BTS’ ascent to becoming Grammy Award-nominated artists has been a slow burn. At the 2019 Grammy Awards, the band became the first Korean act to present at the awards show when the members presented the award for Best R&B.
The septet then became the first Korean act to perform at the Grammy Awards in 2020 when Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook performed in the “Old Town Road All-Stars” performance with Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X, Diplo, and Mason Ramsey.
At the 2021 Grammy Awards, BTS earned their first nomination in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for “Dynamite” and performed the song at the award show.
Even though the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance was not aired during the main ceremony, BTS’ performance was saved until the end of the award show in a seeming attempt to boost viewership.
Each year, BTS get one step closer to winning, but the Recording Academy seems to fall 10 steps behind acknowledging the band’s real-life success.
What does this mean for BTS and ARMY?
The members of BTS are not the first musicians to be snubbed by the Recording Academy, and they will certainly not be the last. When it comes to award shows, particularly ones that revolve around a subjective art form like music, results are never predictable or guaranteed.
It causes fans to have to strike a frustrating balance between feeling elated over the prestige of whatever nominations are given out while acknowledging the disappointment that artists deserve more.
At this point, BTS are long overdue for a win. However, regardless of what happens at the Grammy Awards on Jan. 31, 2022, history shows the band will carry on with outpacing the relevance of the award show.
On Nov. 27, Nov. 28, Dec. 1, and Dec. 2, BTS will hold concerts at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The four concerts, known as Permission to Dance On Stage — LA, sold out during presales.
