Grammys 2026: K-pop finally gets its major-category nominations
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- K-pop reaches its biggest Grammy moment yet, with multiple acts scoring nominations in major categories and signaling the genre’s acceptance as mainstream pop music.
- Rosé’s smash hit with Bruno Mars and the debut of Katseye showcase K-pop artists’ crossover potential and musical credibility with Grammy voters.
- The shift marks a turning point where Grammy voters are judging K-pop on artistic merit rather than treating it primarily as a fandom-driven phenomenon.
Ever since the ascent of BTS, the Grammys have been K-pop-curious, but not typically in its marquee categories. This year marks a notable change — several acts with roots in K-pop have major-category nominations, which suggests the Academy has embraced the genre as a staple part of pop music.
First off, while the success of “KPop Demon Hunters” and its flagship soundtrack single, “Golden,” might need a qualifier for being a piece of film music for a fictional band, the tune’s nomination for song is a milestone. It caps a huge year for the animated ladies of Huntr/x — they also scored nods in pop duo/group performance, remixed recording and song written for visual media. Whatever comes next for the human artists Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami and “Golden” co-songwriter Mark Sonnenblick, it’s part of a big moment for K-pop in the Grammys’ top categories.
Over two days and seven shoots, we followed the members of Katseye, a rising K-pop group and the focus of a new Netflix documentary.
They’re far from alone there, though. Rosé of Blackpink had a monster hit with Bruno Mars on “Apt.,” which scored even more Top 4 nods in record and song and pop duo/group performance. The snazzy Motown rocker was one of the year’s undeniable singles, hitting No. 3 on the Hot 100.
These nods showed just how far the Blackpink members’ solo careers can reach into the broader music and entertainment industries — including TV, major festivals, the Hot 100 and now the Grammys elite categories.
Blackpink fans saw her at Coachella in the Sahara Tent in 2019 and the main stage as recently as 2023, but this is a newly assured Lisa blowing through her own lane.
A K-pop act finally got a new artist nod as well, with the polyglot girl group Katseye landing alongside Addison Rae, Lola Young and Sombr. The band was conceived as a global twist on what constitutes as K-pop, given the members’ varied backgrounds (they hail from the United States, the Philippines, South Korea and Switzerland, and trained under BTS’ parent label, Hybe, in the United States).
“Beautiful Chaos” hit No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and the group’s “Gabriela” also got a nomination for pop duo/group performance, so the experiment clearly resonated with Academy voters on its own terms.
While Grammy voters have often looked upon K-pop as a fandom phenomenon more than a musical one, this year’s class suggests the genre has been taken on its own terms like any piece of pop, which can only bode well for its future at the Academy.
