Stephanie Mills has just shared a post from Rolling Stone India about BTS's decision not to send the album'Arirang' and the songs in the album for consideration for the 69th Grammy Awards.
The female singer wrote: "BTS, this is so brave. Read the content below to understand their reasons. I admire these young men".
Stephanie Mills' statement was quickly shared by the BTS fan community. Many opinions suggest that the support from an artist who was once honored by the Recording Academy made the group's decision receive more attention in the US music industry.
Stephanie Mills was born in 1957, is a prominent vocalist of R&B and soul music. She won the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance in R&B with the song "Never Knew Love Like This Before". In her career, she has a total of three Grammy nominations.
She is also known for her role as Dorothy in the first Broadway version of the musical "The Wiz", released in 1975. The role contributed to making Stephanie Mills one of the iconic black artists of American theater and music.
Previously, BTS announced that they would not send "Arirang" and songs from the album to participate in the 2027 Grammy Awards. All seven members shared a common message, expressing their desire for music to be listened to and loved based on its inherent value, instead of being divided by region or language.
The decision was made after the Academy of Recording announced a new category called Best Asian Pop Performance. The category is expected to include K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and other popular music genres from Asia.
This change has created many opinions. The Academy of Recording believes that the new category aims to recognize the development and diversity of Asian pop music. However, a part of the audience is concerned that regional classification of artists may inadvertently separate them from the main categories.
Harvey Mason Jr. - Executive Director of the Academy of Recording - said he was sad that BTS chose not to participate in this year's Grammy process, but respected the group's decision. He affirmed that sending works in the Asian pop category does not prevent artists from competing for awards in general categories such as Album of the Year or Record of the Year.
BTS has been nominated many times but has not won a Grammy. Therefore, the group's initiative to stay out of the 2027 awards review is considered a noteworthy choice, especially when "Arirang" marks the group's return after the members completed their military service.
