BTS is vying to nab a historic win as Artist of the Year at the 52nd American Music Awards (AMAs), standing as the only K-pop act nominated in the category.

BTS stands shoulder to shoulder with Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift, according to the 2026 AMA nominations revealed on Tuesday.


If BTS wins the award this year, the group will become the only Asian artist in history to have ever won the title twice.

The septet previously won Artist of the Year in 2021, when it also became the first Asian act to claim the title.

Besides Artist of the Year, BTS is nominated for Best Male K-pop Artist, and “Swim,” the lead track of its latest album, is nominated for Song of the Summer.

A string of other K-pop groups and those from a Korea-based agency are eyeing a win at the AMAs.

Alongside “Swim,” Blackpink’s Jennie’s song with Tame Impala, “Dracula,” is nominated for Song of the Summer.

HYBE’s U.S.-based global girl group Katseye landed three nominations: Breakthrough Pop Artist, New Artist of the Year and Best Music Video for “Gnarly” (2025). HYBE also represents BTS.

In two separate best K-pop artist categories, divided between men and women, 10 groups — five boy bands and five girl groups — earned nominations. For the men, the contenders are Ateez, BTS, Enhypen, Stray Kids and Tomorrow X Together. For the women, the competition is among Blackpink, ILLIT, Le Sserafim and Twice.

No solo K-pop artist has made their name into the categories Best Male Pop Artist and Best Female Pop Artist.

Netflix’s hit animated movie, “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025), received a nod for Best Soundtrack. It will compete against the music of star-studded films such as “F1 The Album” (2025) and “Wicked: For Good” (2025).

“Golden” (2025), the popular track from “KPop Demon Hunters,” sung by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, has received nominations for Song of the Year, Best Pop Song and Best Vocal Performance. In those three categories, the trio is the only Korea-related presence.

Particularly, for Song of the Year, “Golden” is nominated besides Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” (2025), Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” (2025), Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” (2025) and Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” (2025).

The AMAs, a fully fan-voted award presented by the U.S. network CBS, will take place on May 25. Voting opened on Tuesday and will close on on May 8.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]