BLACKPINK

The last year was a big one for Blackpink fans as each group member showed off their solo prowess by releasing excellent debut albums: Lisa delivered Alter Ego, Rosé gave us Rosie, Jennie released Ruby, and Jisoo shook things up with Amortage. Despite such a big year — especially for Rosé with “APT.” — many Blinks may be wondering why none of the girls earned nominations for Best New Artist.

The term “new” in the category title is key word here. The Best New Artist category recognizes “a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape” in the last year. The rulebook states that “any artist who had achieved a breakthrough in a prior eligibility period” is not be eligible for the award.

Since Blackpink is (without doubt) the biggest K-pop group in history, and has been for years, its members are ineligible for the category as solo acts. (Despite their massive appeal, the group has never earned a Grammy nomination.) According to Recording Academy rules, members of a group are considered part of that collective entity, meaning that any previous Grammy submissions made under Blackpink would also apply to each of its members individually.

Although it’s unclear how many times Blackpink or its members have been submitted for the Best New Artist award in the past, another limitation is “that an artist cannot have submitted for Best New Artist more than three times previously, whether as a new artist or as a solo artist who emerged from a group.”

At the 2026 Grammys, Blinks will be able to root for Rosé, who earned multiple nominations for “APT.” with Bruno Mars, including for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Grupo Performance. She’s the only member who received award nominations.

While there were no nods for Blackpink (which released the superb single “Jump” in July) either, the 2026 Grammys will see great girl group representation. The Best New Artist category, for example, includes Katseye.

The Grammys have been slow in embracing the rise of K-pop. BTS has been mostly limited to the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category and has yet to win any trophies. This year, “Golden” from Kpop Demon Hunters made history for the genre, earning numerous nods, including Song of the Year.