The upcoming Grammy Awards, to be held on February 7, 2027, will feature five new categories, including Best Latin Song and Best Asian Pop Performance, which will be added to the 95 existing categories.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences added the following five new categories to its Grammy Awards website: Best Asian Pop Performance, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, Best Traditional Folk Album, and Best Latin Song.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, its director, Harvey Mason Jr., shared his enthusiasm, explaining that the year 2027 will reflect “the extraordinary growth we’re seeing in music,” noting that “the changes made by the members of the Recording Academy speak to the breadth of today’s music industry and the many genres, professions, and creators that shape it.”
The new “Best Latin Song” category is particularly noteworthy, as it recognizes songs in which Spanish predominates—with more than 51% of the lyrics in Spanish—confirming that this language is gaining an increasingly prominent presence on the international music scene.
This new category was introduced after Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny made history at the 68th Grammy Awards by becoming the first artist to win the Album of the Year award with an album recorded entirely in Spanish.
The Grammy Academy no longer relies solely on the Latin Grammys to recognize music in this language; instead, it is adding a new category to the existing ones: Best Latin Pop Album, Best Mexican Music Album (including Tejano), Best Latin Jazz Album, Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, and Best Tropical Latin Music Album.
The creation of a category dedicated to Asian music is another big surprise, amid the K-pop boom—which took the world by storm in 2025—and the return last July of the Korean band BTS, the most iconic group in this genre.
With these new categories, the American Academy aims to embrace greater musical diversity and give a voice to artists and genres that are typically overlooked by institutions.
In its statement, the academy also announced a new voting process, allowing experts from various genres to vote in up to 15 categories, as well as updates to the criteria for the Best New Artist, Best Historical Album, and Best Album Notes categories, and changes to album eligibility and composer awards, reported Agencia EFE.