BTS and BIGBANG Headline the 2026 MAMA Awards Nominations Ahead of the Osaka Ceremony

BTS and BIGBANG are the names to beat at this year’s MAMA Awards. The nominations, announced Monday (Oct. 12), give BTS five nods, including artist of the year and album of the year for ARIRANG, and BIGBANG four of its own, plus four more for members Taeyang and G-Dragon, Billboard reports.

BTS is also up for best male group, best vocal performance group for “SWIM” and best music video for “2.0.” The group’s ARIRANG era began with a Netflix comeback concert that drew 18.4 million viewers. J-Hope has two nominations for his feature on LE SSERAFIM’s “SPAGHETTI.” BIGBANG’s run covers artist of the year, best male group, best music video and best dance performance male group for “BiiiG.” Taeyang has three solo nods, and G-Dragon, last year’s artist of the year, earns a collaboration nod for aespa’s “WDA (Whole Different Animal).” MAMAMOO, aespa, ATEEZ, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT and CORTIS also have five apiece.

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The timing is hard to miss. The list landed the same day first-round voting opened for the 2027 Grammys and their first Asian pop category. BTS and Stray Kids chose not to submit music, and BLACKPINK’s eligible EP Deadline is entirely in English, so all three are absent from it, the Korea Herald notes. The MAMA artist of the year field includes BTS, BLACKPINK, BIGBANG, Stray Kids, ENHYPEN and aespa instead.

BIGBANG’s week got bigger on Friday. The performer lineup slots the group into the second night, Nov. 21, alongside IVE, LE SSERAFIM and Nayeon, while CL and ENHYPEN lead the first, per Complex. The trio is in the middle of its 20th-anniversary world tour, its first together since 2017 and its first as a three-piece. At MetLife Stadium on Sept. 11, G-Dragon told the crowd, as Billboard reported:

Not just for me, but for all of us, and this is what it’s all about — finally, BIGBANG is so back. So, so back.

G-Dragon, at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 11, Billboard

Album of the year has 18 nominees, among them ARIRANG, BLACKPINK’s Deadline, Stray Kids’ This & That, EXO’s Reverxe and ATEEZ’s Golden Hour: Part.5, according to the Korea Herald. Only albums that sold at least 1 million copies qualify. Song of the year nominees will be announced soon.

The ceremony runs over two nights, Nov. 20 and 21, at Kyocera Dome Osaka and streams worldwide on Mnet Plus. First-round fan voting runs through Oct. 22, and the second round runs from Oct. 28 to Nov. 18.