2026 MAMA Awards nominations: BIGBANG leads with eight, BTS close behind on seven
BIGBANG will go into the 2026 MAMA Awards with eight nominations, just ahead of BTS on seven, after the shortlist was announced on 12 October.
The counts cover group nominations plus solo and featured work by members. BTS have five as a group, while BIGBANG have four as a group, with the balance coming from individual entries, according to Forbes and Billboard.
BTS are nominated for Artist of the Year and Best Male Group. Their album ARIRANG is up for Album of the Year, while “SWIM” is nominated for Best Vocal Performance Group and “2.0” for Best Music Video.
J-Hope accounts for the two additional BTS-linked nominations. He is recognised as a featured artist on LE SSERAFIM’s “SPAGHETTI”, which is nominated for Best Collaboration and Best Dance Performance Female Group.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER, the labelmates of BTS, received three nominations: Artist of the Year, Best Male Group and Album of the Year for 7th year: a moment of stillness in the thorns. Member Yeonjun is nominated separately as a soloist for Artist of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Dance Performance Male Solo for “Ice Cream”.
BIGBANG are nominated for Artist of the Year and Best Male Group. Their song “BiiiG” picked up two nominations, for Best Music Video and Best Dance Performance Male Group.
The group’s members add three more lines on the ballot. Taeyang is nominated for Artist of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Dance Performance Male Solo for “LIVE FAST DIE SLOW”. G-Dragon is nominated for Best Collaboration for his feature on aespa’s “WDA (Whole Different Animal)”. Daesung also received solo recognition in the nominations, alongside G-Dragon and Taeyang. G-Dragon won Artist of the Year at the 2025 ceremony.
Seven other acts each collected five nominations: MAMAMOO, aespa, ATEEZ, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT and CORTIS.
What makes this stand out is the direct overlap. BTS and BIGBANG meet in Artist of the Year and Best Male Group, while their members and collaborators cross into the collaboration and dance categories.
The ceremony is set for 20-21 November at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan. It will stream live worldwide on Mnet Plus, the platform run by CJ ENM, the company behind the awards.
Music released between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026 was eligible. Nominees for Song of the Year were not in the announced list and will be revealed separately.
