BTS got an official welcome from the Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Monday (Aug. 10) ahead of the K-pop supergroup’s first of two shows at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore tonight. In a video cued to the group’s signature 2021 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 dance pop hit “Butter,” Moore danced out with a big smile and his white corded earbuds bumping to roll out the red carpet for Jung Kook, V, Jimin, Suga, RM Jin and j-hope.

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“Seven guys with one mission — bringing the world together and transcending cultural, geographical and language barriers,” said Moore. “That’s pretty dope.” After shouting out all seven members by name in the video featuring Korean subtitles, Moore pulled out his headphones and said, “Welcome to Baltimore, y’all!,” adding “and to every member of the BTS ARMY: Let’s make some noise!”

BTS are in the midst of a massive world tour in support of their 10th studio album, ARIRANG. They played two sold-out shows at Foxborough, Mass.’ Gillette Stadium last week and, after Tuesday’s (Aug. 11) show in Baltimore, they will move on to Arlington, Texas for a double-down at AT&T Stadium on Aug. 15-16. Their North American tour will draw to a close with a pair of shows in Toronto (Aug. 22-23) and Chicago (Aug. 27-28) before the final four gigs at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. on Sept. 1, 2,5 and 6.

After that the outing will move on to South America in October before moving to Asia and Australia in late 2026 and early 2027.

BTS recently made some noise when all seven members posted an identical statement to their Instagram accounts announcing that they will not submit their music for consideration at the upcoming 69th Grammy Awards. They wrote of their hope that “music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.” And while they did not specifically mention a category or nod to their past Grammy history, management company HYBE later clarified that this is “not a company-wide boycott” and neither the group nor the label asked anyone else to follow their lead.

The message from the group appeared to be a reaction to the guidelines for the Recording Academy’s newly created Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, one of five new Grammy categories introduced in June. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. released a statement last week in response, saying, “I am saddened to hear that BTS has chosen not to participate in the Grammy Awards process this year, but as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision.”

He added a clarification, explaining that the new Asian pop category was “created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia. The spirit of this new category is to shine a dedicated spotlight on these important artists. More categories mean more artists’ work is recognized. It’s never to divide, but to expand who is recognized by our 15,000 Grammy voters.”

He also noted that submitting music in the new genre category does not exclude an artist from also submitting in such General Field categories as Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.