“Golden,” the breakout hit from Netflix’s animated film KPop Demon Hunters, has become the first K-Pop song ever to win a Grammy Award, marking a major milestone for the genre’s global rise.
Performed by the fictional girl group Huntr/x — made up of characters Zoey, Rumi, and Mira — the track won Best Song for Visual Media at the early Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles. The song is also in contention for Song of the Year.
Released last June, KPop Demon Hunters became Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time with more than 480 million views. Its upbeat, chart-friendly soundtrack went on to top the Billboard charts — the first soundtrack to do so since Disney’s Encanto in 2022 — underscoring K-pop’s growing cultural and commercial influence.
The Grammys also reflected the industry’s expanding recognition of Korean pop. Last year, the Recording Academy added several prominent K-Pop artists and creators to its voting body, including members of Seventeen, Enhypen, and Le Sserafim.
Elsewhere at the ceremony, Kendrick Lamar picked up three awards including Best Rap Song, while British acts Yungblud, The Cure, and FKA Twigs were among early winners. Eight-year-old Aura V made history as the youngest Grammy recipient for Best Children’s Album, and the Dalai Lama won Best Audiobook.
Although Blackpink’s Rosé opened the show with Bruno Mars, she left without a trophy despite multiple nominations.
With “Golden’s” historic win, K-Pop has officially broken into Grammy history — a sign that the genre’s global momentum is only accelerating.
