Golden becomes first K-Pop song to win Grammy Award in ceremony history

Golden, the hit song from the film KPop Demon Hunters, has become the first K-Pop track to win a Grammy Award. The record, performed by the fictional group Huntr/x, claimed best song for visual media as the 2026 ceremony began in Los Angeles. The song is also nominated for song of the year.

The animated trio Huntr/x, made up of characters Zoey, Rumi and Mira, appear in the Netflix film as pop stars who also battle supernatural forces. Their soundtrack became a global success after the movie was released last June.

Other early winners included British artists Yungblud, The Cure and FKA Twigs. The Dalai Lama received best audiobook, while eight-year-old Aura V became the youngest ever Grammy recipient after winning best children’s album.

Ahead of the main broadcast, Kendrick Lamar collected three awards, including best rap song for TV Off. The rapper has continued a strong run at the Grammys following last year’s success, when he won five prizes including song and record of the year.

KPop Demon Hunters became Netflix’s most-viewed film of all time with more than 480 million views. Its soundtrack later topped the Billboard charts, the first film album to do so since Encanto in 2022.

Blackpink singer Rosé was nominated for three awards for her song APT, including song and record of the year. In 2025 the Recording Academy expanded its voting body to include more figures from Korean pop, among them Seventeen’s Woozi, Enhypen’s Jungwon and Le Sserafim’s Huh Yunjin.

The premiere ceremony at the Peacock Theatre presented 86 of the 95 awards. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande won best pop duo or group performance for Defying Gravity from Wicked.

Yungblud accepted best rock performance for his version of Changes, recorded at Ozzy Osbourne’s farewell concert. The Cure won best alternative album and best alternative recording, while FKA Twigs took best dance electronic album for Eusexua.