K-Pop's First Grammy Award Goes To: An Animated Film's Song

For years, K-pop has dominated charts, broken YouTube records, sold out stadiums and practically owned the internet. Yet one achievement continued to slip through its fingers. A Grammy. Until now.

“Golden,” the breakout track from Netflix’s animated film Demon Hunters has officially become the first ever K-pop song to win a Grammy Award, taking home Best Song for Visual Media at the 2026 ceremony in Los Angeles. The song is also nominated for Song of the Year, placing it alongside some of the biggest names in mainstream pop.

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A fictional band, a very real moment

Golden comes from KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s animated action fantasy about three members of a Korean girl group who balance their pop careers with demon hunting, using both music and martial arts to save the world. 

Released last June, the movie went on to become Netflix’s most viewed movie of all time, pulling in more than 480 million views globally. The soundtrack followed close behind and became the first film soundtrack to top the Billboard charts since Disney’s Encanto.

The songwriters, EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick, accepted the award with a speech delivered in both English and Korean, a small but powerful moment that highlighted the song’s journey across cultures and the audience it had found around the world.

Why this win matters for K-pop 

The Grammys have always had a slightly complicated relationship with K-pop.Despite massive global success, groups like BTS were repeatedly nominated but left without wins.

For years, many fans felt the genre was admired from a distance but rarely treated as part of the industry’s core conversation. That is why Golden’s victory feels different.

The win signals broader American acceptance and growing interest from Hollywood and U.S. studios in Korean pop culture. In many ways, it feels like the door has finally opened for K pop to step fully into the mainstream.

And what makes it even more interesting is that this milestone came from a fictional group. Somehow, an animated band managed to achieve what real life superstars had been chasing for years.

Views expressed by the author are their own.