'Golden' Makes Oscar History as First K-Pop Song to Win Best Original Song

A K-pop track just took home an Oscar for the first time ever. 'Golden,' from the Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters, won Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, making history on multiple fronts in a single night.

The win wasn't just a first for K-pop at the Oscars — it also set a new record for the most credited writers on a Best Original Song winner. Seven songwriters share the credit: EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu-Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, and Teddy Park. Because of that unusually large number, not every writer will receive an individual trophy, yet another unprecedented wrinkle for the category.

The live performance was a moment in itself. EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami — who voice the fictional K-pop group HUNTR/X in the film — hit the Dolby Theatre stage dressed in all white as dancers twirled golden flags behind them. The audience joined in with glowing light sticks, turning the ceremony into something closer to a stadium concert than a Hollywood awards show.

"Thank you so much to the Academy for this insane award," EJAE said during the acceptance speech, as Billboard reported. She used the moment to speak about what the song represents. "This award is not about success, it's about resilience," she told the crowd, as reported by Variety. The speech was cut short, though, when one of the collaborators was prematurely played off by the orchestra — an awkward end to an otherwise triumphant moment.

“"This award is not about success, it's about resilience," she told the crowd, as reported by Variety.”

KPop Demon Hunters didn't stop at one trophy. The film also won Best Animated Film, with co-writer and co-director Maggie Kang, producer Michelle L.M. Wong, and co-director Chris Appelhans accepting the award. That double win made the Netflix release one of the biggest stories of the entire ceremony.

It's worth noting that the film's road to eligibility was anything but standard. As a Netflix title, it needed a limited theatrical run to qualify for the Academy's consideration — a hurdle the team clearly cleared with room to spare.

The bigger picture here is what this means for K-pop's footprint in Western award spaces. Grammys, VMAs, and Billboard charts have all bent toward K-pop in recent years, but the Oscars felt like one of the last holdouts. That wall is down now. Keep an eye on whether this opens the floodgates for more Korean-language or K-pop-adjacent submissions in future award cycles — because the precedent has officially been set.