In one of the most emotional moments of the 2026 Golden Globes, singer-songwriter EJAE fought back tears as she accepted the award for Best Original Song, making history as the first Korean-American singer to win a Golden Globe in the category.

Her victory for "Golden" from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters came more than a decade after she was rejected by the Kpop industry that once told her she wasn't good enough.

"When I was a little girl, I worked tirelessly for 10 years to fulfill one dream, to become a Kpop idol, and I was rejected and disappointed that my voice wasn't good enough," EJAE said during her acceptance speech at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday night. "So I leaned on songs and music to get through it. So now I'm here as a singer and a songwriter."

The 33-year-old artist, born Kim Eun-jae, spent nearly a decade training at SM Entertainment beginning in 2003 when she was just 11 years old. She trained alongside future members of Girls’ Generation, SHINee and f(x), but was never selected to debut in any group nor considered for a solo career. After being dropped from the company around 2014-2015, she moved to the United States and enrolled at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Rather than giving up on music entirely, EJAE pivoted to songwriting. Her breakthrough came in 2019 when she co-wrote Red Velvet’s massive hit "Psycho," which she had penned during a songwriting camp at SM Entertainment. From there, she became a sought-after topliner, penning tracks for aespa, TWICE, LE SSERAFIM and NMIXX.

Her journey came full circle when she was cast as the singing voice for Rumi in KPop Demon Hunters. Director Maggie Kang has credited EJAE's demos as one of the reasons the film was greenlit. EJAE had co-written and recorded most of the demos for the film before the directors asked her to officially voice the character.

"It’s a dream come true to be part of a song that is helping other girls, other boys and everyone of all ages to get through their hardship and accept themselves," EJAE continued in her speech. "So thank you, Golden Globes, for accepting my voice and our voice."

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Co-writer Mark Sonnenblick also took the stage alongside EJAE and producers 24 and IDO, thanking Netflix, Sony, and "everybody who believed in and ushered this movie." In a particularly poignant moment, EJAE returned to the microphone to deliver one final message.

"This award goes to people who've had their doors closed on them," she said, referencing her own decade of rejection. "I can confidently say rejection is redirection. Never give up. It's never too late to shine like you were born to be."

The win represents a remarkable turnaround for an artist who once felt her voice wasn’t valued. "Golden" became a global phenomenon since the film's June 2025 release, spending eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and making history as the first female Kpop single to top the chart. The song also dominated the Billboard Global 200 for 10 weeks and has been certified double platinum.

KPop Demon Hunters itself has become Netflix’s most-watched film of all time with over 325 million views, and its soundtrack debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it the biggest-selling soundtrack of 2025. The film follows fictional Kpop superstars Rumi, Mira and Zoey of the group HUNTR/X, who use their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans from supernatural threats.

EJAE's historic win at the Golden Globes follows the film's sweep at the Critics Choice Awards last week, where it won both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. The momentum continues to build ahead of the 2026 Grammy Awards in February, where "Golden" has earned five nominations including the coveted Song of the Year, making EJAE the first Korean-American female songwriter nominated in that category.

The Golden Globes win also came alongside KPop Demon Hunters' victory for Best Animated Feature, with director Maggie Kang becoming the first Asian woman to win in that category. The film lost its third nomination, Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, to Sinners.

For EJAE, who has spoken openly about how SM Entertainment tried to change her voice and how she "used to resent Kpop" because she couldn’t achieve her dream, Sunday night's win represented a profound moment of vindication. The artist who was once deemed not good enough for the Kpop stage has now achieved what few Korean-Americans have done before her, proving that sometimes the stage you never debut on leads to a stage millions watch at home.

As for her message to anyone facing rejection, EJAE's words at the Golden Globes will likely resonate far beyond the Beverly Hilton ballroom: rejection is redirection, and it's never too late to shine.

"Golden" will compete for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards on March 15, 2026, where EJAE could make even more history. A sequel to KPop Demon Hunters has been confirmed for 2029, reuniting the creative team behind the original film.

Note: A previous version of this article stated that EJAE was the first Korean-American to win a Golden Globe. This has since been corrected to first Korean-American singer, since Steven Yeun won a Golden Globe in 2024.

© Forbes