KPop Demon Hunters made Oscar history Sunday night with its Best Original Song win for the HUNTR/X song “Golden.”

The win at the 2026 Oscars marks the first time a K-pop song has won the coveted statuette in the category.

“Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop and now everyone is singing our song,” EJAE, who co-wrote “Golden,” said through tears during her acceptance speech.

KPop Demon Hunters, of course, is the Netflix animated movie sensation that began sweeping the globe after its June 20, 2025, release on the streaming platform. The film is a musical extravaganza about how the K-pop singing trio HUNTR/X face off against such adversaries as the Saja Boys during their demon-hunting missions.

KPop Demon Hunters — which also won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for producer Michelle Wong, and directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans — stars the voices of Arden Cho, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo as HUNTR/X trio members Rumi, Mira and Zoey, respectively.

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EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — who sang “Golden” at the Oscars ceremony — performed the singing voices of Rumi, Mira and Zoey, respectively, in the film.

The “Golden” songwriting team of EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park faced stiff competition for the Best Original Song Oscar.

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Also nominated for the honor were “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless, “I Lied to You” from Sinners, “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! and “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams.

‘Golden’ From ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Has Dominated Awards Season

In addition to Sunday night’s Oscar glory, “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters has won Best Original Song honors from the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, which were both held in January.

EJAE — whose real name is Kim Eun-jae — became emotional recalling her struggles as a K-pop artist in her emotional acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, saying, "When I was a little girl, I worked tirelessly for 10 years to fulfill one dream, to become a K-pop idol, and I was rejected and disappointed that my voice wasn’t good enough. So, I leaned on songs and music to get through it. So now I'm here as a singer and a songwriter."

KPop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix. The animated musical, which was produced by Sony Pictures Animation, is currently the most-streamed Netflix movie ever worldwide with 325.1 million views in its first 91 days on the platform, which equates to a staggering 541.8 million viewing hours.

© Forbes