S. Korea celebrates breakthrough K-pop Grammy win for Golden

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Critics and fans welcomed South Korea's first major Grammy win for the song "Golden", from the hit animated film "KPop Demon Hunters", describing it on Monday as a breakthrough for the genre.

The track, performed by Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami as the fictional girl group Huntrix in the film, won Best Song Written for Visual Media to claim an accolade that had long eluded the industry despite its global popularity.

K-pop megagroup BTS, for example, has been nominated multiple times in different categories since 2021 but has yet to be recognised at the music industry's biggest night.

One YouTube commentator, who uses the handle striderz1971, noted that neither BTS nor Blackpink had been able to score a Grammy and said that "a path had now been forced open".

"With that barrier now breached, K-pop artists may finally begin to receive the recognition they deserve," they said.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung praised the win, hailing it as opening a "new chapter in K-pop history".

"This marks the first time a K-pop composer or producer has won a Grammy Award. I extend my warmest congratulations on this remarkable achievement," he said on social media platform X.

Music columnist Kim Do-hoon told AFP that the Grammys had long sidelined K-pop because of what he said was its "cookie-cutter format".

"The Grammys have traditionally placed strong emphasis on musical quality -- an area in which K-pop is not widely recognised," he said.

"They are also known for avoiding heavily produced music, which is often the case with K-pop artists," Kim said.

"Golden" was also nominated for Song of the Year alongside "APT.", sung by K-pop idol Rose and Bruno Mars in a high-octane opening to the ceremony.

Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell won the coveted category for "Wildflower", a result that surprised some observers in a crowded field.

MILESTONES

South Korea has won Grammys in the past in the technical and classical categories, but the award for 'Golden' was the first for a K-pop production.

South Korean media were quick to welcome the song's success in a major award category.

"'Kedehun', which has captivated the world, has triumphed at the Grammys," a Yonhap news agency headline read, using a shorthand title for the film that has been widely adopted in South Korea.

The Kyunghyang Shinmun daily noted that the Grammys had until now stopped short of honouring K-pop acts.

"The Grammys have long been seen as a conservative awards show that is not particularly open to diverse music genres, making it difficult for K-pop to break through," it said.

The Song of the Year nominations for "Golden" and "APT." were "meaningful milestones" even though they did not win, Kyunghyang said.