HUNTR/X slays/sleighs all competition on Billboard’s all-format Radio Songs chart (dated Jan. 3, 2026), as “Golden” rises a spot to No. 1. The smash drew 58.3 million in airplay audience, up 2% week-over-week, Dec. 19-25, according to Luminate, with stations monitored by Mediabase.
Notably, the song is the first associated with K-pop (Korean pop) to rule the ranking. Previously for the genre, ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” held the mark (No. 4 peak in February).
“Golden” previously led the Pop Airplay chart for three weeks beginning in November. It has totaled eight weeks at No. 1 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, from mid-August through mid-October; 18 weeks atop the Billboard Global 200; and a record-tying 19 weeks in charge of the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.
The anthem is by the singing trio of EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, in the roles of heroines Rumi, Mira and Zoey from Netflix’s record-hauling animated film KPop Demon Hunters. The movie’s soundtrack, on Visva/Republic, has crowned the Billboard 200 for two weeks and spent its first 27 weeks and counting in the top 10.
“‘Golden’ has truly become a defining pop moment, an instant lean-in, turn-it-up track,” Alex Tear, vp of music programming for SiriusXM and Pandora, told Billboard upon its Pop Airplay coronation.
Thanks to the movie’s wide reach, Tear added of “Golden,” “There’s that immediate familiarity and big emotion that just hits.”
“Up, up, up,” REI AMI marveled when “Golden” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100.
The track holds off a festive flurry of holiday hits on Radio Songs, as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” surges to a new No. 6 best and two fellow Yuletide classics reach the top 10 for the first time: José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” (22-8) and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (26-9).
All charts dated Jan. 3 will update tomorrow, Dec. 30, on Billboard.com.
