“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters won best original song at the 2026 Golden Globes, which were presented Sunday (Jan. 11) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The fizzy smash is the first song from an animated film to win at the Globes since Prince’s “The Song of the Heart” from Happy Feet, which won in 2007.
HUNTR/X’s recording of “Golden” logged eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Only one other song that topped the Hot 100 for eight or more weeks went on to win the Globe: “You Light Up My Life” from the 1977 film of the same name. The Joseph Brooks song was a 10-week Hot 100 leader for Debby Boone.
The Globes credited “Golden” to composers Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Park Hong Jun and lyricists Kim Eun-Jae (EJAE) and Mark Sonnenblick. EJAE also popularized the song as a member of HUNTR/X (along with Audrey Nuna and REI AMI).
EJAE and Sonnenblick accepted the award at the ceremony. EJAE’s speech was highly personal. “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,” she said. “My voice wasn’t good enough and so I leaned on songs and music to get through it. Now I’m here as a singer and songwriter, so it’s a dream come true to be part of a song that is helping other girls and other boys and everyone of all ages to get through their hardship and to accept themselves.”
Ludwig Göransson’s music for Sinners won best original score. It’s the Swedish composer’s second win in that category in the last three years. He won two years ago for Oppenheimer. Göransson is the first composer to win in this category twice inside of three years since Justin Hurwitz won for La La Land in 2017 and First Man in 2019.
Both “Golden” and Sinners won in those same categories a week ago at the Critics Choice Awards. Having won at both shows, history suggests they are very likely to also prevail at the Oscars.
Of the 11 previous songs to win at both the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, nine went on to win the Oscar. They are “The Weary Kind,” “Skyfall,” “Glory,” “City of Stars,” “Shallow,” “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again),” “No Time to Die,” “Naatu Naatu” and “El Mal.”
Of the 17 previous scores to win at both shows, 12 went on to win the Oscar. They are The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Slumdog Millionaire, Up, The Social Network, The Artist, The Hateful Eight, La La Land, The Shape of Water, Joker, Soul, Dune and Oppenheimer.
“Golden” and Sinners were both shortlisted in those categories at the Oscars. This year’s Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22. The awards will be presented on March 15.
The award for best original score wasn’t presented on the Globes telecast; the winner was just mentioned following a commercial break. The score award wasn’t presented last weekend on the Critics Choice Awards either, just mentioned in a cluster of non-televised awards.
The Golden Globes are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
