‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ OST ‘Golden’ captivates U.K. and U.S. audiences, achieves historic No. 1

Members of Huntr/x, the popular girl group featured in the Netflix animated film “K-Pop Demon Hunters.” / Courtesy of Netflix

The original soundtrack (OST) track “Golden” from the Netflix animated film “K-Pop Demon Hunters” topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the main singles chart, on August 11 (local time). This follows its No. 1 debut on the U.K.’s Official Singles Top 100 on August 1. With this, “Golden” has made history as the first song to simultaneously reach the top of both major global pop charts, signaling that K-pop, once driven primarily by fandom, has now entered the Western cultural mainstream.

Billboard reported in its chart preview that “Golden,” performed by fictional K-pop girl group Huntr/x in “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” had climbed one spot from the previous week to claim the No. 1 position. The song first entered the Hot 100 at No. 81 in early July, then rose steadily from No. 23 to No. 6, then to No. 4, and to No. 2 before finally reaching the top.

The Hot 100 rankings are calculated based on a combination of streaming data, radio airplay, and sales. During the most recent tracking week, “Golden” saw a 9 percent increase in streams, reaching 31.7 million plays. Radio airplay totaled 8.4 million audience impressions, while sales were recorded at 7,000 copies.

A No. 1 on the Hot 100 carries particular weight. To date, the only K-pop acts to reach the top of the chart have been K-pop boy band BTS and its members Jimin and Jungkook. BTS has achieved six No. 1 singles in total, including collaborations with foreign artists, while Jimin and Jungkook have each topped the chart once as soloists. Huntr/x is the first K-pop female act to claim the No. 1 spot. While girl group BLACKPINK has placed ten tracks (as a group) on the Hot 100, they have never reached No. 1.

Dominating both the U.K. and U.S. charts is especially rare, as the two countries have traditionally had very different musical tastes. Even legendary acts like the U.K.’s Queen or Sweden’s ABBA struggled to hold both markets at once. Pop music critic Kim Yoon-ha said, “In the long history of pop, simultaneous success in both countries is hard to achieve. While globalization has made their charts more aligned than before, only artists who define an era can pull it off.”

The fact that “K-Pop Demon Hunters” was produced by Sony Pictures in the U.S. and released globally on Netflix has sparked debate over whether its OST songs qualify as “K-pop.” However, there is broad consensus that they fall under a “broad definition of K-pop.” The title itself, “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” and the musical style, which differs from conventional Western pop, lead local audiences to clearly perceive “Golden” as K-pop. Producers from The Black Label, founded by Teddy, participated in the songwriting and choreography, and the song’s structure, arrangement, and vocal style are considered distinctly K-pop. Billboard said, “‘Golden’ is the ninth song associated with Korean pop to conquer the Hot 100 — and the first by female lead vocalists.”

The three performers of “Golden,” EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI, are all Korean Americans. According to Billboard, EJAE and REI AMI were born in Seoul, Korea, while Audrey Nuna hails from New Jersey, U.S. EJAE, who voices the character Rumi in Huntr/x and also contributed to composing the track, is a former SM Entertainment trainee.

Cultural critic Kim Heon-sik commented, “What matters is not just being No. 1 now, but how to sustain this K-pop momentum going forward. We can also look forward to potential synergy with BTS’s return next spring.” There is even speculation that “Golden” could contend for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, as well as recognition at the Grammy Awards, considered the world’s most prestigious music honors.

※This article was translated by an AI tool and edited by a professional translator.

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