K-pop Breakthrough at Grammys Signals Potential First Win

The Recording Academy’s nominations for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards have created a new frontier for K-pop, elevating the genre into the awards program’s most visible fields and making a first Grammy victory for a K-pop act a realistic possibility. For the first time, recordings linked to K-pop are contenders in Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and multiple K-pop or K-pop-adjacent projects appear across major categories, signaling both industry acceptance and evolving cultural tastes.

Rosé, identified with BLACKPINK, became the first artist associated with K-pop to receive a Record of the Year nomination for her duet with Bruno Mars, "APT." The track is also up for Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Released in late 2024, "APT." debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, demonstrating commercial heft that underpins its critical recognition.

The Song of the Year field includes a second K-pop-linked entry: "Golden," credited to HUNTR/X, the fictional girl group from Netflix’s animated film KPop Demon Hunters. Performed on the soundtrack by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, "Golden" earned nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, as well as remixed recording and song written for visual media nods. The track was a chart juggernaut in 2025, becoming the first song credited to a female K-pop group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and holding the top spot on the Billboard Global 200 for 14 weeks.

This cycle also produced the first year in which two K-pop-related recordings competed in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category. Katseye, a Los Angeles based girl group formed on the Dream Academy reality series and signed to HYBE Entertainment, secured a Best New Artist nomination and a Best Pop Duo/Group Performance nod for the single "Gabriela." Their 2025 EP Beautiful Chaos peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Katseye’s multinational line up underscores the transnational nature of modern pop, with members from the United States, the Philippines, South Korea and Switzerland.

Industry observers describe the nominations as a watershed while cautioning that a win is not guaranteed. One commentator identified only as Cho said the nominations show K-pop artists are "not just performers" but songwriters and artists, arguing that the recognition signals a shift in how U.S. cultural power accommodates global creators. Tamar Herman of the Notes on K-pop newsletter noted that a relatively weak year for domestic pop in 2025 opened space for international hits to break through.

Beyond cultural symbolism, the nominations reflect broader business dynamics: streaming-driven global charts, cross-platform tie-ins such as Netflix soundtracks, and major-label strategies to cultivate multilingual, multinational audiences. The Recording Academy’s broader slate for 2026, which highlighted expanded representation and new categories, came alongside heavyweight multi-nominees such as Kendrick Lamar, underscoring that K-pop’s rise is intersecting with an already competitive awards landscape.

As the Grammys head to Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 1, 2026, the stakes are both symbolic and commercial. A K-pop win would punctuate years of global dominance with institutional recognition, affecting perceptions of artistic legitimacy, label investment strategies and the industry’s gatekeeping norms. Whether voters translate nominations into history remains to be seen, but the 2026 field has clearly moved the needle on what mainstream awards consider the leading edge of popular music.