BTS.
BTS, Blackpink, Stray Kids and CORTIS Win Best Artist at 2026 KGMA as DAY6's Young K Takes Grand Artist

SEOUL, South Korea — K-pop's biggest names were among the winners on the opening night of the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards. DAY6's Young K swept the evening with five trophies, including the Grand Artist prize.

Hosted by Nam Ji Hyun and RESCENE's Woni, the ARTIST DAY ceremony was held Nov. 7 at Gocheok Sky Dome.

Young K leads

Young K won five awards including Grand Artist, while TREASURE won four awards including Grand Song. RESCENE also took four awards including Grand Honor's Choice, and their producer Josh Lee won Best Producer.

Young K also won Best OST for "Season of Us" from the "My Royal Nemesis" soundtrack.

Daesang winners

The grand prizes went to:

2026 Grand Artist: Young K 2026 Grand Song: TREASURE 2026 Grand Honor's Choice: RESCENE and AND2BLE

Best Artist winners

The night's most crowded category featured several global stars. Best Artist went to LUCY, RESCENE, MEOVV, BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, xikers, Young K, ALLDAY PROJECT, CORTIS, CRAVITY, CLOSE YOUR EYES, TREASURE, tripleS and P1Harmony.

BTS added a sales honor. The group won Best Selling Album for "ARIRANG."

Other winners

RESCENE won Best Memory and the Berriz Global Fans' Choice award. IS Rising Star went to AND2BLE and TUIDE, and NouerA won IS Rookie.

LUCY took Best Band, and Jang Min Ho won Best Trot Performance. TREASURE won Trend of the Year (Group), and FLARE U won Trend of the Year (Rookie).

Day 2 still to come

The festival continues with its second ceremony. IVE's Liz and actor Kim Jae Won host Day 2. The "Music Day" lineup on Nov. 8 features 20 trending artists including ATEEZ, ITZY, RIIZE, SHINee's Minho and WayV.

About the KGMA

The 2026 edition is the third annual Korea Grand Music Awards.

Last year's show was dominated by one group. In 2025, Stray Kids won Grand Record and Grand Honor's Choice on Day 2, and IVE won Grand Song.

Results from Music Day, including the Grand Record and remaining daesang prizes, are expected after Sunday night's ceremony.