ATEEZ, RIIZE, and ITZY claimed top honors on November 8 at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) Music Day held at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
The second day of the ceremony was hosted by Kim Jae Won and IVE member Liz. ATEEZ secured the Grand Record prize alongside wins for Best Music and Best Stage, marking the group’s third consecutive year taking home a grand award since the event was established in 2024.
Daesang winners at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards: Grand Artist: Young K Grand Honor's Choice: ITZY, AND2BLE, KiiiKiii, RESCENE Grand Performer: RIIZE Grand Record: ATEEZ Grand Song: TREASURE pic.twitter.com/nTc9N68eZU
RIIZE collected two trophies, including Grand Performer and Best Music. ITZY led group totals with five awards overall, combining two group recognitions for Grand Honor’s Choice and Best Music with three individual wins.
ITZY member Yuna was named Best Solo Performance and received the coogoong Most Popular Artist award for Music Day, while groupmate Ryujin was recognized as Trend of the Year Female Solo. KiiiKiii shared the Grand Honor’s Choice daesang with ITZY and also won Best Streaming Song.
The Best Music category recognized a broad roster of acts. Recipients included ALPHA DRIVE ONE, AHOF, WayV, aespa, NMIXX, Yena, KickFlip, TWS, Hearts2Hearts, IVE, Minho (SHINee), and Shownu x Hyungwon (MONSTA X).
Additional winners included MONSTA X for Best Group, Minho and Yena for Best Solo, Billlie for Best Dance Performance, and ATEEZ and KISS OF LIFE for Best Stage. Park Ji Hyeon won both Best Trot Stage and Best Adult Contemporary, while TOUCHED took Best Band.
TREASURE wins their first-ever Daesang for '2026 Grand song' at the Korean Grand Music Awards, and makes history as the 1ST Male Artist to win the award! πͺπ₯π¨βπ€π₯π°π·πππ₯ππππππππππ©΅ TREASURE KGMA GRAND SONG #TREASUREat2026KGMA #2026KGMA #TREASURE #νΈλ μ β¦
NEXZ earned Best Global K-Pop Star and the Hulu Japan Popularity Award. TWS received the ENA K-Pop Artist honor and Best Fabulous, while KISS OF LIFE also collected the Style Icon award.
Host Liz won Best OST for Princess Catch!
Doh Kyung Soo received Best Listener’s Pick for Guitarist. WayV accepted the Asia Cultural Exchange Special Award, and AEN was named K-Pop Overseas Artist.
π Congratulations YENA for winning βBest Music (Bonsang)β at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards.
Other category victors included IVE as Best Trend Setter, Hearts2Hearts as Global Hot Star, and Xinlong (ALPHA DRIVE ONE) for the Popularity Award. Shinyu (TWS) was named Trend of the Year Male Solo.
The two-day music celebration organized by the Korea Grand Music Awards Organising Committee began with Artist Day on November 7 at the same venue in Seoul’s Guro District. Nam Ji-hyun and RESCENE member Woni hosted the opening program, which brought out numerous celebrities for the red carpet and recognized prominent acts from the entertainment industry.
During Artist Day, Young K of DAY6 secured multiple honors, including Best Artist, Best Solo (Male), Coogoong Most Popular Artist, and the Grand Artist Daesang, alongside winning Best O.S.T for The Season Has Returned
from the SBS drama My Royal Nemesis.
RESCENE likewise took home Best Artist, Berriz Global Fan’s Choice, Best Memory, and the Grand Honour’s Choice Daesang.
Group AND2BLE also received the Grand Honour's Choice Daesang alongside RESCENE, winning a grand title just 165 days after their debut and becoming the fastest fifth-generation boy group to do so. TREASURE added to the major awards by claiming the Grand Song Daesang, while also winning Best Hip-Hop.
π Congratulations RIIZE for winning βBest Music (Bonsang)β at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards.
BTS secured two awards during the initial announcements via official social media channels, winning Best Artist alongside BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, and CORTIS. The group’s fifth full-length album, ARIRANG,
was named Best Selling Album.
Additional Artist Day winners included LUCY for Best Band, Dayoung for Style Icon, NCT Wish member Yushi for the Hallyu Popularity Award through global fan support, and Flare U for Trend of the Year Rookie. The first day’s lineup also featured appearances by ALLDAY PROJECT, MEOVV, CLOSE YOUR EYES, tripleS, xikers, P1Harmony, CRAVITY, Novelbright, and Jang Min Ho.
Boy group IDID captured the best dance performance trophy on Artist Day, marking their second consecutive year winning at the event after taking home the IS Rising Star rookie award at the 2025 KGMA.
Leader Jang Yonghoon expressed gratitude at the ceremony, and the group performed a newly arranged version of FLY!
followed by a cover stage of NCT 127’s Cherry Bomb.
Following their KGMA appearance, IDID scheduled performances for the 2026 Melon Music Awards on the 14th and the Asia Artist Awards at Taiwan’s Kaohsiung National Stadium on December 5 and 6.
Rookie girl group TUIDE earned their first rookie trophy, the IS Rising Star award, approximately two and a half months following their debut. Comprising Seo-hee, Seo-yeon, Elena, Jia, Saki, Se-ah, and Lee Ha-nee, TUIDE debuted on August 24 with their first mini-album [TUNE & PLAY]
and performed the B-track GRLS
and title track SUN KISS
during the event.
TUIDE’s debut album achieved a spot in the top 10 for all-time first-week sales for K-pop girl group debut albums, with all tracks entering Melon’s Hot 100 and Apple Music’s Today’s Top 100: South Korea.
The single SUN KISS
maintained the top position on Apple Music for 18 consecutive days, while the group topped the U.S. Billboard Emerging Artists chart, stayed on subsidiary charts like World Albums for three consecutive weeks, and received Billboard’s K-Pop Rookie of the Month honor for September.