^{Credit: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation)} 

“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters has won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 68th Grammy Awards. Park Hong Jun, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Ejae, and Mark Sonnenblick shared in the win for "Golden," which features vocals from Huntrix (Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami). “Golden” competed against three songs from Sinners, including “I Lied to You.” “Golden” and “I Lied to You” were both recently nominated for Best Original Song at the 98th Academy Awards. They previously competed against each other at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards, with “Golden” coming out on top in both cases. Its Grammy win further solidifies “Golden” as the Oscar frontrunner, although the fact that Sinners got a record-breaking sixteen Academy Award nominations could give “I Lied to You” a boost.

Even so, “Golden” seems undeniable as far as the Oscars go. Sinners didn't go home empty-handed at the Grammys, however. Ryan Coogler's film beat KPop Demon Hunters for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. Of its five Grammy nominations, KPop Demon Hunters only managed to win one. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to "Defying Gravity" (Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande) from Wicked. Best Remixed Recording and Non-Classical went to "Abracadabra" (Gesaffelstein Remix). Song of the Year went to "Wildflower" (Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell). Although “Golden” led the odds on sites like Gold Derby in the latter category, Eilish and O'Connell won Song of the Year for a record third time. 

^{Credit: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation)} 

Only two tunes from animated films have ever won the Song of the Year Grammy. In 1988, Song of the Year went to "Somewhere Out There" from Don Bluth’s An American Tail. Six years later, "A Whole New World" from Aladdin took home Song of the Year, much to the surprise of co-writer Alan Menken. "A Whole New World" wasn’t performed on that year’s Grammy telecast, hence why Menken didn’t see the win coming. The following year, “Circle of Life” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King were nominated for Song of the Year, but they both lost to Bruce Springsteen’s "Streets of Philadelphia."

After that, more than thirty years passed without any songs from animated films showing up in this category. Even with hits like “Let It Go,” “Happy,” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” seemingly nothing could break through in Song of the Year until “Golden” started dominating the charts. After “A Whole New World” won, the Recording Academy created a review committee for the “Big Four” categories, restricting the number of members who could decide on the Song of the Year nominees. The review committee was disbanded in 2021, perhaps reopening the door to animation.

Although KPop Demon Hunters didn’t become the third animated film to inspire a Song of the Year recipient, “Golden” is still a Grammy winner. Huntrix joins a select group of fictional music acts to be recognized at the Grammys. Alvin and the Chipmunks got a Record of the Year nomination for “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)” in 1959. In 2006, the virtual band Gorillaz won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Feel Good Inc."  “Nobody Like U,” performed by 4*Town from Turning Red, got nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2023. Beyond animation, “Golden” is also the first K-pop song to win a Grammy in any category. 

In other animation news, Kris Bowers' work on The Wild Robot was nominated for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, losing to Ludwig Göransson for Sinners. Pharrell Williams' Lego documentary Piece by Piece lost Best Music Film to Music by John Williams. 

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!