“Golden,” the hit song from KPop Demon Hunters, has added another major honor to its awards run, winning best original song at the 2026 World Soundtrack Awards.

The prize was presented Saturday, Oct. 10, during the annual WSA Ceremony & Concert at Film Fest Gent, Belgium’s biggest international film festival. The victory follows a packed previous winter for “Golden,” which won a Golden Globe, a Grammy and an Oscar, among other awards.

Written by Kim Eun-jae, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park, “Golden” is performed by HUNTR/X members EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI. Beyond its awards performance, the song spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Golden” Tops a Strong Original-Song Field

The KPop Demon Hunters track prevailed over four other nominated songs. Its competition included “House” from Wuthering Heights, written by Charli xcx, John Cale, Nathan Klein and Finn Keane and performed by Charli xcx and Cale.

Also nominated were “No Place Like Home” from Wicked: For Good, written by Stephen Schwartz and performed by Cynthia Erivo; “Stolen Tale” from Hedda, written by Hildur Guðnadóttir and Nia DaCosta and performed by Mariam Wallentin; and “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams, written by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner and performed by Cave.

KPop Demon Hunters also appeared in the public choice category, where Marcelo Zarvos was listed for the project. That award ultimately went to Kevin Smithers’ score for Soy Frankelda.

Daniel Pemberton and Jeff Russo Take Composer Honors

British composer Daniel Pemberton was named film composer of the year for his work on Project Hail Mary, The Drama, The Bad Guys 2 and Masters of the Universe. His fellow nominees were Alexandre Desplat, Jonny Greenwood, Hildur Guðnadóttir and Max Richter.

Jeff Russo received the television composer of the year award for Alien: Earth, Cape Fear and the second season of Citadel. The category also included David Fleming, Finneas O’Connell, Martin Phipps and Benji Merrison, and Dave Porter.

Hannah Peel earned discovery of the year for Midwinter Break, while Xabier Doural García won best original composition by a young composer.

In the remaining competitive categories, Nicolas Garcia won the game music award for Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss. Margaret Hermant was named Belgian film composer of the year for A la cara (Nothing Personal) and Mallorca Confidencial.

Trevor Jones received the lifetime achievement award.

A Three-Day Celebration of Screen Music

The World Soundtrack Awards capped three days of activity at Music Centre De Bijloke in the historic heart of Ghent. International film and film-music professionals gathered for talks, workshops and masterclasses focused on the craft of composing music for film.

The final day concluded with the awards ceremony and a live concert featuring selected music by WSA guest of honor Hildur Guðnadóttir and lifetime achievement recipient Trevor Jones. Brussels Philharmonic performed the program under conductor Dirk Brossé.

ShowBiz Take

“Golden” entered the World Soundtrack Awards with an established record of both awards recognition and chart success, but its latest win further underlines the song’s reach. An eight-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 already demonstrated its commercial impact; victories at the Golden Globes, Grammys and Oscars showed its strength with major awards bodies.

The World Soundtrack Award now places the song alongside honorees spanning film, television and game music at an event devoted specifically to music for the screen. For KPop Demon Hunters, the result also gives “Golden” a clear victory even as the project’s score fell short in the separate public choice race.

With seven credited songwriters and a performance by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, “Golden” continues to turn its broad team effort into a remarkably sustained awards haul.