Oscars crossover hit
The K‑pop track “Golden,” from an Oscar‑winning indie film, climbed to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 — a striking crossover for international indie cinema. (outlookindia.com) Its chart rise underscores how indie film soundtracks are increasingly breaking into mainstream charts. (outlookindia.com)
Netflix’s animated musical KPop Demon Hunters — released June 20, 2025 — took home Best Animated Feature at the 98th Academy Awards while its centerpiece song “Golden” won Best Original Song at the ceremony in mid‑March 2026. (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com) The Best Original Song credit lists EJAE (Kim Eun‑jae), Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu‑Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park among its writers. (abcnews.com) Vocals on the record were recorded by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI performing as the film’s fictional girl group HUNTR/X (the characters Rumi, Mira and Zoey). (en.wikipedia.org) Earlier in its run, “Golden” spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a run that made it the first soundtrack single in roughly a decade to dominate the chart that long. (billboard.com) Luminate‑tracked performance from Sept. 12–18, 2025 showed the track amassed 32.1 million U.S. streams, 30.6 million radio audience impressions and 7,000 sales in a single tracking week, figures repeatedly cited in industry coverage. (kedglobal.com) The film’s full soundtrack reached the Billboard 200 top 10 (peaking at No. 10) and sustained a 39‑week presence on album charts, while at one point four songs from the soundtrack appeared inside the Hot 100 top ten simultaneously. (koreajoongangdaily.joins.com) HUNTR/X performed “Golden” live at the Oscars on March 15, 2026, and the group’s acceptance moment included a widely reported incident in which EJAE’s speech was cut short onstage. (consequence.net)
