G-Dragon dominates 2025 Melon Music Awards with seven wins
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South Korean singer-rapper G-Dragon during a concert in Hanoi, Vietnam, in November 2025.
PHOTO: XXXIBGDRGN/INSTAGRAM
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SEOUL – G-Dragon emerged as the biggest winner of the 2025 Melon Music Awards, sweeping seven trophies – including all three grand prizes – at the annual ceremony held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Dec 20.
Hosted by Kakao Entertainment’s music platform Melon and sponsored by KakaoBank, the 17th edition of the awards drew more than 18,000 fans. A total of 29 categories were presented, along with large-scale performances showcasing 2025’s most influential artistes and releases.
The night firmly belonged to G-Dragon, who won Artist of the Year, KakaoBank Album of the Year and Song of the Year, in addition to Top 10, Millions Top 10, best male solo artist and best songwriter.
His third album Ubermensch, released in February, surpassed one million streams within four hours of release, becoming the fastest solo album to enter Melon’s “Millions Album” Hall of Fame.
Home Sweet Home, featuring fellow BigBang members Taeyang and Daesung, was named Song of the Year.
Accepting the Album of the Year award, G-Dragon said: “I tried many things for the first time, so the album took a long time to make. I titled it Ubermensch partly because it sounded strong, but for me, it was more like a personal mantra – a wish to keep pushing beyond myself.”
He went on to thank fans, his BigBang bandmates, family, friends and colleagues, calling the year deeply meaningful.
Jennie, from girl group Blackpink, won Record of the Year for her first solo album, Ruby, released in March. Its lead track, Like Jennie, entered Melon’s Top 100 immediately upon release and has remained on the chart for 10 months.
The rookie of the year award was jointly awarded to co-ed group Allday Project and girl group Hearts2Hearts.
Allday Project debuted in June and made headlines when its first single Famous topped Melon’s Top 100 just three days after release, the fastest ascent by a debut song since the chart’s 2021 revamp.
Hearts2Hearts cemented its rise with three releases – The Chase, Style and Focus – all of which performed strongly on Melon’s Top 100 and Hot 100 charts.
In the popularity-based best artiste categories, Blackpink’s Rose was named best female solo artist for her album Rosie.
Ive claimed the best female group accolade following the success of Rebel Heart, which topped Melon’s monthly chart in February. BoyNextDoor was named best male group for their hit break-up anthem If I Say, I Love You.
Best OST went to Golden by Huntrix from the Netflix hit film KPop Demon Hunters, while Ed Sheeran won best pop artist for his May album Play.
G-Dragon closed the night with performances of Drama, Home Sweet Home and Crooked. The final moments of his performance – dancing among fellow artistes including Allday Project and Zico – became one of the ceremony’s most talked-about scenes. KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
