Golden from KPop Demon Hunters tops music charts in US, Britain
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The song Golden has climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart.
PHOTO: SONY PICTURES ANIMATION/FACEBOOK
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Golden has climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, beating American singer Alex Warren’s song Ordinary (2025) for the top spot, according to Billboard magazine on Aug 11.
Golden is performed by singers Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami as the fictional K-pop girl group Huntrix in KPop Demon Hunters.
Huntrix comprise Rumi, Zooey and Mira, voiced by actresses Arden Cho, Yoo Ji-young and May Hong respectively in the film.
This marks the ninth song associated with South Korean pop to reach the highest spot on the chart, and the first by female lead vocalists.
Golden joins songs like Seven (2023) by singer Jungkook and Like Crazy (2023) by singer Jimin, both of K-pop boy band BTS, on the list.
Huntrix are also the first all-women group of three or more members to top the Billboard Hot 100 since American girl group Destiny’s Child did so with Bootylicious for two weeks in August 2001, according to Billboard.
The Billboard Hot 100 ranks the most popular songs in the United States based on streaming, radio airplay and sales data.
After debuting at No. 81 in early July, Golden has steadily risen through the ranks, climbing to No. 23, then No. 6, No. 4 and No. 2 before finally reaching the highest spot.
(From left) Yoo Ji-young, Arden Cho and May Hong, at a special screening of KPop Demon Hunters at the Netflix Tudum Theatre in Los Angeles in June, voice the film’s fictional K-pop girl group Huntrix.
PHOTO: AFP
The hit song is also the first No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart by any fictional act since the ensemble, We Don’t Talk About Bruno (2021), which reigned for five weeks in February and March 2022, Billboard added.
We Don’t Talk About Bruno was a song from Disney animated musical film Encanto (2021) and performed by some of the film’s voice cast members.
Earlier in August, Golden climbed to No. 1 on the British Official Singles Chart Top 100, which ranks Britain’s biggest songs of the week, based on audio and video streams, downloads, CDs and vinyl, compiled by Official Charts.
It marked the first K-pop act to reach the top position since South Korean rapper Psy topped the chart with Gangnam Style in 2012.
“It represents another landmark moment for the globally dominating South Korean genre,” Mr Martin Talbot, chief executive of Official Charts, said in an article published on the company’s website on Aug 1. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
