“Golden” from the KPop Demon Hunter soundtrack breaks into the top 10 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart making it just the sixth K-pop song ever to reach that tier. ELMONT, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 07: (L-R) Audrey Nuna, EJAE, REI AMI of HUNTR/X from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ and May Hong attend the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 07, 2025 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
FilmMagic
It’s not unusual for some of the biggest names in K-pop to reach the Billboard charts any longer. The most celebrated and famous groups — and even several soloists — have been able to land on a number of tallies focused on general consumption and sales.
The stars typically perform best when it comes to purchases, as fans can directly impact where a song or album lands on the Billboard lists. Streams are also important, although purchases have largely fueled the K-pop surge in America.
Radio is the final frontier for most K-pop acts. Scoring a hit on the airwaves in the United States is expensive and difficult and requires not only a large promotional team, but also buy-in from programmers and DJs at many different stations. Even some of the most successful K-pop artists in America have yet to crack one of Billboard’s radio lists, or to land a major win.
After dominating multiple tallies, “Golden,” the biggest smash from the KPop Demon Hunter soundtrack, finally reaches the top 10 on an American airplay list.
“Golden” Breaks Into the Top 10
“Golden” climbs again on the Pop Airplay chart, the list of the 40 most successful tunes across pop radio stations in the U.S. “Golden” rises from No. 12 to No. 10, entering the highest tier for the first time.
“Golden” Joins BTS and Rosé
As it lifts, “Golden” becomes just the sixth top 10 hit on the Pop Airplay chart by any K-pop act. Now that the tune has settled at No. 10, it is tied with “Gangnam Style” by Psy. Blackpink singer Rosé earned the first No. 1 among all K-pop stars with “Apt.” alongside Bruno Mars. BTS comes next with “Dynamite” and “Butter,” which stalled at Nos. 5 and 7, respectively. Fellow K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty bolted all the way to seventh place with “Cupid” several years back.
More Radio Gains for “Golden”
“Golden” reaches the top 10 on any of Billboard’s radio lists for the first time this week. The song also climbs to new highs on both the Adult Pop Airplay and the general, all-format Radio Songs rankings this week, improving to Nos. 17 and 24, respectively.
“Golden” Reaches the Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart
“Golden” debuts on another radio-focused roster this frame, as it opens at No. 33 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. The cut had first become a pop win, and then successful enough to appear on the overall Radio Songs roster, and now it’s being pushed to more electronic- and dance-minded stations – and it is a quick top 40 success.
“Golden” is Still Leading the Hot 100
“Golden” was able to conquer the Hot 100 even without airplay, which is one of the three consumption metrics that factors into where a tune lands on the competitive tally. The KPop Demon Hunter smash leads the Hot 100 for a fourth non-consecutive turn at the moment, and also holds steady in first place on both the Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales rankings, which also play a role in where a cut appears on the most important songs list.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2025/09/11/the-biggest-kpop-demon-hunters-song-finally-becomes-a-top-10-radio-smash/
