Young K walked off with five trophies at the Korea Grand Music Awards Artist Day, TREASURE won Grand Song and BTS took Best Selling Album. Day 2 airs early Sunday.
The 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards are halfway done, and DAY6’s Young K had a very good night.
The first day of the show, called Artist Day, wrapped up Saturday, Nov. 7, at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. Young K won Grand Artist, one of the show’s top prizes, plus four more awards, according to Soompi’s winners list. TREASURE took Grand Song and three other trophies.
If you’re in the U.S., you probably slept through it. It started at 5 p.m. Korea time, which was 3 a.m. Saturday on the East Coast.
Who won the big awards at KGMA 2026 Artist Day?
The KGMA hands out daesang, the Korean term for grand prizes, across both nights. Three of them went out on Artist Day:
Grand Artist: Young K (DAY6)
Grand Song: TREASURE
Grand Honor’s Choice: RESCENE and AND2BLE
Both Soompi and Koreaboo list two winners for Grand Honor’s Choice. Neither outlet explains why the prize was split.
Young K’s five wins, per Soompi, were Grand Artist, Best Artist, Best Solo, Best OST and the coogoong Most Popular Artist award. Koreaboo’s list matches on four of those and also puts him in the Best Artist group, so it’s five any way you count it.
DAY6 fans have been waiting on this kind of night for a while. The band picked up its first daesang as a group in late 2024, nine years after its debut, GMA Network reported at the time. This time Young K, the band’s bassist and one of its singers, did it as a solo act.
Which K-pop groups won Best Artist?
The Best Artist award went to 15 acts this year, and Soompi and Koreaboo list the same names:
LUCY, RESCENE, MEOVV, BTS, BLACKPINK, Stray Kids, xikers, Young K, ALLDAY PROJECT, CORTIS, CRAVITY, CLOSE YOUR EYES, TREASURE, tripleS and P1Harmony.
That’s a big tent, with BTS and BLACKPINK sharing a list with newer groups like CORTIS and ALLDAY PROJECT.
What else did BTS, TREASURE and RESCENE win?
BTS took Best Selling Album for “ARIRANG,” which tells you the ARMY was busy at the register this year.
TREASURE’s four awards were Grand Song, Best Artist, Best Hip Hop and Trend of the Year in the group category, per Soompi. Koreaboo’s list leaves off the Trend of the Year award, so that one rests on Soompi alone for now.
RESCENE might have had the busiest night of anyone besides Young K. The girl group won Grand Honor’s Choice, Best Artist, Best Memory and the Berriz Global Fans’ Choice. Its member Woni also co-hosted the show with actress Nam Ji Hyun. On top of that, Josh Lee of The Muze Entertainment, RESCENE’s agency, won Best Producer.
Who else won at the 2026 KGMA?
Here’s the rest of the Artist Day list, as reported by Soompi and Koreaboo:
Best Band: LUCY
Best Solo: Young K and Dayoung
Best Stage: CRAVITY and FIFTY FIFTY
Best Music Video: CRAVITY
Best Dance Performance: IDID
Best Trot Performance: Jang Min Ho
IS Rising Star: AND2BLE and TUIDE
IS Rookie: NouerA
Style Icon: Dayoung
Photogenic: MADEIN
K-Wave Popularity Award: Yushi (NCT WISH)
Trend of the Year, Rookie: FLARE U
Asia Cultural Exchange Special Award: Novelbright
Novelbright is a Japanese band. Koreaboo notes that a few of these, including Style Icon and Photogenic, were announced ahead of time by the show’s official account.
When is KGMA 2026 Day 2?
Music Day, the second night, happens Sunday, Nov. 8, at 5 p.m. Korea time, back at Gocheok Sky Dome. For U.S. fans, that’s 3 a.m. Sunday Eastern, or midnight Pacific.
Actor Kim Jae Won and IVE’s Liz are set to host, according to Soompi’s awards guide. The lineup includes ATEEZ, ITZY, RIIZE, TWS, WayV, KISS OF LIFE, Hearts2Hearts, SHINee’s Minho and Yena, among others.
The rest of the grand prizes, Grand Record and Grand Performer, should go out that night. We’ll know by breakfast Sunday who took them.
What is the Korea Grand Music Awards?
The KGMA is one of the newer K-pop award shows. It was created by the Korean sports and entertainment paper Ilgan Sports, and the first one was held in November 2024 at Inspire Arena in Incheon.
Nam Ji Hyun has hosted all three years. She worked with Hanni and Winter in 2024 and Irene and Natty in 2025. This year she shared the Artist Day stage with Woni, whose group went home with a pile of trophies.
Did your favorite win, or are you holding out for Music Day?
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Soompi (Nov. 7, 2026), the Artist Day winners list
Soompi (Oct. 29, 2026), show dates, hosts and the Music Day lineup
Koreaboo (Nov. 7, 2026), its winners list and pre-announced awards
GMA Network (Nov. 2024), DAY6’s first daesang
Wikipedia, KGMA history, past venues and hosts
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