The countdown has officially begun! The 2026 Golden Disc Awards are set to kick off in less than an hour, with the red carpet event slated to commence at 5 pm KST (1:30 pm IST). The main ceremony of the 40th Golden Disc Awards with Upbit will begin at 6:30 pm KST (3 pm IST) at the Taipei Dome, the larges indoor venue in the city.
GDAs, hailed as the oldest, most fair and prestigious award ceremony, will be hosted by Sung Si Kyung and actress Mun Ka Young (or Moon Ga Young). Marking the four-decade celebration of the awards series that inaugurated in 1986, the 40th GDAs will filter out the best contributions to the K-pop scene between November 2024 and November 2025.
Trend-setting icons like BLACKPINK’s Jennie, MONSTA X, IVE, ENHYPEN, Stray Kids, ZEROBASEONE, LE SSERAFIM, NCT WISH, CORTIS, CLOSE YOUR EYES and more will be seen taking the lead as the evening’s performing artists. Meanwhile, K-drama stars Byeon Woo Seok, Ahn Hyo Seop and Song Joong Ki will take the stage as award presenters, alongside Taiwanese celebrities Jolin and Hsu Kuang Han.
The 2026 Golden Disc Awards were livestreamed via Naver CHZZK in Korea, ABEMA in Japan, TVBS and Disney+ in Taiwan and PRIZM for global streaming. Here’s how the evening unfolded in Taiwan.
2026 Golden Disc Awards winners list
Best Digital Song (Bonsang / Main Prize)
- BOYNEXTDOOR for “I Love You”
- LE SSERAFIM for “Hot”
- ALLDAY PROJECT for “Famous”
- BLACKPINK’s Rose for “toxic till the end”
- BLACKPINK’s Jennie for “like Jennie”
- BLACKPINK for “Jump”
- ZO ZAZZ
- aespa for “Dirty Work”
- IVE for “Rebel Heart”
- G-Dragon for “Home Sweet Home”
Best Album (Bonsang / Main Prize)
- NCT WISH for “Color”
- ATEEZ for “Golden Hour: Part 2”
- IVE for “IVE EMPATHY”
- RIIZE for “Odyssey”
- Stray Kids for “Karma”
- G-Dragon for “Ubermensch”
- ZEROBASEONE for “Never Say Never
- TOMORROW X TOGETHER for “The Star Chapter: Together”
- SEVENTEEN for “Happy Burstday”
- ENHYPEN for “Desire: Unleash”
Golden Choice
- ARrC
- CLOSE YOUR EYES
Next Generation: KiiiKiii
Cosmopolitan Artist Award: IVE
Rookie Artist of the Year
- CORTIS
- ALLDAY PROJECT
Global Impact Award: BLACKPINK’s Jennie
Best Performance: izna
Naver AI Choice (Artist that was best at embodying the chic quality on the red carpet, as per AI analysis): BOYNEXTDOOR
Golden Disc Upbit Most Popular Artist Award – Male: BTS’ Jin
Golden Disc Upbit Most Popular Artist Award – Female: Hearts2Hearts
Best Group: MONSTA X
2026 Golden Disc Awards Grand Prize / Daesang
Artist of the Year: BLACKPINK’s Jennie
Song of the Year: “Home Sweet Home (ft Taeyang, Daesung)” by G-Dragona
Album of the Year: “Karma” by Stray Kids
40th Golden Disc Awards red carpet
In order of arrival:
- CORTIS
- ALLDAY PROJECT
- CLOSE YOUR EYES
- KiiiKiii
- ZO ZAZZ
- izna
- ARrC
- NCT WISH
- TWS
- ZEROBASEONE
- BOYNEXTDOOR
- LE SSERAFIM
- IVE
- ENHYPEN
- ATEEZ
- BLACKPINK’s Jennie
- MONSTA X
- Hosts Sung Si Kyun and Moon Ga Young
In Korea, network channels JTBC2 and JTBC4 will also air a delayed broadcast of the show at 2 pm KST on January 17, 2026.
This is a developing / live story. Please refresh for more updates. More announcement will follow soon.