“Golden” Holds Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 Spot… Dominates Global Charts

The Netflix animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters’ OST track “Golden” has secured the No. 2 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

On the 19th (KST), Billboard announced this week’s Hot 100 Top 10, revealing that “Golden” had dropped one spot from last week’s No. 1 to rank at No. 2. Just a week earlier, on the 11th, Billboard reported that “Golden” had reached the top, beating out Alex Warren’s “Ordinary.”

Additionally, Billboard reported that on the same date “Golden” claimed No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, while K-Pop Demon Hunters impressively placed four songs within the Top 5 of the global rankings.

The Billboard Hot 100 combines U.S. streaming figures, radio airplay, and sales data. During the latest tracking week, “Golden” recorded 31.7 million streams, up 9% from the previous week, while radio audience impressions rose 71% to 8.4 million, and sales increased 35% to 7,000 copies. The track entered the Hot 100 last month at No. 81 and steadily climbed to No. 23, No. 6, and No. 4, before peaking at No. 2 — and ultimately reaching the summit in its 7th week.

Following the achievement, Lee Jae, who performed “Golden”, shared a screenshot of the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 ranking on the 12th (KST), writing: “I’m at a loss for words. All I can do is cry. Thank you to everyone who has shown love and support.”

“Golden” also topped the UK Official Singles Chart Top 100 on the 1st, one of the world’s two major charts alongside Billboard, making history by conquering both simultaneously.

The song is performed by Huntreex, a fictional K-pop girl group. It was created by Korean-American artists: former SM Entertainment trainee and songwriter Lee Jae, singer Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami. All three are of Korean descent. Billboard introduced them by noting: “Huntreex’s real-life singers, Lee Jae and Rei Ami, were born in Seoul, South Korea, while Audrey Nuna hails from New Jersey.” Lee Jae also took part in composing and writing the lyrics for “Golden.”

Written by Yoon Sang Geun

Translated by Lee So Yun