ATEEZ, ITZY, and KiiiKiii leave KGMA Music Day with different kinds of momentum
On Music Day at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards, ATEEZ extended a three-year Grand run, ITZY stacked group and solo trophies, and KiiiKiii took streaming credit for “404.”
Mina Park
Music Day at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards gave ATEEZ, ITZY, and KiiiKiii three different kinds of wins. The second night of the ceremony ran November 8 at Gocheok Sky Dome, hosted by actor Kim Jae-won and IVE’s Liz.
ATEEZ took Grand Record, Best Music, and Best Stage. Grand Record is the album-and-achievement daesang, and it extends a streak that started when KGMA launched in 2024: Grand Honors Choice that first year, Grand Artist in 2025, Grand Record now. On stage they thanked ATINY for eight years and said they would take the award as a push to make better music, not as a finish. The year already supported that claim. GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5 opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in July, their third chart-topper. They closed Music Day with Drip, BAD, and Adrenaline, then looked ahead to GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6 on November 13 and a Zero to All world tour that starts in Incheon in January 2027.
ITZY’s haul stretched further. The group won Grand Honor’s Choice and Best Music. Yuna added Best Solo Performance and the Kugung Most Popular Artist award for Music Day. Ryujin took Trend of the Year in the female solo category. That is five trophies across the group and two members, the most among these three acts. The year behind them already had both a full-group JYP renewal in September 2025 and the Tunnel Vision world tour, which opened in Seoul in February and ran through Asia, Australia, and New Zealand into mid-year. They performed That’s Nono with a large dance crew. The night made room for the five as a unit and for Yuna and Ryujin on their own.
KiiiKiii is earlier in the story, and the awards matched how fans found them. The Starship quintet shared Grand Honor’s Choice with ITZY, added Best Music, and took Best Streaming Song for 404 (New Era). That last prize fits the song’s life: Circle Chart monthly digital and streaming No. 1s in February, Melon Top 100 peaks, and a long Spotify Korea run after Delulu Pack. Last year’s KGMA gave them IS Rising Star. This year they walked out with a Grand and a streaming trophy, then performed 404 like a club set at Gocheok. For a group still early in its catalog, the point is not career-cap hardware. It is that the streams held past the first week.
RIIZE won Grand Performer, and Best Music stretched from veterans to rookies. For North American readers, the useful takeaway is simpler. ATEEZ carries Grand continuity into a new album week. ITZY leaves with group and solo hardware after a renewal-and-tour year. KiiiKiii leaves with the streaming category that already described 404 before the trophies showed up.
