From chart history set by ROSÉ, Stray Kids and HUNTR/X to moments of visibility for Brazil, India and the LGBTQ+ community, K-pop was truly expansive this year.
Schiaparelli dress and cardigan, Tiffany & Co. jewelry.
Joelle Grace Taylor
Long touted as a badge of honor in both fan wars and press releases, the concept of going “global” has been an arguably unrealized goal for much of the K-pop industry prior to 2025. Yet the past 12 months have proven to be the scene’s most expansive year yet, reaching new heights and mainstream milestones.
For observers both in and outside of the K-pop orbit, that expansion was recognized as a seismic creative shift. In an apt year-end review for The New York Times, pop critic Jon Caramanica wrote that “K-pop is an influence, a starting point, but perhaps not a destination.” He noted how projects like ROSÉ and Bruno Mars‘ record-breaking “APT.” exemplified crossover collaborations as “an indicator of widening acceptance and also increased tolerance for musical risk,” while K-adjacent projects like KPop Demon Hunters and KATSEYE signal that the genre has reached a stage where it “needs new oxygen to thrive.”
And the data shows those risks have breathed some life-affirming excitement into K-pop with effects that can be felt for years to come: a K-pop-based animated blockbuster movie and soundtrack placed multiple tracks across the Billboard Hot 100 and Global 200 for weeks while competing in major awards races; new partnerships and deals saw veteran and newcomer acts earning new chart feats; tours earned unprecedented grosses across the world; and new localized K-pop ecosystems formed in markets far from Seoul.
Indeed, 2025 wasn’t about K-pop “arriving.” It was about K-pop scaling in a way that the rest of the world can’t help but take notice. The model proved it could be exported, localized, iterated, and — perhaps most crucially — felt on both a commercial and creative level.
Go through more than a dozen moments that show how 2025 truly became a global sensation this year.
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All-Around Success for KPop Demon Hunters
Image Credit: Netflix Where to even begin when it comes to the ways an unlikely animated movie about a trio of singing demon slayers wound up topping both the Billboard 200, Hot 100, Global 200, and is competing for top honors at the Grammys, Golden Globes and — very likely — the Oscars?
There are multiple K-pop beneficiaries to the KPop Demon Hunters world. There were HUNTR/X singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, all of whom earned their first Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper when “Golden” spent eight weeks at No. 1 in 2025, with EJAE earning a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year for co-writing the track with Teddy, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Mark Sonnenblick.
The KDH soundtrack by the Saja Boys propelled singers Kevin Woo, Danny Chung, Andrew Choi, Neckwav and SamUIL Lee to score top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hits of their own, as well as TWICE earning their longest- and highest-charting Hot 100 hit yet with “Strategy,” while members Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung earned their first solo entries.
As KPop Demon Hunters made its way to become Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time, the film and its soundtrack scored accolades around the world including at the MTV Video Music Awards, NRJ Music Awards, MAMA Awards, Los 40 Music Awards, Asia Artists Awards, Toronto Film Critics Association, the African-American Film Critics Association with more sure to come.
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Stray Kids Rewrite History on the Billboard 200 Again
Image Credit: JYP Entertainment When Stray Kids claimed their eighth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with DO IT earlier this month, it extended their record as the only act to debut their first eight entries atop the albums chart in its 69-year history.
SKZ initially set this record in late 2024 when HOP made the octet the first musical group to see their first six albums debut at No. 1, and only extended the chart history with fall release Karma (on the chart dated Sept. 6, 2025) and then DO IT (Dec. 6).
Each chart-topping feat further placed the Kids alongside other greats in musical history: Karma secured Stray Kids as the musical group with the most No. 1 albums in the 21st century (surpassing Dave Matthews Band, Linkin Park and BTS) and DO IT earned them the third-most No. 1 albums by groups overall in the U.S. (tying them with U2, only behind the Beatles and Rolling Stones).
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KATSEYE Proves the K-Pop Model Can Truly Cross Over Into Other Genres
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Billboard As a multinational pop project that leaned into the diversity within its members, KATSEYE proved that the so-called K-pop “factory” can deliver acts that live outside the strict idol mold.
The girl group embraces the LGBTQ+ community as some members identify as queer themselves (Lara accepted an award from Los Angeles LGBT Centre with the group by her side), leaned into a Gap campaign as a celebration of diversity in a heated culture war (to the tune of over 52 million views on YouTube), and broke through at traditionally conservative industry institutions (“Gabriela” hit the Top 10 of the Pop Airplay chart, and the group scored two Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist).
With KATSEYE’s year closing with a sold-out U.S. tour, collaborating with Riot Games’ gender-inclusive esports Game Changers initiative and a slot at Coachella in April, the sextet may have gotten their initial training within the confines of K-pop, but they prove the model has real adaptability when embracing innovation and evolution.
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Each BLACKPINK Member Scores as a Solo Act
Image Credit: The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images Few pop groups can count every member as a superstar in his or her own right, but 2025 saw every BLACKPINK member landing solo songs on the Billboard Hot 100, confirming that scaled superfandom can translate to solo impact with releases that feels specially tailored to each member’s journey. Here’s just a sample of each member’s chart achievements:
- LISA was the first BLACKPINK member to enter the Billboard Hot 100 back in 2021, but this year saw the White Lotus star land her highest entry yet with “Born Again” featuring Doja Cat and RAYE (which hit No. 68 in February). Meanwhile, the Maroon 5 collaboration “Priceless” also gave LISA her first entry on the overall Radio Songs chart (debuting in May and hitting its peak position of No. 35 in late July)
- While ROSÉ’s “APT.” with Bruno Mars was making chart history all year, the star kept her momentum growing with songs like “Toxic Till The End” (that debuted on Pop Airplay in January and spent three months on the chart) as well as her Alex Warren collaboration “On My Mind” (that became her longest-charting Hot 100 hit after “APT.”)
- With the rollout of her solo album Ruby, JENNIE tripled her Hot 100 entries (adding “Love Hangover,” “ExtraL,” “Handlebars” and “like JENNIE” to her previous entries with “One of the Girls” and “Mantra”) and earned new accolades for her on radio (“like JENNIE” became her highest-charting solo entry on Pop Airplay)
- With the savvy move of collaborating with another pop band member, JISOO’s “EYES CLOSED” with former One Direction star Zayn landed the pair on the Hot 100 — marking the singer-actress’ first solo appearance on the chart, and Zayn’s first in five years. The collab also saw JISOO enter new chart territory, bowing on the Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay charts.
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HYBE Localizes in Latin America With Santos Bravos, ‘Pase a la Fama’
Image Credit: Alejandra García With the boy-band reality series Santos Bravos and Mexicana banda talent series like Pase a la Fama, HYBE’s Latin America push showcased its K-pop production methods in newly localized ways. From Santos Bravos’ auditions, training and eventual debut to Pase a la Fama‘s winner earning a record deal, the efforts recalled similar storylines for HYBE label mates like Bumzu, ENHYPEN, KATSEYE, ILLIT, &TEAM and aoen got their start, but presented in regionally relevant ways.
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New Distribution Deals & Strategies Offer Baekhyun, ZEROBASEONE, Monsta X, Yves & More Expansion
Image Credit: Courtesy of INB100 As BTS proved with a path-paving deal in 2017 with The Orchard, distribution is king when it comes to reaching U.S. audiences with K-pop albums.
ZEROBASEONE reported global sales of over 1 million for each of their albums since debuting in 2023, but only landed on the Billboard 200 for the first time in February thanks to a new U.S. distribution deal with Universal Music’s Virgin Music Group. February’s Blue Paradise entered at No. 28, while their debut full-length, Never Say Never, peaked at No. 23 in September.
In March, Los Angeles-based media company and indie K-pop label hello82 announced a new partnership with ONE HUNDRED LABEL group to bring titles from its artists to the States including THE BOYZ and EXO member Baekhyun, the latter of which scored his first-ever solo Billboard 200 entry when Essence of Reverie bowed at No. 121. hello82 also began offering physical singles for artists like ATEEZ and LE SSERAFIM this year, leading the former to make its Billboard Hot 100 debut (“In Your Fantasy” opened at No. 68 and “Lemon Drop” at No. 69) and the latter to score a new chart peak (“SPAGHETTI” with BTS’ J-Hope reached No. 50).
Monsta X’s thirteenth EP, THE X, was bolstered by distribution from The Orchard, landing the band their first Korean-language project on the Billboard 200 when the EP debuted at No. 31. Prior to this, only the two English LPs from Monsta X had entered the albums chart as a part of the various label deals set for each release.
Plus, the budding success of former LOONA member Yves led the fairly new PAIX PER MIL label to partner with Warner’s ADA to bring the singer’s music to radio and a wide publicity push around the star’s Apple Cinnamon Crunch Tour in North America, helping clear the way for collaborations with fellow pop It Girls like PinkPantheress and Rebecca Black.
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The Grammys’ Main Categories Finally Give K-Pop Acts Nods
Image Credit: Manny Carabel/Getty Images After years of fan and critical debates on whether K-pop would get a big moment in the Grammys’ main-category awards, the inclusion of ROSÉ, KATSEYE and KPop Demon Hunters proved concrete gains for the evolving industry.
ROSÉ got nods in Record of the Year and Song of the Year with her Bruno Mars–assisted “APT.,” while the songwriters behind HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” including EJAE and BLACKPINK producer Teddy, were recognized in Song of the Year. Fun fact: Both songs include Korean lyrics.
Meanwhile, the HYBE x Geffen Records act KATSEYE scored a nomination for Best New Artist, a rare recognition for any girl group, especially one with a background in K-pop training.
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Pabllo Vittar Brings K-Pop to Brazil With NMIXX
Image Credit: Gustavo Caballero for Billboard While Brazil has long demonstrated its love of K-pop, Pabllo Vittar bringing NMIXX into her world with a collaboration marked a breakthrough musical moment.
While elements of Brazilian funk have been trending in K-pop production for years, Vittar enlisting the girl group for “MEXE” and its remixes saw a Korea-based act taking the homegrown route. The track serves not just as one of the year’s best crossover cuts but also as an example of reciprocal cultural exchange.
And while NMIXX isn’t the first K-pop act to collaborate with the drag community, recording with Pabllo Vittar certainly marks the most high-profile moment between the two worlds.
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International Stars Jump on K-Pop Collabs Again (And Again!)
Image Credit: Anna Lee While international collaborations are essentially a hallmark of the K-pop scene today, several major artists really proved they were here for the scene with their second, and sometimes third, team-ups.
- After Coldplay and Chris Martin recorded collaborations with BTS and aespa, the British band not only featured TWICE as special guests for their series of Seoul concerts at Goyang Stadium this spring, but dropped a new “TWICE Version” of their single “WE PRAY”
- Following a 2016 collaboration with Eric Nam, Timbaland returned to K-pop via a collaboration with SEVENTEEN’s Hoshi on his solo track “Damage” off the group’s HAPPY BURSTDAY album
- Pharrell Williams released new singles with BTS’ j-hope (“LV Bag” alongside Don Toliver and SPEEDY), BamBam of GOT7 (producing with “Angel in Disguise” off the star’s first Thai album), as well as SEVENTEEN (crafting “Bad Influence” from HAPPY BURSTDAY)
- Following his collaborations and remixes for artists like BTS and IVE, David Guetta whipped out his “REM/X” for KPop Demon Hunters’ “Golden” that earned a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
- Almost seven years after BLACKPINK connected with Dua Lipa for “Kiss and Make Up” off the latter’s debut album, Dua returned the favor by appearing on JENNIE’s debut solo LP with the Hot 100 hit “Handlebars”
- MAX has multiple records with BTS, and released a single with LE SSERAFIM’s Huh Yunjin, and this year extended his love to ENHYPEN by enlisting Jay for “LOVE INSANE”
- After Lay Bankz hopped on “Broke My Heart” off the first solo EP from PENTAGON’s KINO, the viral rapper also landed on another K-pop act’s single featuring on “5, 4, 3 (Pretty Woman),” the debut single from SEVENTEEN’s CxM unit with S.Coups and Mingyu
- PinkPantheress previously popped up on remixes alongside LE SSERAFIM and Stray Kids’ Hyunjin, but this year made a cameo on Yves’ Soft Error album (featuring on the track “Soap”) and returned the favor by inviting Yves and SEVENTEEN onto remixes for the Fancy Some More? mixtape
- For over a decade, Diplo has been diving into K-pop with collabs for BIGBANG, CL and G-Dragon, and this year wound up back in the studio with JENNIE to help helm “like JENNIE,” as well as her group in co-producing BLACKPINK’s comeback single “JUMP”
- While JVKE collabed with BTS’ Jimin and co-wrote a song for ENHYPEN, the “Golden Hour” singer doubled up his HYBE partners by bringing TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Taehyun and Kim Chaewon of LE SSERAFIM for “butterflies”
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First U.S.-Based K-Pop Company Launches Girl Group
Image Credit: Courtesy of Titan Content Former SM Entertainment CEO Nikki Han announced TITAN CONTENT as the first U.S.-based K-pop company in late 2023, and this year marked the moment for the label to show and prove what it can do from its Los Angeles home base. AtHeart began the agency’s history with the six-member, multinational girl group representing Korea, Japan, the Philippines and the U.S.
The group began with key differences from the typical K-pop approach, including each member introduced via her own separate social media accounts (most Korean acts operate out of one official group account and open personal accounts years later), but easily joined into the traditional promotional methods of the scene by hitting Korean TV shows like Mnet’s M Countdown and MusicCore on MBC.
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Kevin Woo, J-Hope, TWICE, JISOO, LISA, ATEEZ and LE SSERAFIM Hit New Hot 100 Peaks
Image Credit: BIGHIT MUSIC While any Hot 100 entry is cause for celebration, these artist accomplishments hit a bit harder with new peaks or debut entries for these K-pop acts.
- Kevin Woo, “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol” – Nos. 3 and 4 (Billboard Hot 100 Debut Entries)
- j-hope, “Killin’ It Girl” with GloRilla – No. 40 (New Billboard Hot 100 Peak)
- TWICE’s Jeongyeon, Jihyo & Chaeyoung, “Takedown” – No. 50 (Debut Entries)
- LE SSERAFIM, “SPAGHETTI” with j-hope – No. 50 (New Peak)
- TWICE, “Strategy” – No. 51 (New Peak)
- LISA, “Born Again” with Doja Cat and RAYE – No. 68 (New Peak)
- ATEEZ, “In Your Fantasy” – No. 68 (New Peak)
- ATEEZ, “Lemon Drop” – No. 69 (Debut Entry)
- JISOO, “EYES CLOSED” with Zayn – No. 72 (Debut Entry)
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Stray Kids Score K-Pop’s Biggest Tour Across Continents
Image Credit: Courtesy of JYP In August, Billboard Boxscore reported that Stray Kids’ Dominate World Tour had lived up to its name. After wrapping in July with more than 1 million tickets sold this year, the Stray Kids tour set several new records around the world. Let us count the ways the Kids dominated:
- Stray Kids’ eight shows in Central and South America sold 361,000 tickets and grossed $41.1 million — more than any other K-pop artist has sold or earned in Latin America on a tour
- Stray Kids played to 491,000 fans and grossed $76.2 million across 13 shows in the United States and Canada, becoming the best-selling and highest-grossing North American leg of any K-pop tour
- For eight shows in Europe, the tour earned 391,000 tickets and $64.5 million and, of course, set a record as the biggest European leg among K-pop acts
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LGBTQ Representation Came Out in a Big Way
Image Credit: The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images This year also served a cluster of high-visibility, career-stage revelations that shifted K-pop’s visibility on queer issues.
JUSTB’s Bain publicly came out during a Los Angeles concert on the boy band’s world tour, dedicating a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” to LGBTQ fans and describing the move as a turning point for him and for visibility among active idol members. Plus, former Apeace member Dongho publicly hard-launched his relationship with Taiwanese-Canadian influencer Zilong. On the girl group side, Lara of KATSEYE formally identified as queer and was honored by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, while her bandmate Megan came out as bisexual during a Weverse broadcast. Plus, former JWiiver member Chae Ryujin (a.k.a. Cherry) announced she is a transgender woman via a livestream. The year closed on a high note when DAMJUN of K-pop’s first LGBTQ boy band LIONESSES released his debut solo album, Scandalous Love Song, on Dec. 20.
It all signals that queer stories and narratives are being told with more agency, power and with greater visibility than ever before in K-pop’s global orbit.
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CORTIS Earns Biggest K-Pop Debut Ever on Billboard 200
Image Credit: Courtesy of BIGHIT Music The newest group from HYBE — and first group from BTS’ BIGHIT MUSIC label since TOMORROW X TOGETHER debuted in 2019 — CORTIS had heavy expectations placed on them before listeners heard one note of music.
A major-agency backing certainly helped CORTIS score one of the highest-ever Billboard 200 rankings for a debut K-pop project when COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES entered at No. 15 (putting them only behind the chart-topping debut of SuperM, a supergroup of previously established K-pop stars). But the creator-focused message that these rookies were involved in the EP’s songwriting, arrangements, choreography, stage productions, visual editing, and beyond felt far more significant in establishing this group as one wholly invested in all parts of their careers and changing the narrative around K-pop star identities.
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‘KPOPPED’ Gave Historic Hits a K-Pop Twist in Seoul
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Apple delivered its second K-pop production by flying stars from across the decades to get K-pop makeovers in Seoul for KPOPPED. With executive producers including Lionel Richie, Megan Thee Stallion and CJ ENM’s chairwoman Miky Lee, the series was highlighted by the eight members of ATEEZ splitting to remake Kylie Minogue and J Balvin smashes — and perplexing moments, like when Vanilla Ice seemed not to take Kep1er’s dance rehearsals seriously.
Either way, combining the artistic diversity and audiences of Patti LaBelle, Boy George, Spice Girls, Boyz II Men, TLC, Eve, Kesha, ITZY, JO1 and BLACKSWAN all on one show is something remarkable globally.
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“Golden,” “APT.” Set New History on Global Charts
Barring Mariah Carey’s seasonal smash “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” HUNTR/X’s EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami’s “Golden” tied for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile.” The HUNTR/X women did pull ahead of Gaga and Mars when “Golden” earned 11 consecutive weeks atop the chart — the most-ever consecutive weeks atop the chart.
As detailed in ROSÉ’s Billboard No. 1s cover story, “APT.” set a record with 19 weeks atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, and ultimately topped the year-end editions of both it and the Global 200 after earning nearly 4.9 billion official on-demand global streams through Nov. 27, 2025, according to Luminate.
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HYBE Sets Up Shop in China and India
Image Credit: Justin Shin/GI Beyond the previously established offices in Korea, America, Japan, and Mexico for Latin America, HYBE opened more regional units in 2025. The company opened HYBE China in Shanghai in April (joining fellow powerhouses like SM, YG, and JYP Entertainment with Chinese offices) and founded HYBE India Entertainment Private Limited in Mumbai this September (a first among major companies).
HYBE has already announced plans to create new acts with industry partners in the U.S. and Japan next year, underscoring the juggernaut’s commitment to expanding its global footprint.
