Young K Just Won Grand Artist at KGMA 2026. Five Trophies, One Bass Player, and the Summer He Wrote Every Song Himself

DAY6’s Young K won Grand Artist, the top prize of Day 1 (“Artist Day”), at the 2026 Korea Grand Music Awards (KGMA) on November 7, 2026, at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. He also took Best Artist, Best Solo (Male), Best OST and the Kugoong Most Popular Award, making him the night’s biggest winner with five trophies (Edaily; Ilgan Sports, Nov. 7, 2026). TREASURE took Grand Song, and RESCENE and AND2BLE shared Grand Honors’ Choice. Young K’s speech went straight to his fans: “Thank you for giving me such a dreamy day. I say it all the time, but My Day are the reason I get to live as Young K” (Edaily, Nov. 7, 2026).

I’ll be honest: as a fan, seeing the bassist who writes DAY6’s lyrics holding the biggest trophy of the night on his own made my whole weekend. He has spent ten years giving his words to other people’s favorite songs, and tonight the award had his name on it.

“Shut The Door,” the title track of his second solo album, YOUNGEST: 9.58 million views as of Nov. 7, 2026. Official KGMA award clips weren’t up on ENA’s or Ilgan Sports’ channels at the time of writing, so here’s the song he closed the night with.

What happened at Gocheok

• Five trophies. Grand Artist, Best Artist, Best Solo (Male), Best OST and the Kugoong Most Popular Award (Artist Day). Best OST had been announced ahead of the show; the other four came live (Ilgan Sports, Nov. 7, 2026).
• What Grand Artist means. KGMA gives it to “an artist who left a symbolic mark on K-pop” that year (Edaily). Ilgan Sports, which founded the awards in 2024, hosts the show, with chart data from Hanteo, Genie, FLO and Bugs and fan voting on the Kugoong app. ENA aired it live in Korea, Hulu Japan streamed it in Japan, and TikTok Live carried it to most other regions (Edaily).
• Who else won. Best Artist also went to TREASURE, RESCENE, P1Harmony, CRAVITY, ALLDAY PROJECT, CLOSE YOUR EYES, tripleS, xikers, MEOVV, LUCY, BTS, CORTIS, Stray Kids and BLACKPINK. DAYOUNG won Best Solo (Female) (Edaily).
• The closing act. He opened his set with his OST “Season of Us,” then got the whole dome singing “Shut The Door” to close Artist Day (Ilgan Sports, Nov. 7, 2026). He also shared a special stage with the Japanese band Novelbright (Edaily).

Also read: K-pop News Today (Nov 4, 2026): RESCENE's 'With' Hits No. 1 on Melon, TWS Sell 630,000 on Day One, AND2BLE's Career-High Week

The year in numbers

When	What	The number
May 16, 2026	“Season of Us,” OST Part 2 for SBS’s My Royal Nemesis	Tonight’s Best OST (SBS Catch; Ilgan Sports)
July 27, 2026	Second solo full album YOUNGEST	15 tracks, all co-written and co-composed by him, his first solo album in about 2 years and 10 months (OSEN, July 28, 2026)
Aug. 14–16, 2026	Solo tour opens at Inspire Arena, Incheon	3 shows, all sold out (Ilgan Sports, Aug. 17, 2026)
Sept. 2026	Sound Planet Festival 2026	His first festival headline set as a solo artist, in front of about 35,000 people (Top Star News, Sept. 12, 2026)
Oct. 2026 to Mar. 2027	YOUNGEST tour	12 shows in 8 regions, including Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Manila and Kuala Lumpur (Ilgan Sports, Oct. 13, 2026)

That table is one summer of work from one member of a band that’s still touring as a band. The YOUNGEST name says it all. He took the English “-est” and built an album around “the most Young K story,” in his own words, with his real name, Kang Young-hyun, behind every credit (OSEN).

“Cheer Song,” a YOUNGEST track, live from the tour. 46,000 views as of Nov. 7, 2026.

The song that won Best OST, and the drama it came from

“Season of Us” (“Dasi Doraon Gyejeol”) came out on May 16, 2026, as the second OST for SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama My Royal Nemesis (Sports Donga, May 15, 2026). The show stars Lim Ji-yeon as a Joseon-era villainess who wakes up in 2026 Seoul and Heo Nam-jun as the ruthless chaebol heir she can’t stand, a romantic comedy that spans 300 years (SBS). It hit No. 1 on Netflix’s weekly non-English TV chart in its first week (Tenasia, May 13, 2026). Young K’s voice lands in the scene where the two meet again after a past life. A song about a season that comes back fits him perfectly.

SBS’s official second teaser, with English title cards.

Where to watch My Royal Nemesis: SBS in Korea, and on Netflix in many regions (checked Nov. 7, 2026, from Korea; availability varies by country).

The official OST video: 726,000 views as of Nov. 7, 2026.

The challenge everyone did: “Shut The Door”

“Shut The Door” turned into a sing-along and a challenge before it became a trophy song. DAY6’s channel even posted an official singalong guide so concert crowds could shout their parts. On stage in Bangkok on October 10, Young K told the crowd, “I’ve been so happy watching all the ‘Shut The Door’ challenges and covers you’ve done” (Ilgan Sports, Oct. 13, 2026). At Gocheok tonight, the same chorus came back to him from a dome full of fans.

The official live clip: 291,000 views as of Nov. 7, 2026.

Why he’s so cool

Because he does the whole job. He co-wrote and co-composed all 15 tracks on YOUNGEST, and he’s the lyricist behind DAY6 songs people already treat as standards, like “You Were Beautiful” (“Yeppeosseo”) and “Time of Our Life” (“Han Peijiga Doel Su Itge”) (MHN, July 28, 2026). Before the album came out, he played three surprise busking shows around Seoul and sent a themed truck modeled on the “inner room” from his music video across the city (OSEN).

And because of how he talks to people. After the first Incheon show he said, “I think I poured my whole heart into this. I want to sing on stage for as long as I possibly can. I’ll get stronger and better, so please walk with me” (Ilgan Sports, Aug. 17, 2026). At the festival, he read a fan banner that said “whoever’s headlining today is insane,” then clapped for himself, which is just adorable (Top Star News, Sept. 12, 2026). In Bangkok he named the people who make him “think one more step, one more time”: his family, his members, his friends and My Day (Ilgan Sports, Oct. 13, 2026).

What’s next

The YOUNGEST tour picks up in Taipei on November 28 and 29, then goes to Hong Kong (Jan. 15, 2027), Singapore (Jan. 23), Tokyo (Feb. 13 and 14), Manila (Feb. 20) and Kuala Lumpur (Mar. 20) (Ilgan Sports, Oct. 13, 2026). Day 2 of KGMA, “Music Day,” continues at Gocheok on November 8. For the rest of the night’s winners, see our K-pop News round-up.

Where to listen: YOUNGEST and “Season of Us” are on Melon, Spotify and Apple Music, and the videos above are on the official DAY6 and JYP Entertainment YouTube channels (checked Nov. 7, 2026).

Five trophies, fifteen songs he wrote himself, and a tour that keeps getting bigger. Congratulations, Young K. I’ll be in the crowd, singing the “Shut The Door” part, the next time you come around.

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Sources: Edaily (Nov. 7, 2026, KGMA Day 1 round-up and winners list); Ilgan Sports (Nov. 7, 2026: “‘5관왕’ 영케이의 멋진 피날레”; Oct. 13, 2026; Aug. 17, 2026); OSEN (July 28, 2026); MHN Sports (July 28, 2026); Top Star News (Sept. 12, 2026); Sports Donga (May 15, 2026); Tenasia (May 13, 2026); SBS (My Royal Nemesis teasers). View counts as shown on YouTube, Nov. 7, 2026.

Featured photo: Young K at a photocall in Seoul, June 10, 2026. Photo: K-POPIT 케이팝잇 (YouTube) via YouTube / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized).