BTS and aespa win Daesang at Melon Music Awards 2026 Day 1
The first day of the two-day ceremony at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome saw ATEEZ and several other K-pop acts receive honours.
BTS and aespa secured Daesang trophies during the first day of the 2026 Melon Music Awards (MMA) in Seoul on November 14, according to Times Now.
The ceremony, held at the Gocheok Sky Dome, awarded BTS the Album of the Year Daesang for 'ARIRANG' and aespa the Global K-Artist of the Year Daesang.
BTS also won Stage of the Year for 'ARIRANG World Tour'. Other major winners included ATEEZ and RESCENE, who both won the Hot Trend award, and ATEEZ, who won Best Performance – Male alongside RIIZE.
The World Tour Top 10 Artists (Bonsang) category included AKMU, BTS, CORTIS, Hearts2Hearts, I.O.I, ILLIT, IVE, KiiiKiii, NCT WISH, and PLAVE. The Global Top 10 (Bonsang) featured aespa, BTS, G-DRAGON, Hearts2Hearts, RESCENE, and RIIZE.
Other individual winners included YENA for Best Female Solo, Lim Young Woong for Best Male Solo, and Kim Minseok (MeloMance) for Best OST with 'Love Language'. Bruno Mars was named Best Pop Artist, while Kim Hyunjung of BIGHIT Music won Best Producer.
The remaining major honours, such as Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year, will be presented on November 15.