[Edaily Reporter YUN GI BACK ] The groups BTS and aespa took home the Grand Prize on the first day of the “Melon Music Awards 2026” (MMA 2026).

BTS and aespa were named winners in the “Album of the Year” and “Global-K Artist of the Year” categories, respectively, at the “MMA 2026” held on the 14th at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul. BTS received three trophies—for “Album of the Year,” “Global Top 10,” and “Stage of the Year”—but were unable to attend the ceremony due to their world tour.
After receiving the “Global-K Artist of the Year” award, aespa’s Winter said, “I think it’s always thanks to MY (the fan club name) that we’re able to stand on such a glorious stage,” adding, “Even when we didn’t believe in ourselves, you believed in us more than we did, and I’m truly grateful that you’ve always been there cheering us on.” She continued, “I will strive to become an artist who can repay this love, which is by no means a given,” and added, “I hope you’ll look forward to a lot from aespa next year and the year after that as well.”

Karina said, “I’d like to thank the SM family, our management, staff, and dancers who always support us,” adding, “We’re constantly working hard to repay you with even more amazing performances, so please continue to look forward to aespa.” She continued, “It’s almost aespas’s 6th debut anniversary, and I think the award we received today is a gift given to us. I’ll share this joy with the members,” and added, “Please continue to show lots of love for aespas’s music and performances in the future.” Giselle expressed her gratitude to global fans in English and Japanese, while Ningning did so in Chinese.

On this day, the winners in the “Global Top 10” category were BTS, aespa, G-Dragon, Hearts to Hearts, Lisanne, and RISE. I.O.I and Hearts to Hearts took home the “Top 10” honors.
In particular, Hearts to Hearts swept three awards: “Global Top 10,” “Top 10,” and “Global Impact Artist.” Lisanne also took home three trophies: “Global Top 10,” “Hot Trend,” and “KakaoBank Everyone’s Star.”
I.O.I, reuniting as a full group for the first time in 10 years, demonstrated that they are still going strong by taking home two trophies: “Top 10” and “Best Music Style.” I.O.I expressed their gratitude to fans, saying, “It’s an honor and a blessing just to be able to gather in one place and perform on stage after 10 years, and we’re grateful that you’ve given us such a happy moment,” adding, “We’ll be back sooner next time.”

“MMA 2026,” a K-pop music awards ceremony hosted by Kakao Entertainment, continues through tomorrow (the 15th). On the second day, Longshot, IVE, Ailette, Alpha Drive One, Andable, 82Major, Cortis, Kiki, PlayV, Heartswave, NCT 127, and NCT WISH will take the stage. In South Korea, the event will be live-streamed globally via the Melon app and website, the online video service (OTT) Wavve, Japan’s U-NEXT, Taiwan’s TVBS42 and CATCHPLAY+, 1theK (WonderK), and the Melon YouTube channel.

◇ List of Winners (and Teams) on the First Day of ‘MMA 2026’
△Album of the Year = BTS
△ Global-K Artist of the Year = aespa
△Global Top 10 = BTS, aespa, G-Dragon, Hearts to Hearts, Lisanne, RISE
△Top 10 = I.O.I, Hearts to Hearts
△Best Male Performance = ATEEZ, RISE
△Best Solo Artist = Choi Ye-na, Lim Young-woong
△Best Music Style = I.O.I
△Best OST = Melomance’s Kim Min-seok (“The Language of Love”)
△Best Pop Artist = Bruno Mars
△Best Producer = Kim Hyun-jung (Big Hit Music)
△Global Impact Artist = Hearts to Hearts, TOURS
△Global Rising Artist = Tuid
△Stage of the Year = BTS
△Favorite J-Pop Artist = Hana
△Hot Trend = ATEEZ, Lisenne
△KakaoBank Everyone’s Star = Lisenne