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EJAE was most-streamed K-pop artist in the United States last year

Published: 09 Mar. 2026, 16:22

EJAE arrives at the 98th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on Feb. 10. [AP/YONHAP]

Singer-songwriter EJAE, who wrote and performed songs on the original soundtrack for the hit Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025), was the most-streamed K-pop artist in the United States last year.

EJAE logged a combined total of 2.1 billion on-demand streams across music and video in the United States, ranking No. 1 among K-pop artists, according to data released on Monday by music and entertainment data company Luminate.

On-demand streaming measures how many times users directly select and play a specific song or video.

HUNTR/X, a fictional girl group featured in “KPop Demon Hunters,” ranked second with 1.8 billion streams. Boy band Stray Kids came in third with 1.2 billion streams.

This image released by Netflix shows characters, from left, Mira, Rumi and Zoey, in a scene from ″KPop Demon Hunters″ (2025). [AP/YONHAP]

The film’s fictional boy band Saja Boys ranked fifth with 921.1 million streams. BTS also entered the top 10 with 892.3 million streams as the band prepares for a full-member comeback later in March.

Eight of the artists or groups in the top 10 performed songs on the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]