2026 MAMA Awards ‘Largest Single-Location Lineup’ in History: Spanning Generations and Genres
The full lineup for the 2026 MAMA (formerly known as Mnet Asian Music Awards) Awards has been announced! The two-day awards will be taking place on November 20-21 at the KYOCERA DOME OSAKA in Osaka, Japan. With performances from artists who've made an impact not only in 2026 but throughout history, both in music and with their fans, grand stages with high-level production and creativity await. Held towards the end of the year and viewed by fans worldwide, the MAMA Awards is known as the “World’s No.1 K-POP Awards.”
The awards ceremony is presented by CJ ENM and hosted by music channel Mnet. Harry H.K. Shin, Head of Music Entertainment at CJ ENM, said that, “Over the past 27 years, MAMA Awards has expanded its stages to places it had never been, connected artists and fans in ways never seen before, and been the first to show K-POP’s new possibilities. All of that was possible with our one firm belief Music Makes ONE.”
MAMA Awards also kicks off the annual year-end run of major K-pop awards ceremonies.
The theme this year for the show is “A MUSIC INTERSTELLAR,” evoking the feeling of journeying through a musical universe beyond time and space and discovering the power of music. The awards show also showcases the keyword, ‘ALL GENERATION’ as it features K-pop veterans like BIGBANG, CL, and Panic while highlighting rookies starting their journey like MODYSSEY and KO1KEYZ. Panic will have their own collaboration stage known as ‘BEYOND GENERATIONS,’ performing with members of groups from different cohorts like CORTIS and WOODZ. Yoon Shin Hye, Head of Mnet, said that, “At its core, ‘ALL GENERATION’ is all about bringing people who love music from different eras together in one place. At MAMA Awards, they can discover the same songs, share what they like and connect through music.” Yoon also shared, “What we want to show through this year’s theme ‘A MUSIC INTERSTALLAR’ is fans from different generations and different parts of the world coming together and discovering new moments.”
A new addition to the MAMA Awards this year is Park Bo Gum’s appointment as the first-ever MAMA Awards AMBASSADOR. Actor Park Bo Gum has hosted the MAMA Awards seven times since 2017 and has witnessed the evolution of the awards ceremony over the years. As an actor and storyteller himself, he will take the audience between Chapters 1 and 2 each day, bridging music as an interstellar journey throughout generations.
In addition to the main event, the newly launched MAMA FAN FESTA, a global fan festival, will take place from November 9th to the 21st offline across the city of Osaka and online on Mnet Plus. This year, MAMA Awards will present a wide range of new on-site and online events for fans to participate in a global celebration, creating a longer lead-up to the awards and more experiences for fans during the awards ceremony.
Offline and on the ground, the MAMA FAN FESTA chose key Osaka locations for fan experiences, including HEP FIVE, Midosuji and Namba Square leading to KYOCERA DOME OSAKA. At Namba Square, fans will get to enjoy a WELCOME STATION, BACKSTAGE CAM, STAR TOUCH STATION, FAN COMMUNITY LOUNGE, and RED CARPET PHOTO ZONE. For fans online via the global K-POP content platform Mnet Plus, they can participate in fan voting, stamp missions, spoiler quests, and live streaming for fans in 250+ regions.
Performances and the award ceremony will stream live worldwide via Mnet Plus. Different collaborations will hit the stage, including ENHYPEN and the film universe of Dune which will release Dune: Part Three in December. ENHYPEN’s vampiric universe will mix with the planetary universe of Dune on the CINEMATIC STAGE. ENHYPEN will also release a new single in November. BIGBANG will mark their 20th anniversary and collaborate with Dooly the Little Dinosaur, one of Korea’s most beloved animated characters which was created in 1983 by cartoonist Kim Soo-jung.
Contemporary artist Lee Bae, known for his charcoal and monochromatic abstract art, will bring his artistry to the awards show as the first-ever fine art collaboration with the MAMA Awards stage. Lee’s artwork explores disappearance and creation, time and cycles, and at the show, his work will center around the ”enduring power of music.” The MAMA Awards has teamed up with Google Gemini to apply AI technology into Mnet’s production from the opening to the performances, blending technology and art.
This lineup of artists from the Korean music scene spanning genres and generations is the largest single-location lineup in MAMA Awards history. Each day is referred to as a chapter, where Chapter 1 has more of a fan-choice focus, emphasizing global popularity, fan-voted awards and global fan voting. Chapter 2 focuses on musical achievements and genre-based awards. Winners are determined by official data like album sales, charts, and professional judging panels that critique song performance over the past year. Major grand prizes (Daesang) like Artist of the Year and Album of the Year are also awarded. Here is the list of performers for each day of the awards:
2026 MAMA AWARDS CHAPTER 1 (November 20)
Red Carpet: 15:30 (KST)
Awards Ceremony: 18:00 (KST)
Performing Artists (in alphabetical order):
Street World Fighter : Directors’ War
2026 MAMA AWARDS CHAPTER 2 (November 21)
Red Carpet: 12:30 (KST)
Awards Ceremony: 15:00 (KST)
Performing Artists (in alphabetical order):
NAYEON (TWICE)
Award Presenters (in Korean alphabetical order): KIM YEON KOUNG, KIM YOU JUNG, KIM JAE WON, KIM HYE SOO, MONIKA, MOON SANG MIN, Shunsuke Michieda, SEO IN YOUNG, SEORINA, ONG SEONGWU, YOO INNA, YOON KYUNG HO, LEE DAHEE, LEE SANGYI, LEE SUNGKYOUNG, LEE SUNG MIN, LEE JUNHO, LEE CHAE MIN, JANG KEUNSUK, CHANG HANG JUN, JO YURI, CHOI DAEHOON, KANY DIABATE, HEO NAM JUN, and HWANG MIN HYUN.
Now, we’ll take you briefly through each artist’s 2026 and show you how they made an impact or achieved milestones, along with some song recommendations for each (artists in alphabetical order).
&TEAM
This Japanese boy group from YX LABELS stole fans' hearts way before debuting. It all started during I-Land and led to &AUDITION - The Howling - forming the nine-member group brimming with stage presence. In the early part of 2026, members Nicholas, Yuma, Jo, and Maki collaborated with the Latin boy group SANTOS BRAVOS for a remix of their song “KAWASAKI.” Their performance at KCON LA was highly anticipated, drawing a packed crowd for their fierce ARTIST and M COUNTDOWN stages. The boys also went around LA to meet fans, participating in a fan meeting and a random play dance. The group released their second Korean album Mark on Me in September, which sold over 1.2 million copies on its first day and hit No. 1 on the Billboard World Albums chart and Japan's Oricon Weekly Album chart. This year, the group is set to perform in Chapter 2 and is up for three nominations.
Song recommendations: “Good Boy” & “Back to Life”
ALLDAY PROJECT
Releasing songs about navigating fame and self-confidence, their sound will have the crowd jumping and dancing along. The co-ed group made their second appearance at KCON LA, where Annie spoke about girls’ lack of access to education globally through the joint CJ ENM and UNESCO campaign. In addition, BAILEY collaborated on a dance stage with RIEHATA and Kida the Great during KCON’s M Countdown. The group released their second EP, Crash in September. At last year's MAMA Awards, the group won the ‘Breakthrough Artist’ award.
Song recommendations: “ONE MORE TIME” & “WICKED”
ALPHA DRIVE ONE
Officially debuting right at the start of 2026 on January 12, after forming on the survival show Boys II Planet shown on Mnet, the group was quickly honored with their first music show win on Show Champion just 9 days after debuting. They performed at their first KCON LA this past August, coming to the US to meet fans and perform their discography including a cover of BTS’s “Fake Love,” and Xinlong’s rap with South Korean beatboxer WING during Day 3 of M Countdown.
Song recommendations: “OMG!” & “FREAK ALARM”
BABYMONSTER
In September, the girl group surpassed 10 billion cumulative views on YouTube. Their company, YG Entertainment, reported that they are the fastest K-pop girl group to reach the milestone on a single official channel and only the second K-pop girl group in history to achieve the feat, following their senior group BLACKPINK. The girls released a digital single titled “DESERVE” on October 23. They are currently traveling to different countries on their 2026 춤 (CHOOM) World Tour. The girls have won ‘Fans’ Choice Top 10 - Female’ two years in a row at the MAMA Awards and performed last year.
Song recommendations: “DESERVE” & “SHEESH”
BIG BANG
BIGBANG is a second-generation K-pop group known worldwide and influential to the K-pop music industry. They made a comeback as a trio, Daesung, G-Dragon, and Taeyang, for their 20th anniversary, performing at Coachella. The trio released “BiiiG” on August 19, 2026, on the anniversary of their debut date (August 19, 2006), earning themselves a No. 1 on Melon's TOP100 within just one hour of its release. They are traveling the world on their XX : COSMOS 2026-2027 world tour, to stadiums nearly a decade after their last one. The guys are no strangers to the MAMA Awards, winning 13 awards as a group, with 34 nominations total, and have performed over the years, including in 2024 with a reunion performance. This year, the group and solo projects combine for 8 nominations.
Song recommendations: “BANG BANG BANG” & “Haru Haru”
CL
Leader of the second-generation girl group, 2NE1, and a solo artist, CL is coming back to the MAMA Awards after 11 years. Back in 2016, CL was the first female Korean solo artist to reach the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart. Within the pop, electronic, and hip-hop genres, she’s released both powerful rap anthems and vulnerable mellow tracks that show the powerful woman that she is. In 2022, 2NE1 made a reunion performance at Coachella and then, in 2024, went on a Welcome Back tour around Asia for their 15th anniversary. Now, we look forward to seeing what is in store for CL with this comeback to the MAMA stage.
Song recommendations: “5 STAR” & “Hello Bitches”
CORTIS
From a company that is well-known for its senior groups like BTS and TXT, CORTIS has been a unique group in the K-pop scene. We’ve gotten to see their passion from watching the behind-the-scenes of their creative production and hearing how vocal they are about being involved in processes like music video directing and planning. They debuted already selling millions of album copies and participating in events and activities unique for debuting groups. 2026 was a busy year for the group as they headlined the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend performance in Los Angeles, won ‘Best New Artist (K-pop)’ at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, released their second EP, GREENGREEN, and were nominated for three 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. Then they performed at the famous Lollapalooza music festival and completed their first tour, Put Your Phone Down. Last year, the group won ‘Best New Artist’ at the MAMA Awards, and this year they will be back performing with five nominations.
ENHYPEN
In 2026, ENHYPEN went on their BLOOD SAGA World Tour and became the first K-pop group to host an official panel and immersive booth at the San Diego Comic-Con highlighting their vampire concept. Although the group did lose one member this year, they’ve gained their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with THE SIN : BLISS. At last year's MAMA Awards, the guys won their first-ever Daesang (Grand Prize) for the ‘Visa Fans' Choice of the Year.’ This year, they will perform in a collaboration across universes with the Dune film ahead of its December release.
Song recommendations: “Bloody Paradise” & “XO (Only If You Say Yes)”
Hearts2Hearts
If you had to air out some grievances, well, the viral hit, “RUDE!,” and its accompanying social media trend was the perfect remedy for that. “You know what he said to me? (What?) / He was like, ‘You're so rude.’...” The girls are confident, bubbly, and seem to have so much fun as they explore their career and pursue their endeavors as a group. The group met fans during their HEARTS 2 HOUSE fan meeting and showcase tour in Asia and the US. The girls also earned nine ‘Rookie of the Year’ awards during the 2025-2026 award cycle. They are at the beginning of their career but have already made a statement. Last year, the group attended the MAMA Awards for the first time, winning ‘Best New Artist,’ and this year they're back to perform in Chapter 1.
HWASA
Always releasing songs about love and life, this MAMAMOO member made a name for herself as a renowned solo artist. She made history as the first female K-pop solo artist to perform on the main stage (Palco Mundo) at the iconic Rock in Rio festival in Brazil. Since June, MAMAMOO has been on their 4WARD world tour. In past years at the MAMA Awards, HWASA has had iconic performances that went viral and drew memorable reactions from other idols, including Jackson Wang. This year, she is nominated for the 2026 MAMA Awards, including ‘Best Female Artist,’ ‘Best Vocal Performance Solo,’ and ‘Best Music Video’ for her track "Good Goodbye."
Song recommendations: “Good Goodbye” & “Maria”
ILLIT
ICONIC BY MISTAKE? We don’t think so; these girls are so iconic because of their hit music, cute Y2K aesthetics, and personality. Their debut song “Magnetic” went viral in 2024 for its addictive melody and playful dance choreography. The girls made their way to the US this past summer, where they performed at KCON LA and participated in the DREAM STAGE, where fans joined them for their performance of “It’s Me.” Recently, the girl group released their 5th mini-album BREAK EVEN with the title track “You’re Under Arrest.” At the MAMA Awards, they will perform in Chapter 1 and are nominated for several awards.
Song recommendations: “Lucky Girl Syndrome” & “It’s Me”
INI
Back in 2021, the 11-member J-pop boy group formed through the reality competition show Produce 101 Japan Season 2. This year, INI achieved a milestone by holding their first-ever dome tour, the 2026 INI 5TH ANNIVERSARY DOME TOUR [CITY OF LIGHTS], performing at major venues like the Kyocera Dome Osaka, where the 2026 MAMA Awards will be held. They have also made official opening theme songs for anime like "Whatever Happens," which was announced for Touken Ranbu Kai: Kyoden Moyuru Honnouji. Last May, INI performed at KCON Japan. They had unit projects that were released in October, including four unit songs recorded under their WORKSPACE project. The main dancer of INI, Nishi Hiroto, dropped the digital single "My Way" on October 27 as part of the self-project series INI STUDIO. INI is set to perform on Chapter 1 at the MAMA Awards this year.
Song recommendations: “You Know What To Do” & “All 4 U”
IVE
The K-pop girl group completed their second world tour, SHOW WHAT I AM, in September. They released their 12-track album REVIVE+ at the start of the year on February 23, 2026, gaining multiple music program wins across Korean networks. Now, the girls released the mini album Looks Can Kill on October 26, releasing a music video inspired by the Kill Bill films. Back in 2022, the group won Daesang (Grand Prize) for ‘Song of the Year’ for their hit song “Love Dive” at the MAMA Awards, and this year they will perform during Chapter 2 with 5 nominations.
Song recommendations: “Looks Can Kill” & “BLACKHOLE”
izna
Formed through Mnet’s I-LAND 2 : N/a survival show, izna officially surpassed 400 million cumulative streams this year on YouTube Music. The group made a strategic global partnership with REPUBLIC Collective (a division of Universal Music Group), expanding their promotion in the Western market. At the beginning of the year, the girls had their first Japanese fan meeting Not Just Pretty, then came over to the US for KCON LA. Since then, they’ve been on their tour around Asia for WHO DAT GIRL? world tour. izna made their official stage debut at the MAMA Awards in 2024; now they will perform during Chapter 2, with two nominations.
KiiiKiii
In May, the girl group held their first fan concert in South Korea, and then in October they traveled to Japan and held their Japanese edition fan concert for the first time there. This past summer, KiiiKiii made their official U.S. festival debut at Head in the Clouds in Los Angeles. The girls have also performed during halftime at the NBA games in Macao and participated in their NBA House fan festival. KiiiKiii releases addictive tracks like “404 (New Era)” that make you want to get up, dance, and start voguing. Their 2026 Delulu Pack EP earned No. 1 on Melon's TOP100 chart.
Song recommendations: “DANCING ALONE” & “Ever2Late!”
KO1KEYZ
This 12-member J-pop global group literally debuted just a month ago on October 7; check out our interview here with them. They formed on the survival audition show, PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SHINSEKAI, which concluded in June. The group performed for the first time internationally and before their official debut at KCON LA, where they got to make a first impression on US fans. KO1KEYZ will make their first appearance at the MAMA Awards this year.
Song recommendations: “KO1KEYZ” & “Key of Story”
LE SSERAFIM
The five-member South Korean girl group was busy in 2026. LE SSERAFIM has collaborated three times with Overwatch and, most recently in September, the girls released the infectious track “Made My Night” that will get you dancing. They even created a collaboration remix with EJAE. The girls traveled around the world meeting fans on their second world tour, PUREFLOW. LE SSERAFIM also made history as the first K-pop girl group to be featured at the iHeartRadio Music Festival, where they performed “1-800-hot-n-fun.” In May, the girls released their second studio album ‘PUREFLOW,’ Pt.1.
Song recommendations: “Made My Night” & “iffy iffy”
LNGSHOT
Created by Jay Park, the four-member boy group officially debuted this year on January 13 but released mixtapes and pre-released music before the debut. The boys are like Jay Park's sons or younger brothers, having a humorous relationship while he helps them navigate their music careers. The group completed a tour alongside Jay Park in the 2026 Jay Park World Tour Serenades & Body Rolls. These guys can mix R&B, hip hop, pop vocals, and melodies. Their style and sound stand out among the groups currently in the young K-pop, K-R&B, and K-hip hop scene. Parts of their “FaceTime” music video reminded us of The Notorious B.I.G’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” 90s-style videos. Coming up, the group will come back with S.W.I.S.H. on November 10 at 6 PM KST.
Song recommendations: “Never Let Go” & “Are You Ready”
MODYSSEY
This South Korean global Chinese boy group debuted this year on April 13 with the single album 1.Got Hooked: An Addictive Symphony. The group’s debut single “HOOK” was produced by 3RACHA (Bang Chan, Changbin, and HAN, the in-house production team of Stray Kids). The members traveled to the US for the first time to perform at KCON LA in August. After that, in October on the 12th, MODYSSEY made their first comeback with 2.Multitude: How We Bloom.
Song recommendations: “HOOK” & “BONE SHAKER”
NAYEON (TWICE)
NAYEON first debuted with TWICE in 2015, and the girl group has since become a global phenomenon with numerous hit songs, from classics like “What is Love?” and “TT” to “THIS IS FOR,” a fierce anthem praising all the women that deserve more hype. NAYEON’s solo debut was in 2022 with her first mini album track IM NAYEON. Her track “POP!” went viral for its contagious sing-along melody and lyrics. She recently released a collaboration with Alok, a Latin electronic and dance music artist, with the track “Bye Bye Inhibitions.”
Song recommendations: “ABCD” & “LOVE COUNTDOWN (feat. Wonstein)”
NCT WISH
The Japanese-Korean boy group creating the sixth sub-unit of NCT is NCT WISH. The group has a youthful, Y2K charm. They released their 4th mini album, I SPY, and on October 23, the group won 1st place on KBS's Music Bank for the track “I SPY.” It was announced that NCT WISH will go on their second tour INTO THE WISH : Face Our WISH, starting in the new year. The group is nominated for ‘Best Male Group’ and will perform in Chapter 1 of the MAMA Awards this year.
Song recommendations: “Like A Dream” & “Street (2AM)”
Panic
Panic is a legendary Korean alternative rock duo, Lee Juck and Kim Jin-pyo, who started their music career in 1995. They had a reunion concert in April 2026, their first in 20 years. Then they announced an encore concert titled PANIC IS COMING, AGAIN, scheduled for December 4–6, 2026 at Kyung Hee University’s Grand Peace Palace in Seoul. The duo was newly added to the lineup of performers in Chapter 1 of the MAMA Awards on Friday. The duo debuted in 1995, which coincidentally is the same year Mnet launched. They will present their own stage along with a special collaboration titled ‘Beyond Generations’ with WOODZ, Martin and Seonghyeon from CORTIS, Yuha from Hearts2Hearts, Kim Tae Rae from ZEROBASEONE, and Woochan from ALLDAY Project.
Song recommendations: “Snail (달팽이)” & “내 낡은 서랍 속의 바다 (The Sea in My Old Drawer)”
Photo Courtesy of CJ ENM
RESCENE
The hard work is paying off for the girls of RESCENE. They’ve been working their way up, coming from a small company, making an impact in South Korea, and traveling internationally to perform at KCON LA. In 2026, a couple of years after releasing their song “LOVE ATTACK,” the group earned their first music show win on SBS’s Inkigayo after going viral for their content videos and coining phrases like “Geoje Yaho.” The phrase became widely used by fans and celebrities too. RESCENE was officially appointed as tourism ambassadors for Geoje City, as Woni, their leader, is from Geoje Island. On November 3, they made a comeback with their fourth mini album PULSE.
Street World Fighter : Directors’ War
Some of the famous and talented performance directors competed in 2026 during the South Korean reality spinoff of Mnet’s Street Women Fighter and Street Man Fighter, shining a light on the performance directors and choreographers behind incredible performances. It’s always so cool to see the behind-the-scenes production and learn about the mind behind performances. Baek Goo-young (Kooyoung "Mihawk" Back of 1M or 1MILLION) won the live broadcast final on October 20, 2026. As part of his prize, he will direct the opening performance of the MAMA Awards.
TREASURE
The ten-member boy group just released a new single titled “SHOCK” on November 2. The group held sold-out fan concerts in Seoul and across multiple Japanese cities from June to September. In past years, TREASURE has won 7 MAMA Awards. This year, the group will perform during Chapter 1 and is nominated for ‘Fans’ Choice Male’ and ‘Best Rap & Hip Hop Performance’.
WOODZ
WOODZ has been in the music industry since 2014, debuting in the group UNIQ then becoming a solo artist. Later he competed on Produce X 101, where he became a part of X1 but he resumed his solo career shortly after which he continues today. While in the military in 2024, WOODZ performed his 2023 release “Drowning” during the 76th Armed Forces Day Special on KBS Immortal Songs 2, and after that, the song went viral online, rising on South Korean charts while he was still serving in the military. The emotionally charged song features high notes that WOODZ belts out. If you’ve ever heard this performance live, you’ll know it is a whole other experience as fans will scream the lyrics together with him. WOODZ released his first full-length album Archive. 1 this past March and now he is nominated at the 2026 MAMA Awards for ‘Best Vocal Performance Solo’ for "CINEMA."
ZEROBASEONE
This K-pop group made a big impact while each member was auditioning on Boys Planet season 1. The group concluded their full-group promotions in March 2026 with the original nine members changing to five. Now Sung Hanbin, Seok Matthew, Kim Jiwoong, Kim Taerae, and Park Gunwook continue as ZEROBASEONE. The group headlined day 2 of KCON LA’s M COUNTDOWN stage. In 2024, ZEROBASEONE performed on the CINEMATIC STAGE at the MAMA Awards as Romeos reimagining Romeo and Juliet. This year the group will hit the stage during Chapter 2 and is up for nominations like ‘Visa Super Stage’ and ‘Fans’ Choice Awards’.
Song recommendations: “TOP 5” & “Goosebumps”
Listen to our recommended songs from this year's lineup here:
Who are you excited to see perform at this year's MAMA Awards? Let us know in the comments below or by reaching out to us on Instagram or X.
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Edited by Anderson Longenecker
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