Millions Of People Are In Absolute Shock At Kelly Clarkson’s Flawless Cover Of “Golden” From “KPop Demon Hunters”, And Just Wait Until You Hear THAT Note

Posted 37 minutes ago

If you're perpetually on the internet like I am, you're aware of one of 2025's best movies: KPop Demon Hunters. It was Netflix's most-watched original title EVER—having garnered over 600 million views and spending 52 consecutive weeks in Netflix's Global Top 10.

It also had a banger soundtrack that deserves a mention. The animated film's most popular song, "Golden", spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Not just that; it was the fastest song EVER to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, and its popularity led it to win a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award among many more. "Golden" made history as the first K-pop song to win these accolades.

"Golden" is performed in the movie by the fictional K-pop girl group HUNTR/X, and is sung by Korean American artists Audrey Nuna, EJAE, and Rei Ami.

Arguably, one of the reasons behind the massive success of "Golden" is that it is incredibly difficult to sing— the song spans more than two and a half octaves and peaks at A5—which, for us laymen, is a VERY HIGH KEY. EJAE has said in interviews that the song was intentionally written to be difficult as a way to depict the character Rumi's extraordinary vocal abilities, and has admitted that she doesn't perform it live in its original key, but transposes it a step down.

So, given all this, people were straight up SHOCKED when Kelly Clarkson attempted it—in its original key—on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

On the show's finale on August 31, themed around "Kelly by Request", Clarkson conceded to her fans' request and performed "Golden" as part of her Kellyoke segment. And let me tell you, this rendition gave me goosebumps. I'll let you experience it yourself.

The most requested Kellyoke EVER!! 'Golden' from KPop Demon Hunters 💛 pic.twitter.com/jhTYpsD3kv
— The Kelly Clarkson Show (@KellyClarksonTV) August 31, 2026

The Kelly Clarkson Show / Via x.com

The circulated clip has accumulated over 30 million views. "I'm sorry, but this is genuinely the biggest flex I've ever seen," said one user on X.

Another user said what we'd all been thinking: if anyone can do it, it's Kelly.

Kelly Clarkson proving that she is the ONLY mainstream singer who can sing Golden on the original key live 😭 pic.twitter.com/Kzo12Uh9u5
— gab (@owndeceiver) August 31, 2026

@owndeceiver/X / Via x.com

Actor-songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda was just as blown away as the rest of us. On the video published on Instagram, he said:

As did actor Ken Jeong.

"An impossible song written for a mythical creature (demon) to sing. Like Kelly Clarkson did THAT and more," said one user.

This is the equivalent of scaling Mt Everest for singers. An impossible song written for a mythical creature (demon) to sing. Like Kelly Clarkson did THAT and more. Best mic drop ever. https://t.co/LTSaq9NbTD
— kinsako (@kinsako87) September 1, 2026

kinsako / Via x.com

Some compared her performance to 'a perfect game in baseball', and I kinda get it.

Marveling at her vocal abilities, several users brought up Clarkson's win in the first season of American Idol, saying that discovering her was an incredible thing to have happened.

"We really struck gold in American Idol, S1" said a user.

I don't know if everyone realizes how immensely talented Kelly Clarkson is:
-the range on this song is nearly impossible to sing, much less make sound good
-singing it live in the original key (even the original band doesn't do this)
-we really struck gold in American Idol, S1 https://t.co/4sXPXbU6H5
— Aaron Boyce (Probable Spam) (@jaaronboyce) September 1, 2026

@jaaronboyce/X / Via x.com

There was also this gem:

In an conversation with her fellow judges and coaches in season 30 of The Voice—which premieres September 21—Kelly talked about her experience covering the song.

Well, you did, Kelly. You did.

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