Issue No. 1 · August 2026
    iFAMOUSby iFANN

    The monthly record of fame.

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    Issue No. 1 · August 2026

    The Most Famous K-Pop Stars in the World

    Top 77 of 77 ranked · August 2026 · See today's live standing

    Everyone, living or dead, on one scale: 76 of the 77 listed are living.

    First issue under methodology v5.62. Movement begins with the next issue frozen under the same version.

    Jung Kook and V put all seven BTS members inside the K-pop top fifteen

    iFAMOUS Editorial Desk · 1 min read

    Two Bangtan members clear the field, BLACKPINK's four follow, and only one of the 77 names measured in the sector has died.

    Jung Kook is the most famous K-pop artist in the world for August 2026 with a score of 19.9, and V, the BTS singer and actor known for his deep voice, is a fraction behind at 19.6. Jimin, third at 17.7, makes it three members of the same group at the top before anyone else appears. Jennie, the BLACKPINK singer, rapper and actress, is fourth at 17.2.

    BTS and BLACKPINK between them take eleven of the fifteen places. Rosé, the New Zealand and South Korean singer, is fifth; Jin sixth; Lisa, the Thai rapper and dancer, seventh; SUGA, who records solo as Agust D, eighth. J-Hope is eleventh, Jisoo thirteenth and RM, the rapper who leads BTS, fifteenth at 11.7. Every one of the seven Bangtan members is in the table, which no other group in any sector of this issue manages.

    The names in between show how the sector layers its generations. IU, the singer, songwriter and actress, is the most famous soloist outside the two groups at tenth. Psy, twelfth at 12.7, and G-Dragon, fourteenth at 12, are the pioneers who carried Korean pop abroad before either group debuted. And Cortis, the Big Hit boy band that debuted only on August 18, 2025, is already ninth at 13.5, the fastest rise in the table.

    Seventy-seven names were measured across ten countries, and 76 are living. South Korea supplies 58, the United States and China four each and Thailand three. The engine measures worldwide fame, not quality, and by that measure K-pop's attention is concentrated in two groups to a degree few sectors match.

    RankNameScore
    1
    Jung Kook
    KRcelebrityAlive
    19.9
    2
    V (Kim Taehyung)
    KRcelebrityAlive
    19.6
    3
    Jimin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    17.7
    4
    Jennie
    KRcelebrityAlive
    17.2
    5
    Rosé
    NZcelebrityAlive
    15.3
    6
    Jin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    14.4
    7
    Lisa
    THcelebrityAlive
    14.1
    8
    SUGA
    KRcelebrityAlive
    13.7
    9
    Cortis
    KRcelebrityAlive
    13.5
    10
    IU
    KRcelebrityAlive
    13.4
    11
    J-Hope
    KRcelebrityAlive
    13.1
    12
    Psy
    KRcelebrityAlive
    12.7
    13
    Jisoo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    12.5
    14
    G-Dragon
    KRcelebrityAlive
    12.0
    15
    RM
    KRcelebrityAlive
    11.7
    16
    Cha Eun-woo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    11.4
    17
    Lee Min-ho
    KRcelebrityAlive
    11.3
    18
    Bae Suzy
    KRcelebrityAlive
    10.6
    19
    Jackson
    HKcelebrityAlive
    9.9
    20
    Rain
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.8
    21
    Park Bo-gum
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.5
    22
    Kai
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.5
    23
    Hwasa
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.3
    24
    T.O.P
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.3
    25
    Jay Park
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.3
    26
    Bang Chan
    AUcelebrityAlive
    9.2
    27
    CL
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.1
    28
    Kim Jong-hyun
    KRcelebrity
    9.1
    29
    Lim Yoona
    KRcelebrityAlive
    9.0
    30
    Karina
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.9
    31
    Irene
    GRcelebrityAlive
    8.7
    32
    Hyuna
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.7
    33
    Jeon Somi
    CAcelebrityAlive
    8.7
    34
    JIHYO
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.6
    35
    Doh Kyung-soo
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.5
    36
    Tiffany Young
    UScelebrityAlive
    8.5
    37
    Taeyang
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.5
    38
    Jang Won-young
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.5
    39
    Lee Seung-gi
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.3
    40
    BoA
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.3
    41
    Lee Felix
    AUcelebrityAlive
    8.1
    42
    J.Y. Park
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.1
    43
    Lee Hye-ri
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.0
    44
    Dara
    KRcelebrityAlive
    8.0
    45
    TZUYU
    TWcelebrityAlive
    7.9
    46
    Hwang Hyun-jin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.8
    47
    Chen
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.8
    48
    Chanyeol
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.7
    49
    Seungri
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.6
    50
    Joy
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.6
    51
    Ningning
    CNcelebrityAlive
    7.6
    52
    Seulgi
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.5
    53
    Daesung
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.5
    54
    Ahn Hyo-seop
    CAcelebrityAlive
    7.5
    55
    Kris Wu
    CNcelebrityAlive
    7.5
    56
    Lee Hyori
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.4
    57
    Hyoyeon
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.4
    58
    Sunmi
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.3
    59
    Kim Jaejoong
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.2
    60
    Eric Nam
    UScelebrityAlive
    7.1
    61
    Krystal Jung
    UScelebrityAlive
    7.1
    62
    Kim Hyun-joong
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.0
    63
    BamBam
    THcelebrityAlive
    7.0
    64
    Arden Cho
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.0
    65
    Ailee
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.0
    66
    Choi Soo-young
    KRcelebrityAlive
    7.0
    67
    Victoria Song
    CNcelebrityAlive
    6.9
    68
    Gong Hyo-jin
    KRcelebrityAlive
    6.9
    69
    Yuqi
    CNcelebrityAlive
    6.9
    70
    Ok Taec-yeon
    KRcelebrityAlive
    6.9
    71
    Wendy
    UScelebrityAlive
    6.8
    72
    Yiruma
    KRcelebrityAlive
    6.8
    73
    Jo Yu-ri
    KRcelebrityAlive
    6.8
    74
    Ten
    THcelebrityAlive
    6.8
    75
    Dahyun
    KRcelebrityAlive
    6.8
    76
    Jessi
    KRcelebrityAlive
    6.7
    77
    Kim Tae-hee
    KRcelebrityAlive
    6.7

    About this list

    This list ranks the most famous k-pop stars in the world as of August 2026, by overall global fame rather than one month's attention. It is the top 77 of 77 names the rankings measured in this sector, frozen as the permanent record of that edition. This is the standard reading: everyone, living or dead, on one scale. 76 of the 77 listed are living; the Alive reading restricts the same ranking to living people.

    Jung Kook is No. 1 on this list for August 2026. Behind Jung Kook come V (Kim Taehyung) and Jimin.

    What famous means here

    Fame, in iFAMOUS, is how widely the world knows a name: how recognisable a person's name, face or work is, and how well people know who they are. It is assessed from extensive historical and current public data, some of it reaching back more than twenty years, and it is not merit, talent, importance or popularity on iFANN. The rankings model real-world global fame, not internet fame; the data is the instrument, not the subject. Activity on iFANN itself is excluded.

    The month in the title is the date of this edition, not the period measured. The list is a snapshot of overall fame as it stood when the issue was frozen: a name does not lose its place because one month was quiet, and a trending moment alone does not put a name here. Trending attention is published separately on ifann.net.

    How the list was ranked

    The iFANN Global Fame Rankings combine worldwide Wikipedia readership across languages, worldwide news coverage and search interest anchored against stable reference names, with search history reaching back to 2004. A twelve-month baseline sits behind the current reading and short-lived surges are capped, so the list reflects durable recognition rather than one week of headlines. Rankings are computed daily on ifann.net and frozen on the second day of the following month as that month's issue; a published issue never changes.

    About K-Pop

    K-Pop is one of the sectors the journal ranks every month, alongside every country, origin and region list in this issue. Sector lists use the same rankings and the same scale as The 100, so a name can be compared across sectors and against the world. Korean pop groups, soloists, labels, songs and choreography that shaped the global K-wave.

    Powered by iFANN

    iFAMOUS is published by iFANN and powered by the iFANN Global Fame Rankings v5.62. Today's live standing for this list is on ifann.net; the journal freezes it once a month so it can be cited permanently.

    Related searches: most famous k-pop stars in the world 2026, top k-pop stars August 2026, k-pop stars fame ranking, most famous k-pop stars alive.

    Cite as
    "Jung Kook, No. 1 on The Most Famous K-Pop Stars in the World", iFAMOUS No. 1 (August 2026), ifamous.org

    This scope in the journal

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