Kang Daniel is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, television host, and businessman. While promoting with South Korean boy group Wanna One, he received nine individual awards (including two variety rookie awards for his work on SBS's Master Key and MBC's It's Dangerous Beyond the Blankets). He officially debuted as a solo artist in July 2019 with the extended play (EP), Color on Me. The EPs lead single "What Are You Up To" earned him the Best Music Video award at the 2019 Melon Music Awards. For his accomplishments the following year, Kang won four bonsang awards from the APAN Music Awards, the Soribada Best K-Music Awards, the Seoul Music Awards, and The Fact Music Awards. He also won Stage of the Year at the 2020 Soribada Best K-Music Awards which was previously a daesang award. After the release of his fourth EP, Kang won Song of the Year in April for its lead single "Antidote" as the only male soloist to do so at the 11th Gaon Chart Music Awards. Overall, Kang has won 63 awards from 100 nominations since the start of his career in 2017.
In other accolades, Kang has attained a Guinness World Record for gaining one million followers on Instagram in the shortest amount of time. In 2017, Naver reported that Kang was included on its list of 'Most Searched Keywords' as the only singer in the top six, placing right below the president of South Korea. According to the KBS News list of 'Most Mentioned Figures in TV and Entertainment for 2018', Kang was the only individual among groups in the top three. He was also the only individual among groups in the Forbes 2019 'Korea Power Celebrity' list to place in the top four.
Alongside his music career, Kang made his acting debut through the 2022 Disney+ Star original series, Rookie Cops. This role earned him multiple awards including Rookie of the Year in television or film at the Asia Artist Awards. In the same year, he was selected for the Seoul Mayor's Award for Culture due to his great contribution to the rise of Seoul's awareness by promoting Hallyu in various fields. Aside from the entertainment industry, Kang is also known for his involvement in philanthropic activities and received a plaque of recognition from The Snail of Love, a social welfare group for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Awards and nominations
+Name of the award ceremony, year presented, award category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination Award Year Category Recipient Result APAN Music Awards 2020 APAN Top 10 Bonsang Kang Daniel Best Performance Best Male Solo – Korea Best Male Solo – Global KT Seezn Star Award APAN Star Awards 2022 Best Original Soundtrack "Hush Hush (Korean Ver.)" – Rookie Cops 2024 Best Entertainer Award Kang Daniel Asia Artist Awards 2019 Potential Award – Singer Star15 Popularity Award Best Emotive Award – Singer 2020 Asia Celebrity Award Best Musician Award 2021 Male Solo Singer Popularity Award Best Musician Award 2022 Potential Award – Actor Rookie Cops Rookie of the Year – Actor 2026 Popularity Award – Solo (Male) Kang Daniel Asian Pop Music Awards 2020 Best Male Artist – Overseas Cyan 2021 Yellow Top 20 Songs of the Year – Overseas "Antidote" Blue Dragon Series Awards 2022 Best New Actor Rookie Cops Popular Star Award Brand Customer Loyalty Award 2020 Male Solo Singer Kang Daniel 2021 2022 Brand of the Year Awards 2018 Male CF Model 2020 Male Solo Singer 2021 CJ E&M America Awards 2017 Male Idol of the Year Click! Star Wars Awards 2018 Popularity Award – Individual Hall of Fame Dong-A.com's Pick 2019 Idol Pick Long-term Winner Award 2020 Idol Pick Soulmate Award Elle Style Awards 2018 Best Magazine Cover Award July 2018 Issue – Log Out The Fact Music Awards 2018 Fan N Star Choice Award – Individual Kang Daniel Fan N Star Most Votes Award – Individual Fan N Star Hall of Fame – Individual 2019 Fan N Star Choice Award – Individual Fan N Star Most Votes Award – Individual 2020 Year's Artist Bonsang Fan N Star Choice Award – Individual TMA Popularity Award 2021 Fan N Star Choice Award – Individual Artist of the Year – Bonsang 2022 Fashionista Awards 2017 Best Fashionista – Rising Star Forbes Korea K-Pop Awards 2021 Best K-Pop Idols Who Shined in 2021 – Male 2022 Best K-Pop Idols Who Shined in 2022 – Male Gaon Chart Music Awards 2020 Mubeat Global Choice Award – Male 2021 Song of the Year – February "Paranoia" Song of the Year – April "Antidote" Golden Disc Awards 2020 Rookie of the Year Kang Daniel Popularity Award 2021 Album Bonsang Magenta Curaprox Popularity Award Kang Daniel QQ Music Popularity Award Hanteo Music Awards 2022 Artist of the Year – Bonsang Post Generation Award K-Global Heart Dream Awards 2022 Main Award Male Solo Popularity Award Fandom Donation Award Korea Best Brand Awards 2023 Best YouTube Content Colorful Daniel Korea First Brand Awards 2021 Male Solo Singer Kang Daniel 2022 2023 Male Solo Artist Male Idol Actor Rookie Cops MAMA Awards 2019 Best New Male Artist Kang Daniel Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 Artist of the Year 2020 Best Male Artist Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 Song of the Year "Who U Are" Best Dance Performance – Solo Artist of the Year Kang Daniel 2021 Best Male Artist Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 Artist of the Year 2022 Best Male Artist Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 Artist of the Year MBC Entertainment Awards 2018 Rookie Award – Variety It's Dangerous Beyond the Blankets Melon Music Awards 2019 Best Music Video "What Are You Up To" Hot Trend Kang Daniel MTN Broadcast Advertising Festival 2018 Viewers' Grand Prize Hite Extra Cold TVC – Ice Drum 2020 KT TVC – Galaxy Note 10 Aura Red Mubeat Awards 2022 Best Performance "Nirvana" featuring pH-1 and WDBZ SBS Entertainment Awards 2017 Rookie Award – Variety Master Key Seoul International Drama Awards 2022 Outstanding K-Pop Idol Rookie Cops Seoul Music Awards 2020 Bonsang Award Color on Me Dance Performance Award "Touchin'" Popularity Award Color on Me K-Wave Award 2021 Bonsang Award Magenta Daesang Award Popularity Award Kang Daniel K-Wave Award Fan PD Artist Award 2022 Bonsang Award Yellow Daesang Award U+Idol Live Best Artist Award Kang Daniel Popularity Award K-Wave Award 2023 Bonsang Award The Story Daesang Award Popularity Award Kang Daniel Hallyu Special Award 2025 Main Prize (Bonsang) Popularity Award K-Wave Special Award K-pop World Choice – Solo Soribada Best K-Music Awards 2020 New K-Wave Real Fan Award Bonsang Award Stage of the Year Male Popularity Award
Other accolades Honors +Name of organization, year given, and the name of the honor Organization Year Honor Newsis K-Expo Cultural Awards 2022 Seoul Mayor's Award for Culture The Snail of Love 2020 Soul–The Fan No.1
Listicles + Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement Publisher Year Listicle Placement Forbes 2018 2030 Power Leaders in Entertainment Placed 2019 Korea Power Celebrity 40 4th 2022 26th 2023 30 Under 30 Placed Gallup Korea 2017 Most Preferred Idols 2nd 2018 5th 2019 13th KBS 2018 Most Mentioned Figures in TV and Entertainment 3rd Korea Economic Daily 2017 Best Rising Stars 1st Naver 2017 Most Searched Keywords 6th People 2022 Talented Emerging Artists Making Their Mark 7th tvN 2017 Most Influential Celebrities in Korea 1st Zoom 2021 Top Solo Artists of K-pop Placed
World record +Key Indicates a now former record holder
+Name of publication, year the record was awarded, name of the record, and the name of the record holder Publication Year World record Record holder Guinness World Records 2019 Fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram Kang Daniel
See also List of awards and nominations received by Wanna One Konnect Entertainment § Accolade
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