Who is Jung Yong-hwa? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

South Korean Celebrities Born In June

Age: 34 Years, 34 Year Old Males

Record Producers Lyricists & Songwriters

City: Seoul, South Korea

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Childhood & Early Life

Jung Yong-hwa was born in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea, on 22 June 1989 as the second son of his parents. He was brought up with his elder brother who is four years older than him. His family moved to the city of Busan in 1991, from where he completed his high school. He moved back to Seoul to join college, where he joined FNC Music.

Jung started composing music when he was in school and was part of a band when he was in college. By the time he was 20, he moved to Japan to study music and started performing with his band popularly known as CNBLUE. They made their first independent album ‘Now or Never’ in 2009 and also made several street performances to promote their music.

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Career

Jung Yong-hwa and his band made their official debut in South Korea in 2010, with their album, ‘Bluetory’ that took the charts by storm with their title song ‘I’m a Loner’. The following year he released his first solo single ‘For First Time Lovers’, which was played on the second season of the television show ‘We Got Married’. The song reached the number one position on the Gaon Singles Chart of South Korea.

He started philanthropic gestures early in his career by donating all profits from his single ‘You My Star’ to charity in 2014. His solo artist debut album ‘One Fine Day’ got to the number one spot of the Billboard’s World Albums Chart in 2015.

In 2016 he released the singles ‘Hello’ and ‘Empathy’ in collaboration with Sunwoo Jung-a, that received positive reviews from fans. He went on to collaborate with many foreign artists and released his Japanese album ‘Summer Calling’ in 2017. He also went on a Japanese tour in August 2017.

He was the first member of his group to take up acting with a role in the television drama ‘You’re Beautiful’ in 2009, where he is featured as the lead guitarist of a musical group. The serial was extensively popular in Korea and Japan. In 2011, he again co-starred with Park Shin-hye from ‘You’re Beautiful’ in the serial ‘Heartstrings’. His performance turned him into a youth icon in Japan.

He declined a third serial with Park Shin-hye as he wanted to avoid being stereotyped and went on to act in the romantic comedy, ‘Marry Him If You Dare’ with a new cast. In 2014, he gave a spectacular performance in ‘Three Musketeers’ that gained popularity in China.

His latest movies in 2017 include the Chinese film ‘Cook up a Storm’ with Nicholas Tse and ‘The Package’ alongside Lee Yeon-hee on JTBC network.

Having gained celebrity status Jung Yong-hwa went on to appear as a guest in a number of variety shows in South Korea. ‘Sunday Sunday Night’ on MBC network was his first appearance that features him with other celebrities on a wild boar hunt. The show had to be taken off the air due to animal activists. His next appearance in ‘Eco House’ was more in line with activists and dealt with climate change.

He was paired with Seohyun in the reality show ‘We Got Married’ on MBC network. He is also known for having made the maximum number of appearances on the show ‘Running Man’.

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Major Works

He made his debut in films with his role as Chef Ahn Paul in the movie ‘Cook up a Storm’ in 2017.

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He has appeared in a number of television serials that include ‘You’re Beautiful’ (2009), ‘Heartstrings’ (2011), ‘A Gentleman’s Dignity’ (2012), ‘Marry Him If You Dare’ (2013), ‘The Three Musketeers’ (2014) and ‘The Package’ (2017).

He has hosted the reality shows ‘Inkigayo and ‘Night After Night’ in 2010 – 2011 with Sulli and Daesung respectively.

He has also participated as the main cast in the variety shows ‘Korean Ecosystem Rescue Centre: Hunters’, ‘We Got Married’, ‘Island Trio’ and ‘Syndrome Man’.

He has appeared as a guest artist in 12 episodes of the show ‘Running Man’.

His Korean albums ‘First Step’ and ‘2gether’ reached the number one spot on the Korean charts. He also released seven studio albums in Japanese that include ‘Code Name Blue’ and ‘Colours’ which were number one on the Japanese charts. His solo debut studio album ‘One Fine Day’ featured on the US World Music Chart.

Awards & Achievements

He won the SBS Drama New Star Award, MBC Entertainment Popularity Award and 3rd Korean Drama Popularity Award for his performance in ‘You’re Beautiful’.

SBS Entertainment recognised his performance in ‘Inkigayo’ with their Best Newcomer in a Variety Show Award.

In 2012 his appearance in Heartstrings won him the Hallyu Star Award at the 1st K-Drama Awards ceremony.

In 2015, he was awarded the Hottest Korean Artist Award and Most Influential Korean Star Award at the Hong Kong Weibo Star Awards ceremony. He also won the Solo Artist Award at the Top Chinese Music Awards ceremony and ELLE China International Singer of the Year the same year.

His number ‘One Fine Day’ won the Best Solo Vocal Award at the Golden Disc Awards.

Personal Life & Legacy

In 2016 he was under investigation for insider trading in stocks of FNC Entertainment but later proved innocent.

Jung Yong-hwa presently lives with his family and is concentrating on his career. Though age is catching up on him, he has given no serious thought to marriage. He once mentioned that he would like to get married before he is 45 years old.

Trivia

Jung Yong-hwa has composed most of the songs that he has sung himself. He has also composed lyrics as well as music for other bands including CNBLUE.

He composed and produced the school song for a school in Burkina, Africa for free as a gift to the school.

He is the composer of the Samsung Galaxy brand song ‘Feel Good’ which was released officially in 2013.

He is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the K-Rock / K-Pop band CNBLUE since it was established in 2009.

Jung Yong-hwa Biography