Childhood & Early Life
Jung was born on 21 February 1989, in South Korea. He was nicknamed ‘Raccoon’ by his friends and family.
His English name is Andrew, which also happens to be the English name of his elder brother Joon Ha. He is referred to as ‘Little Andrew’ to avoid confusion.
His father was an international businessman. Hence, their family had to travel a lot when he was young. He was raised in places like the Philippines, China, France, Indonesia, and Japan. As a result, he can converse in five different languages – English, Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and Tagalog.
He couldn’t study in a regular school because of constant shifting and that made his childhood very lonely. He took private lessons at home which also included lessons pertaining to piano and violin.
He is a fourth-degree black belt holder in Taekwondo. At 17, he went to the Philippines to do missionary work. He also started teaching Taekwondo and music to local children there. At the age of 19, he went to South Korea without informing his family to realize his dream of becoming a musician.
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Entertainment Career
He auditioned for Mnet’s reality TV show ‘Superstar K4’ as a solo artist. His voice and character impressed the judges and the audience alike. Hence, he was selected to showcase his skills in the show.
His musical collaboration with Roy Kim turned out to be the best duet audition song ever. The song dominated all the music charts and won ‘Mnet 20's Choice Hot Cover.’ It also won the ‘Most Popular Karaoke Song of the Year’ at the 3rd ‘Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards.’
He became one of the top three finalists, but got eliminated in the sixth stage. He would go on to say that the show was the turning point in his music career.
He then went back to earning money through modeling and singing. He worked as a DJ and also appeared in other reality shows like ‘Happy Together,’ ‘Radio Star,’ ‘2 Days & 1 Night,’ and ‘We Got Married: Season 4.’
He signed a music contract with ‘CJ E&M,’ and released his first single ‘Spotless Mind.’ His debut single managed to reach top spots on ‘Mnet,’ ‘Bugs,’ and ‘Soribada’ within hours of its release.
On October 10, 2013, he released his first music album titled ‘1st Mini Album’ which had six tracks. The album retained the top ten positions for weeks, with singles like ‘The Sense of an Ending’ and ‘Spotless Mind’ reaching second and third spot respectively on MBC’s show ‘Music Core.’
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On January 2, 2014, he released an OST titled ‘I’M nobody’ for ‘Pretty Man’ which topped the Mnet and Bugs’ chart within a week from its release.
On March 12, 2014, he released a song titled ‘Always Reds’ after collaborating with a hip hop group called ‘Soul Dive.’
On May 29, 2014, he released a motivational song titled ‘Just the way you are’ which topped various charts, such as ‘Mnet,’ ‘Bugs,’ and ‘Olleh Music.’
On June 26, 2014, he released his second album ‘Teenager’ which was about encouraging adults to dream again. It reached the third place on ‘Gaon Album Chart’ within a few days from its release.
He also held a music concert called ‘2014 Demo Live Tour with Jung Joon-young’ in China. Meanwhile, he also performed at ‘KCON’ in Los Angeles, California and did a drama concert in Japan.
In 2015, he debuted as the lead vocalist for the rock band ‘Jung Joon Young Band’ (JJYB) which consisted of three other musicians. They released their first album ‘Escape to Hangover’ which received positive reviews.
He also made his movie debut with the romantic comedy film ‘Love Forecast.’ He then starred in a drama series titled ‘The Lover’ which was about a musician who dates a woman 12 years older to him.
In 2016, he released his solo album ‘Sympathy’ after collaborating with ‘C9 Entertainment.’ The album was released under their music label, ‘REALIVE.’ ‘JJYB’ was now called ‘Drug Restaurant,’ and they released their self-titled album.
In 2017, he announced that he will release his first full album titled ‘The First Person.’ The album was released digitally on February 7, 2017, and its main single was titled ‘Me and You.’
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On July 22, his comeback album with his band was officially announced. The album was called ‘Pomade.’
‘Pomade’ was released digitally on August 4, 2017. The first track from the album was called ‘Drink O2 in The Water.’ The band kick-started its first European tour in September.
He also made appearances on variety shows, such as ‘Tent in the City’ (2010), ‘M! Countdown’ (2014), ‘Fashion King Korea 2’ (2014), ’Two Young’ (2015), ‘Laws of the Jungle’ (2015), ‘Old House New House’ (2015), ‘Mr. Baek The Homemade Food Master 2’ (2015), ‘Celebrity Bromance’ (2016), ‘Male Friend X Female Friend’ (2017), ‘Trip of the Beer Lovers’ (2017), and ‘My Sweet Town’ (2017).
On January 2018, the band released its new digital single ‘Her,’ which was inspired by their Europe tour. On March 29, Jung released his solo single ‘Fiancée.’ In May, he held a solo concert at ‘Shinhwa Cardan Square Live Hall’ in Seoul.
‘Drug Restaurant’ released their new single ‘403’ on August 31, 2018. The band then embarked on a tour titled ‘JJY X Drug Restaurant Europe Concert Tour 2018.’
In 2018, Jung joined ‘eSports’ as a professional gamer and became part of ‘Team Kongdoo’ which specializes in ‘PUBG.’ He also held his first fan meeting titled ‘Fiancée’ on September 2018. On March 2019, he retired from the entertainment industry.
Personal Life
It was rumored that he was dating his ‘We Got Married’ partner Jeong Yu-mi. However, he confessed that he isn’t good at relationships and that he prefers being single.
On March 11, 2019, Jung Joon was charged with allegations of recording his sexual encounters with at least 10 women and sharing the videos with friends in chatroom.
On March 12, he pleaded guilty to his crime. It was one of the biggest entertainment scandals, which is now known as the ‘Burning Sun Scandal.’ The scandal also included other K-pop celebrities, such as Seungri, Choi Jong-hoon, Roy Kim, Yong Jun-Hyun, and Yang Hyun –suk among many others.
In April, a woman accused him of raping her along with four other men, including Choi Jong-hoon. She claimed that the incident took place in 2016.
Jung Joon-young retired from the entertainment industry on March 12, 2019. He is currently under investigation and seeks legal settlements with the victims.
