Jaehyun (singer) – Wikipedia

Posted on by

South Korean singer (born 1997)

Jeong Yun-o (Korean: 정윤오; born Jeong Jae-hyun (Korean: 정재현); February 14, 1997), professionally known as Jaehyun, is a South Korean singer, rapper, television host, and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy group NCT and its sub-units NCT U, NCT 127, and NCT DoJaeJung. First introduced in December 2013 as a trainee under the pre-debut team SM Rookies, he debuted in April 2016 as a member of the rotational unit NCT U and as a member of Seoul-based fixed unit NCT 127 in July 2016. He later joined a new fixed unit, named NCT DoJaeJung, in April 2023.

Jaehyun hosted the television program Inkigayo from October 2019 to February 2021. As an actor, he made his debut with a leading role in the college-romance television series Dear. M (2022).

Early life and education[edit]

Jaehyun was born on February 14, 1997, in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea.[1] Although he was born Jeong Jae-hyun (정재현), he later legally changed his name to Jeong Yun-o (정윤오).[1] Between the ages of 5 and 10, Jaehyun lived and studied in Connecticut in the United States and went by the English name Jay Jeong.[2] As a result, he is fluent in both English and Korean. Jaehyun became interested in music at a young age due to his parents’ influence, and learned how to play the guitar and the piano, and later began singing during middle school. His grandmother, a retired professional dancer, was also his guide during dance training.[3][4] He attended Shindong Middle School and Apgujeong High School. He transferred to the School of Performing Arts Seoul in his second year of high school and graduated in 2016.[5][6] He used to be a student council president.[3]

2012–2016: Pre-debut[edit]

Jaehyun was cast by SM Entertainment in 2012, discovered by street scouts in front of his school. He auditioned with a performance of “Mama” by Exo.[2] On December 9, 2013, he was introduced as a member of the pre-debut trainee team SM Rookies.[7] In 2014, he participated with fellow NCT members on the show Exo 90:2014, where they performed songs from the 1990s.[8] From January 21 to July 1, 2015, he and groupmate Doyoung were MCs on Show Champion.[9] In July 2015, he and groupmate Ten both competed in Hope Basketball All-Star.[10] In December 2015, Jaehyun performed “A Whole New World” on Disney Channel Korea’s The Mickey Mouse Club.[2]

2016-2018: Debut with NCT[edit]

In April 2016, Jaehyun officially debuted as a member of the first NCT’s sub-unit, NCT U, with the singles “The 7th Sense” and “Without You”.[11] On July 10, he made his debut as a member of NCT 127 with their first EP, NCT#127.[12] In March 2017, Jaehyun joined the radio show NCT Night Night as a DJ alongside fellow member Johnny.[13] In November 2017, Jaehyun and Dear released the song “Try Again” for the project SM Station.[14] In December, he was featured in the music video for Wendy and Baek A-yeon’s “The Little Match Girl”.[15] In January 2018, Jaehyun released the single “Timeless” alongside a new NCT U lineup as part of the SM Station project.[16]

2019–present: Solo endeavors and acting debut[edit]

In October 2019, Jaehyun became one of three hosts for the South Korean music program Inkigayo alongside Minhyuk and Naeun, hosting the show every Sunday.[17] On September 4, 2020, it was confirmed that Jaehyun would make his acting debut in the KBS2 drama Dear. M, which was to be released in 2021, in the role of Cha Min-ho, a second year student in the Computer Science Department at Seoyeon University.[18] The drama was postponed indefinitely for airing after the lead actress, Park Hye-su, was accused of school bullying.[19] After nearly two years of delay, the first six episodes of Dear. M was released globally on June 29, 2022 through the streaming service Viki.[20] Its following episodes were released on July 6, 2022.

On November 2, 2021, Jaehyun was confirmed to star in a KakaoTV web series, a remake of the 2001 South Korean film Bungee Jumping of Their Own, playing the leading role of Im Hyun-bin.[21] On December 9 of the same year, during pre-production, KakaoTV announced the cancellation of the project due to concerns with the LGBT plot from the original film’s screenwriter.[22]

On August 18, 2022, Jaehyun released his first single “Forever Only” as part of NCT Lab. “Forever Only” is described as an R&B song featuring lyrics written by Jaehyun.[23] It received positive reviews from critics, and debuted at number 14 in the United States’ Billboard World Digital Songs and at 120 in South Korea’s Circle Digital Chart.[24][25]

On March 9, 2023, Jaehyun was confirmed to debut alongside his fellow NCT members Doyoung and Jungwoo in the new fixed sub-unit NCT DoJaeJung.[26] They are set to release a mini album titled Perfume on April 17, 2023.[27]

Other ventures[edit]

Ambassadorship[edit]

Following various successful collaborations with Prada, the brand selected Jaehyun as an ambassador in 2022, citing his influence and unique fashion style as a reason.[28] In 2023, he modeled for Prada’s SS23 campaign, making him the first Korean celebrity to be chosen as a model for the brand’s main global campaign.[29] Photographed by David Sims, the campaign draws “upon the characteristics of classic Hollywood and European movies – their images are frames within divergent stories, glimpses of an unseen narrative and an unknown script, a tension again between different views, of different lives” and features Jaehyun alongside actors Vincent Cassel, Louis Partridge, Hunter Schafer, Letitia Wright, and models Guinevere van Seenus and Rachel Williams.[30]

Filmography[edit]

Television[edit]

Radio show[edit]

Discography[edit]

Songwriting credits[edit]

All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association’s database, unless otherwise cited.[33]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b “The Perplexing Story Of Why NCT’s Jaehyun Changed His Name Multiple Times”. Koreaboo. February 13, 2021. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Bell, Crystal (October 24, 2018). “All You Need to Know About Korean Group NCT 127 (Except Their Blood Type)”. MTV News. Archived from the original on October 24, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  3. ^ a b ELLE; ELLE (July 27, 2022). “NCT 재현의 새롭고 분명한 세계”. ELLE (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  4. ^ “NCT 127’s Johnny and Jaehyun Reveal Their Heroes, What They Would Tell Their Rookie Selves, And More”. Soompi. April 23, 2020. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  5. ^ Kim, So-young (August 19, 2018). “고등학교때 주변 여학생들의 공식 ‘첫사랑’이었다는 남자 아이돌”. Insight (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  6. ^ “고교시절 압구정 슈퍼스타였다는 아이돌”. SBS NEWS (in Korean). August 5, 2017. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  7. ^ Choi, Ha-na (November 9, 2018). “‘해투4’ 보아부터 태용까지, SM 캐스팅 비화 “오디션서 애국가 불러” [종합]”. TV Daily. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  8. ^ “Mnet [EXO 902014] Ep.03 : 루키즈의 ‘신화 – 와일드 아이즈’ 퍼포먼스!!”. Mnet K-POP. August 29, 2014. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ a b Choi, Ji-hyun (January 16, 2015). “SM루키즈 도영 재현, 쇼챔피언 MC 발탁 됐다”. Korea Economy Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  10. ^ “슈퍼주니어·샤이니·EXO, 인기가수와 함께 하는 희망농구올스타”. Jumpball (in Korean). June 1, 2015. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  11. ^ Son, Ji-hyoung (April 6, 2016). “NCT U confirms lineup, set to unveil singles ‘The 7th Sense,’ ‘Without You’“. The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  12. ^ Park, Soo-in (July 10, 2016). “NCT 127 전곡 음원 공개, 보너스트랙까지 총 7곡 수록”. The Korea Herald (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Son, Ye-ji (March 9, 2017). “SBS 파워FM, ‘NCT의 나잇 나잇! 신설 (공식) | 텐아시아”. Ten Asia (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  14. ^ Kim, Eun-ae (November 24, 2017). “NCT 재현X디어, 오늘 ‘Try Again’ 발매..환상적인 듀엣”. Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  15. ^ Lee, Ha-na (December 1, 2017). “백아연X웬디, 듀엣곡 ‘성냥팔이 소녀’ 오늘(1일) 공개 ‘음색여신의 만남’“. Seoul Economic Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  16. ^ Herman, Tamar (January 12, 2018). “NCT U Returns With ‘Timeless’ Video”. Billboard. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018.
  17. ^ a b “몬스타엑스 민혁, 오늘(20일) ‘인기가요’ 새 MC로 전격 출격”. Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). October 20, 2019. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  18. ^ a b Ji, Min-kyung (September 3, 2020). “‘디어엠’ 박혜수·NCT 재현·김새론·배현성 캐스팅..2021년 상반기 방송 [공식]”. Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  19. ^ a b 뉴스, JTBC (March 24, 2022). “[단독] 편성보류 ‘디어엠’, 올 하반기 일본부터 선공개”. news.jtbc.joins.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  20. ^ Dear M | Korea | Drama | Watch with English Subtitles & More ✔️, archived from the original on June 8, 2022, retrieved June 9, 2022
  21. ^ “NCT’s Jaehyun to star in TV remake of ‘Bungee Jumping Of Their Own’“. NME. November 2, 2021. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  22. ^ “‘Bungee Jumping Of Their Own’ remake reportedly cancelled over writer’s “religious beliefs”“. NME. December 13, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  23. ^ Jang, In-young (August 12, 2022). NCT 재현, 첫 솔로곡 ‘포에버 온리’ 18일 발매…작사 참여 [NCT’s Jaehyun releases his first solo song ‘Forever Only’ on the 18th… Participate in songwriting]. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  24. ^ a b “World Digital Song Sales – Billboard”. Billboard. August 30, 2022. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  25. ^ a b “Circle Digital Chart – 2022 Weeks 34”. Circle Chart. August 14–20, 2022. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  26. ^ “[단독] NCT 첫 유닛은 도영·재현·정우 ‘도재정’, 상반기 데뷔” [NCT’s first unit consists of Doyoung, Jaehyun, and Jungwoo, ‘Do Jaejeong’, debuting in the first half of the year]. yhnews (in Korean). Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  27. ^ 정지원. “[단독] NCT 첫 유닛 ‘도재정’, 4월 17일 가요계 출격 확정” [NCT sub-unit ‘DoJaeJung’ to make their debut on April 17]. 조이뉴스24 (in Korean). Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  28. ^ Jang, In-young (June 20, 2022). NCT 재현, 프라다 앰베서더 발탁 [NCT Jaehyun selected as Prada ambassador]. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  29. ^ 기자, 장인영 인턴. “NCT 재현, 이탈리아 명품 프라다 캠페인 모델 선정”. entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  30. ^ “News & Media January 2023: PRADA SPRING/SUMMER 2023 ADV CAMPAIGN”. Prada Group.
  31. ^ Lee Kyung-ho (August 16, 2017). “추성훈·재현·채경 등, 김병만 없이 ‘정글’ 선발대 출국”. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  32. ^ “Billboard Vietnam Hot 100 – CHART DATE 2022-02-17”. Billboard Việt Nam (in Vietnamese). February 17, 2022. Archived from the original on February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  33. ^ “Songs Registered Under JAEHYUN (10012907)”. Korea Music Copyright Association. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.

External links[edit]