Kim Jong-hyun

At 27 years old, Kim Jong-hyun has this physical status:

Kim Jong-hyun (April 8, 1990 – December 18, 2017), better known mononymously as Jonghyun, was a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, radio host, and author under the SM Entertainment label.

He was the main vocalist of the South Korean boy band Shinee for nine years, releasing twelve albums with the group in both Korean and Japanese.

He also participated in SM Entertainment's project group, SM the Ballad, for the release of two EP albums. Jonghyun was also a solo artist, beginning in January 2015 with the release of his first EP album, Base.

It peaked at number one on both the Billboard World Album Chart and the Gaon Album Chart.

On September 17 the same year, Jonghyun released a compilation album, Story Op.1.

His debut studio album She Is was released on May 24, 2016, followed by his second compilation album, Story Op.2 on April 24, 2017.

Jonghyun began his first solo concert tour, titled "The Story by Jonghyun" on October 2, 2015.

This was followed by three further concert tours in later years.

He was regarded as one of the best vocalists in South Korea.

He has also received praise for his artistic control and involvement in the creation of his music, which are rare in K-pop.Jonghyun remained musically active as main vocalist of Shinee and as a solo artist until his death on December 18, 2017, when he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

His final album, Poet | Artist, was released posthumously on January 23, 2018.

It was announced, prior to the release, that all profits from the album would be given to Jonghyun's mother and be used to start a charity foundation.

In September 2018, the Shinin Foundation was established by Jonghyun's family to help struggling young artists.

Personal life

Jonghyun dropped out of high school in 10th grade to pursue a music career, but later attended Chungwoon University before transferring to Myongji University, where he received a master's degree in film and musical studies.

In April 2013, Jonghyun was involved in a car accident and injured his nose. SM Entertainment reported that he had undergone surgery following the accident. He sat out most of his group's promotions for their third studio album, though he participated in the final week.

In December 2013, as a show of support towards a protest focused on shining light on South Korea's social inequality, Jonghyun changed his Twitter profile picture to an image of a message written by a transgender, bisexual student protester. It was a message that critiqued the country's cultural tightness, emphasis on social norms, and its discrimination against the LGBT community. Jonghyun also contacted the student and thanked her for speaking out and voicing her position that "different doesn't mean wrong". This show of support attracted responses from the public, both positive and negative. He received defamatory responses from Ilbe Storehouse members allegedly claiming to be members of Shinee's fanclub.

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Career

Jonghyun was spotted by SM Entertainment at 15 years old, after playing in a song festival with his band at school. On SBS' Inkigayo, Jonghyun debuted as part of the five-member boy group Shinee on May 25, 2008. Jonghyun joined the group in 2009 as a songwriter, writing the lyrics to their fourth Korean song, "Juliette," which was included on the group's second EP, Romeo. Jonghyun said he was inspired by the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet and wanted to write a romance story that "would make everybody interested but also a tale for which everyone can relate."

Jonghyun was one of twenty idols from several South Korean companies who performed the song "Let's Go," which promoted the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. He sang of himself, Seohyun of Girls' Generation, and Luna of f(x). Jonghyun, TRAX's Jay, Super Junior's Kyuhyun, and Jino (now a member of Pentagon and goes by the name Jinho) participated in SM the Ballad, a project group established by SM Entertainment with a focus on ballads and R&B in November 2010. On October 29, 2010, the band's debut EP, Miss You, was released.

Jonghyun appeared on KBS' Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend, a television competition show in which singers perform new interpretations of old songs by "legendary artists" in June 2011. Jonghyun won the first round and beat his fellow, Yesung of Super Junior, but he had to cancel after the first episode due to his busy schedule. Jonghyun was left in tears on stage after the show's tough elimination strategy and structure had come under fire from viewers.

Jonghyun debuted as a composer with the album "A Gloomy Clock," which was included on IU's third studio album, Modern Times. The song, which Jonghyun gave to IU as a friend, was also co-written by Jonghyun and dubbed a duet. Son Dam-bi released "Red Candle," a song that Jonghyun composed and wrote two months later in December.

The Ballad returned to SM the Ballad on February 4, 2014, with a new lineup and their second EP Breath after a four-year absence. As a result of a joint effort with Girls' Generation's Taeyeon, Jonghyun performed the title track "Breath" as a performer. Jonghyun debuted as a radio host on MBC radio station Blue Night in July 2014. MBC said Jonghyun was chosen to host because of his commitment to music and passion for music. Taemin, a fellow Shinee member, released his first EP, Ace, in which Jonghyun contributed to the project by writing the lyrics to the song "Pretty Boy."

Jonghyun's first EP, Base, was released on January 12, 2015. The lead track was originally the upbeat "Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)" by Jonghyun, who wrote the lyrics. After charting well on the digital charts, the pre-released track "Déjà-Boo" was named as the second lead track. Zion.T. co-composed "Déjà-Boo" on "Déjà-Boo." Jonghyun's debut EP received critical acclaim, and he was lauded for his contributions to the album's development and the numerous collaborations with musicians outside of SM Entertainment, including Younha, Wheesung, and Zion.T. Both the Billboard World Albums Chart and the Gaon Album Chart reached the album's top position. Jonghyun will appear on the first episode of the second season of the entertainment network, 4 Things Show, on January 10, according to television network Mnet. During the episode, Taemin, Davichi's Minkyung, and Zion appeared as Jonghyun's friends.

Jonghyun composed and wrote the song "Playboy," which was included in Exo's second Korean album, Exodus, in March 2015. Lim Kim's third EP, Simple Mind, was released "No More" in April, a month after she had written and published "No More" on her third EP, Simple Mind, which was also composed and written by Jonghyun. He has also appeared in all of the aforementioned songs.

Jonghyun appeared on the first of Mnet's Monthly Live Connection in October, bringing together two artists from various musical backgrounds to work on a single song. On the 14th of October, Jonghyun unveiled the single "Elevator" as part of the television show. He co-authored "I Guess Now It's the Fall" with Soran's Go Young-Bae, as well as singer-songwriter Jung Joon-Young, which produced the single "Aewol."

Jonghyun performed his first solo concert The Story by Jonghyun in August 2015 as part of SM Entertainment's concert series The Agit. Jonghyun performed tracks from his first EP on his first EP and then released a new compilation album of his songs from his radio show MBC Blue Night. Story Op. 1, a compilation album, was released on September 17, 2015. Following the album's debut, Jonghyun appeared at a total of 12 sold-out shows, titled The Story by Jonghyun, in October. Each concert featured a different celebrity, including Shinee and Taemin, IU, Zion.T, Jung-in, Lim Kim, Oksang Dalbit, Coffee Boy, Nine, Lee Ji-hyoung, Soran, and poet Ha Sang-wook.

In September, Jonghyun published a book titled Skeleton Flower: Things That Have Been Released and Set Free, which discusses his songwriting experiences and inspirations. Jonghyun appeared on his radio show in January this month, enabling him to perform a total of nine songs that were either entirely written and composed by Jonghyun or written by Jonghyun with the support of his composition company, WeFreaky. According to a survey conducted by 40 anonymous music industry executives in October 2015, Jonghyun was named one of the top five K-pop idol vocalists.

Jonghyun produced and wrote the track "Already" for Taemin's first studio album, Press It, which was released in February 2016. "Breathe" was also composed and written for Lee Hi's album Seoulite, which was released in March 2016. On March 18, 2016, Jonghyun unveiled "Your Voice," a joint venture with Heritage titled "Your Voice," as part of SM Entertainment's SM Station program.

Jonghyun's first studio album, She Is, was released on May 24, 2016, and the bulk of the songs were written and composed by Jonghyun. The album spans a number of genres, including electro-punk, EDM, and R&B. On She Is, Jonghyun said, "one can feel his passion as a singer-songwriter the most."

MBC Blue Night's Jonghyun will step down from his role as the radio host at MBC Blue Night on March 9, 2017. The decision came following a lengthy discussion between Jonghyun and the show's workers, who said, "It's sad, but because Shinee's Japanese and North American tour is about to begin, he decided to leave." In an interview with Esquire, he referred to the experience as a turning point in his life. "I think I was more at ease being "the musician Kim Jonghyun," before he began to explore new things, express himself, and link with the world on a deeper level. [...] Because it was the one [and the public] was used to. When I first started doing radio, it changed. "I became [more] familiar with Kim Jonghyun's image, which I had seen through radio as I began to express my human side to others.' He also loved the routine that came with hosting the midnight radio show. It gave him a sense of stability, which is unusual in the entertainment industry.

On April 24, 2017, he released Story Op.2, his second compilation album. The Agit (The Letter), Jonghyun's series of 20 concerts held in Seoul between May and July, 2017. Only 12 concerts were planned at the start, but Jonghyun decided to stage eight additional concerts after fans demanded more performances. The concerts featured songs from the album Story Op. 2, and attracted 14,000 viewers.

During a concert titled Inspired at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium, Jonghyun hosted a concert titled Inspired at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium on December 9-October 10, 2017. Jonghyun was also filming the lead song's music video at the time, and he was due to be out in January 2018. The album, Poet | Artist, was released posthumously on January 23, 2018, with all proceeds from the album's sales to be donated to Jonghyun's mother, in addition to establishing a foundation "to assist those people who are living in difficult circumstances." Poet | Artist debuted on the Billboard 200 with 5,000 equivalent album units, making Jonghyun the fourth Korean soloist to appear on the chart after BoA, G-Dragon, and Taeyang.

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