| Cho Yong Pil (조용필, 趙容弼) | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Gawang(Singing King) |
| Born | March 21, 1950 , Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, South Korea |
| Genres | K-Rock, K-Pop, Trot, New Wave |
| Occupations | Musician, Songwriter, Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | Jigu Record, Pil Record |
| Associated acts | Atkins, Five Fingers, Kim trio, 25si, Geurimjadeul, Widaehan tansaeng |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 조용필 |
| Hanja | 趙容弼 |
| Revised Romanization | Jo Yong-pil |
| McCune–Reischauer | Cho Yongp'il |
Cho Yong-pil (hangul: 조용필; hanja: 趙容弼; also written Jo Yong-pil) is a South Korean pop singer born in 1950. Cho is considered to be the most influential figure in Korean pop music and has produced many memorable hits of Korean pop music history, including "Return to Busan Port," "Dear Friend," and "The Lady Outside the Window."
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Cho Yong-pil was born in Hwaseong, South Korea. When he was seven, he happened to listen to Ray Charles playing the harmonica, and this inspired young Cho to play music.
He formed a band called Atkins (Aeteukinjeu 애트킨즈), a country & western group, and played for the U.S. Army. After, he founded Five Fingers (Hwaibeu Pinggeoseu 화이브 핑거스), which played music by black artists.
In 1971, he joined the band, Kim trio (Kim Teurio 김트리오), which motivated him to perform rock music. Members of Kim Trio: Pa Kim (Plays Guitar), Dan Kim (Plays Drum), Sun Kim (Plays Keyboard).
His debut single, "Dorawayo Busanhange" 돌아와요 부산항에 (Come Back to Busan Port), brought him national attention when it was released in 1975, later becoming a hit in Japan. Cho then made a Japanese language version of the song, and sang live in Japan. His first album, Chang bakkui yeoja 창 밖의 여자 (The Woman outside the Window), was released in 1980 and has been followed by many others. In 1980, he had a concert at Carnegie Hall in the city of New York, as a first Korean singer debuted at Carnegie Hall. Having a total of 18 albums, the artist has received numerous awards such as the KBS and MBC Best Artist Award (1980–1986), AMPEX Golden Reel Award (1982) and the CBS-SONY Golden Disc Award (1984).
His commercial success is declining after the appearance of renowned group, Seo Taiji and Boys and many other young musicians. His studio albums released after 1992 were not quite successful. Noticing this, he announced that he is going to quit appearing on television, concluding that he will hardly make any hits. Subsequently, he focused more on concerts and music performance. In 1993, his Busan concert attracted an audience of 1 million, a record for South Korea. In 2005, Cho performed a concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, an extremely rare event for a South Korean singer. He performs over thirty concerts per year.