SG Wannabe

SG Wannabe (the SG representing Simon and Garfunkel) is a popular South Korean ballad trio that debuted in 2004 with their song, "Timeless". The three members are Kim Yong Jun (leader and subvocal), Kim Jin Ho (lead vocal), and Lee Seok Hoon (vocal). The group quickly became popular and the song, along with the music video, was played on cellular phones all over Korea,^[1] and their album topped the charts. Unlike other groups, SG Wannabe decided to abstain from promoting their music initially, declining to appear on music shows or in their own videos; the group has stated that they wish their audience will care more about the music, rather than their appearance.^[2]

Members

Current members

Kim Yong Jun

Kim Yong Jun (김용준, 金勇俊, Whyme) was born on September 12, 1984 (1984-09-12) (age 27). After Chae Dong Ha left the group he became the leader and continued his position as subvocals. In 2006, he did a collaboration single, Must Have Love, with Brown Eyed Girls' Ga-In. Kim attended Kyung Hee Cyber University and majored in Global Business. He also appeared on MBC's Sunday Sunday Night Danbi segment and made a cameo appearance on MBC's Highkick Through the Roof!. Kim Yong Jun and actress Hwang Jung Eum starred as a couple in Ock Ju-hyun's music video for "It's A Lie" and "Did You Really Hate My Love".

Kim Jin Ho

Kim Jin Ho (김진호, 金鎭浩) was born on May 21, 1986 (1986-05-21) (age 25). He is SG Wannabe's lead vocal. He attended Kyung Hee University and majored in Post-modern. In 2008, Kim Jin Ho won the "Best Vocal" award at Mnet 20's Choice. In 2010, he was awarded the Merit Award for helping in arresting a thief.

Lee Seok Hun

Lee Seok Hun (이석훈, 李石薰) was born on February 21, 1984 (1984-02-21) (age 28). He is one of the vocals for SG Wannabe. He attended Kyung Hee University and majored in Press Information. Lee replaced member Chae Dong Ha who left the group in 2008. Mnet Media held an audition to fill Chae Dong Ha's position. It was said the competition was 1:500. He joined SG Wannabe in 2008 and began his career as a member of SG Wannabe in the group's fifth album, My Friend. After joining SG Wannabe, he also released his own mini album in 2010.

Former member

Chae Dong Ha

Chae Dong Ha (채동하, 蔡東河) was born on June 23, 1981 (died May 27, 2011 aged 29). Chae attended Seoul Institute of the Arts and majored in Broadcasting and Kyung Hee Cyber University for Global Business. He first debuted in 2002 as a solo artist with Na Ture. He was the main vocal and leader for SG Wannabe when the group debuted until he left the group in March 2008 to purse a solo career.^[3] After leaving SG Wannabe, he released his second album Essay in 2009. In September 2010, he came back to the music scene with the track "Vanilla Sky" from his ballad single D-Day, which he wrote and composed. Chae was found dead in his apartment on May 27, 2011, where it seemed he had hung himself.

Musical career

1st album: SG Wannabe+ (2004)

SG Wannabe debuted in 2004 with their first album, SG Wanna Be+. It was produced by Lee Kyung Sub and Park Keun Tae and famous music producers in Korea. The title track's music video for the album attracted media attention, as it featured top actors such as Seol Kyung-goo and Kim Nam-jin, and actresses Kim Yoon-jin, Kang Hye-jeong, and Seo Sung-min. The production costs were reportedly about 2 billion won. The group gained a reputation for being quite mysterious because they did not show their faces and did not star in any of their music videos. Nevertheless, their vocal abilities attracted many fans, and the album was an instant hit with pre-sales of 90,000 copies. Later in 2004, the group was recognized for their vocal ability with numerous awards, including nominations for Best Newcomer at the Golden Disc Awards and the Seoul Popular Music Awards.^[4]

2nd album: Saldaga (살다가) (While You Live) (2005)

On March 29, 2005, SG Wannabe released their second album. It included the two #1 hits "Sin & Punishment (죄와벌)", which received numerous awards both for the music video and for the song itself, and "살다가 (While You Live)". Like its predecessor, "Saldaga" was able to attract media attention for the group's vocal ability, thus SG Wannabe became the only artist in 2005 to sell more than 400,000 copies of their album. On September 14, 2005, the group released the "Classic Odyssey", their 2.5 album. 1 billion Won (₩1,000,000,000) budget went into SG Wannabe's new remake album. It included hits such as "My Heart's Treasure Box" (내 마음의 보석상자). To top off the success of their 2nd album, SG Wannabe was awarded the prestigious Daesang (the "Artist Of The Year") from the Golden Disc award. When 2005 was over, SG Wannabe were ranked at #1, with over 400,000 copies sold of their 2nd album, and 12th, with 147,047 copies sold of their remake album on the year-end chart.^[5]

Third album: The 3rd Masterpiece (2006)

On April 11, 2006, the trio released the long anticipated third album, called The 3rd Masterpiece. Just like what they did in the second album (the music video had two parts; the first part was with the song "Crime and Punishment" (죄와벌), while the second part was with the song "As We Live" (살다가)), their third album also contained two-part music videos. The first part was with their new title song, "Partner for Life" (내 사람) starring Shinhwa's Kim Dong Wan and also featuring Jeong So-Young, and the second part was released with "Slowpoke" (느림보). Once again, the album manage to chart high, reaching #1 on numerous charts.

On November 18, 2006, they released a greatest hits compilation entitled SG Wannabe Best Album - The Precious History. It was a collection of their favorite songs from the past three albums and also included three new songs. They also released a music video for those songs which was called "Song of Love(사랑가) featuring Vibe", "Even If I Could See You (그저 바라볼 수만 있어도)", and "Ordinary People" featuring Hoo Ni-Hoon, Min Kyung-Hoon, Jang Hye-Jin.However, despite having high sales and topping the charts, they did not win another, though the group was nominated daesang.

4th album: The Sentimental Chord (2007)

Their highly anticipated 4th album, "The Sentimental Chord", was released on April 6, 2007, almost a year after their 3rd album. Again, they amazed the audience with their new title song "Arirang" (아리랑), which had the classic instruments of Korea playing as the background music. With the release of their 4th album and their title song, they went as the #1 in the Bugs Chart as well as the Korea monthly chart. The album was also number one on the "Top 20 Album Sales (May 2007)" with 44,618 copies sold in May and 125,450 sold altogether.^[6] They also released two special albums, "SG Wanna Be+" and "Story In New York." Both the special album manage to be successful as well, continuing SG Wannabe's popularity and success. Towards the end of the year, SG Wannabe was awarded their second daesang from the Golden Disk Awards, reigning as the top artist of the year. Selling almost 200,000 copies, The Sentimental Chord was the best-selling album of 2007 in Korea.^[7] In addition, several changes also occurred within the band, with member Chae Dong Hae leaving the group in order to focus on a solo career.^[8][9]

5th album: My Friend (2008)

As of April 23, 2008, SG Wannabe's fifth album had 85,000 pre-orders and counting. The album is slated to be released on April 24 with fourteen new tracks, including a Japanese version of "I Miss You" (보고싶어). Both versions of "I Miss You" (보고싶어) were recorded with their former member Chae Dong-Ha. The Korean one was recorded with 4 people and the Japanese version was recorded by the original members.^[10] SG Wannabe's new member, Lee Suk Hoon, also made his debut performance on April 24 on "M!CountDown", singing the first track, "Lalala", on the new album.

6th Album: Gift From SG Wannabe (2009)

In 2009, SG Wannabe released Gift From SG Wannabe. They also released another song that has become a famous OST in many dramas titled "운명을 거슬러" ("Fate Reverse")

Discography

Awards and achievements

Awards

Achievements

References

External links

• Official Japanese website (Japanese)
• Kim Jin Ho's Cyworld Minihompy
• Lee Seok Hoon's Cyworld Minihompy