Lena Park

Lena Park
Background information
Birth name	Park Jung Hyun
Also known as	Lena Park
Born	(1976-03-23) March 23, 1976 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B, Korean pop, Japanese pop, gospel
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, saxophone, guitar
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Hip Land (Japan), Blueprint/LOEN (Korea), Avex (Taiwan)

Lena Park (born March 23, 1976), also known as Park Jung Hyun, is a Korean-American R&B singer.

Early life and education

Born in Los Angeles, California, Park began singing early in her life, mainly in the choir of her father's church in Downey with her siblings Brian and Uriah. She also learned to play saxophone and piano.

Career

Park won several singing contests in the United States before recording a Gospel album in 1993. She continued her studies while doing many performances. She attended UCLA for a year before she began her career as a singer, beginning with her first Korean album Piece in 1998. Park's first album sold more than 500,000 copies, even though she wasn't comfortable enough to do promotions on talk shows. She did not speak Korean very well until she released her first album.^{[citation needed]} In 1999, A Second Helping was released. It also was well received by both fans and the critics. Park's third album, "Naturally", was mixed in both South Korea and the United States.

After a yearlong break from singing because of her studies in the United States, she came back in 2002 with her album called Op.4. More comfortable with the media, she became much more accessible for talk shows and performances. In 2002, her song "꿈에" (In a Dream) was a big success and enabled her to enter foreign markets, such as Singapore. The South Korean government select Park to represent South Korea in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. At the end of 2002, a "best of" album was released and she played a series of concerts. Live recordings from these concerts were compiled into her first special live album in CDs and DVD. Park, along with Brown Eyes, CHEMISTRY, and Sowelu, formed the special unit conveniently called "Voices of Korea/Japan" and made the title song for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Album – Songs of Korea/Japan. She later debuted in the Japanese music industry where she received moderate success.

She is especially proud of her fifth Korean language album, On & On, because she felt that she was finally comfortable and confident singing and composing in Korean. It took her about two years to make the album and, during that time, she became very involved with the production and creative work behind the album; she helped with many of the song arrangements, played the piano and guitar for some of the tracks, and composed four of the songs on the album. In 2007, she performed the opening theme Inori~You Raise Me Up～ (祈り～You Raise Me Up～) of the Japanese anime TV series Romeo x Juliet, which is a Japanese cover of Rolf Lovland and Brendan Graham's song You Raise Me Up. The single also includes a cover of the English version. Her sixth Korean language album, Come To Where I Am, was released on December 11, 2007. All songs were written and produced by Park herself. In 2010, she graduated magna cum laude from New York’s Columbia University School of General Studies with a degree in English and Comparative Literature.^[1]

After announcing the release of her eighth studio album, videos of her with composers she was working with for her album introducing her songs were released online. Shortly after, on June 19, 2012, her album was released with the title track, "Sorry" (Korean: 미안해), being a cover of the Spanish language song Mientes by Mexican pop band Camila.^[2]

Discography

South Korean albums

• [1998.08.09] 1st Album: Piece
• [1999.04.19] 2nd Album: A Second Helping
• [2000.11.09] 3rd Album: Naturally
• [2001.05.06] Special Album: Forever
• [2002.06.15] 4th Album: Op.4
• [2002.10.24] Best Album: The Romantic Story of Park Jung Hyun
• [2003.07.05] Live Album: Live Op.4 Concert Project 4th Movement
• [2003.07.05] Live Album: Live Op.4 Concert Project 4th Movement (DVD)
• [2005.02.05] 5th Album: On & On
• [2007.12.11] 6th Album: Come To Where I Am
• [2009.02.27] 7th Album: 10 Ways To Say I Love You
• [2012.06.19] 8th Album: Parallax

South Korean singles

• [2006.03.29] "Against All Odds"
• [2006.04.15] 위태로운 이야기 (Witaeroun Iyagi, Precarious Stories)
• [2008.10.22] No Break (with Crown J)
• [2008.12.12] Winter Kiss (feat. Baek Chan of 8eight)
• [2011.05.08] 이젠 그랬으면 좋겠네 (Ijen Geuraesseumyeon Jotgetne, I Hope It Would Be That Way Now)

Japanese singles

• [2004.11.25] "FALL IN LOVE"
• [2005.05.18] "Sanctuary"
• [2006.02.22] "Subete no Mono ni Anata wo Omou" (すべてのものにあなたを思う )
• [2006.03.24] "Music"
• [2006.05.21] "Gold"
• [2006.10.04] "Ai no Jealousy"
• [2007.06.20] "Inori~You Raise Me Up～" (祈り～You Raise Me Up～)

Japanese albums

• [2004.11.25] another piece
• [2005.05.18] Beyond the line
• [2006.06.21] COSMORAMA

Collaborations

• [1998.xx.xx] Player – The New Beginning
• [1999.xx.xx] Yoon Jong Shin – 7th
• [2002.05.xx] Yoon Jong Shin – From The Beginning
• [2002.05.29] 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Album – Songs of Korea/Japan
• [2003.05.xx] Kim Jin Pyo – 4th
• [2003.05.xx] Na Won Ju – 1st
• [2003.12.10] Voice of Love Posse
• [2004.04.xx] Kim Jin Pyo – Remasatering All about JP
• [2005.03.24] JHETT aka YAKKO for AQUARIUS – JHETT (Track 11: Everything Inside Of Me feat. Lena Park)
• [2012.07.15] PSY – Eottaesseulkka (어땠을까) on PSY 6甲 (Six Rules), Part 1

See also

• Megan Lee

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lena Park.

• Lena Park Official Korean Website (Korean)
• Lena Park on Twitter