Ock Joo-hyun

Ock Joo-hyun
Background information
Birth name	Ock Joo-hyun
Also known as	Ock Ju-hyun, Oak Joo Hyun
Born	(1980-03-20) March 20, 1980
Origin	Seoul
Genres	Pop, dance-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress, model, TV presenter, radio DJ
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Asia Bridge Contents, M.net Media, DSP Media
Associated acts	Fin.K.L
Website	www.ockjuhyun.net

Ock Joo-hyun (Hangul: 옥주현; sometimes spelled Ock Ju-hyun; born March 20, 1980) is a K-pop singer and musical theatre actress, known mostly for her role as the lead singer for the South Korean girl group Fin.K.L. After their unofficial breakup in 2002, Ock released three solo albums and has participated in musicals, namely Aida, Chicago, Cats, 42nd Street, and The Count of Montecristo.^[1]

Career

As a member of Fin.K.L

Fin.K.L debuted in 1998 with DSP Entertainment and quickly became popular, catapulting all its members into stardom. Ock served as the lead singer for Fin.K.L until it became inactive as a group in 2002; she has since taken part in Fin.K.L's digital single "Fine Killing Liberty" in fall of 2005, including filming the music video.

Solo music

Starting her solo career summer in 2003, Ock came out with a ballad called "난..." ("Nan...", meaning "I..."), which entered the top 10 of Korean music charts. By her second album, which came out late fall in 2004, the public was startled by the sudden change in appearance, as she had experienced a significant weight loss; Ock attributed to her intense yoga training. Her popularity rose and she was able to perform on various music shows for a lengthy period with her singles "Catch" and "Sweet Rainyday".

Her third album, titled Remind, was released on June 12, 2008 The first single off the album is "Honey", which is a departure from her previous singles as it incorporates R&B. She began her comeback performances the following weekend on the major TV music shows.

Her next album, "Reflection" was released in 2013. In 2014, Ock partnered with musical composer and director Frank Wildhorn, with whom she worked together in the musical "Monte Cristo", to release an English language album titled "Gold" with popular musical numbers.^[2]

Other works

In addition to launching three albums, Ock has worked as a radiostation DJ for MBC, and as an emcee for Korean networks SBS, MBC, and KBS. She has also received an award for "Best Radio DJ" during the MBC awards of 2005. She obtained the main role in the Korean version of Tim Rice's musical Aida, starting on August 27, 2005.

Ock has also done television work as a permanent member on various variety shows. In addition to being one of the main girls on Heroine 5, she was a part of Goldfish, an MBC TV show, in 2006. She was featured in the first season of MBC's reality program, "I am a Singer" with other veteran stars of Korean music. She was voted first place for her rendition of "1000 days", and also sang Korean ballad "Love is Gone", "Man is Ship, Woman is Harbor" and a re-make of fellow Fin.K.L member Lee Hyori's "U-Go Girl".^[3]

Ock has continued to further her "yoga celebrity" career, even helping to open up a yoga studio. She also released her own yoga VHS, DVD. More recently she published a new book about maintaining fitness of mind and body.^[4]

In March 2009, it was revealed that Ock would be teaching classes in music at Dong Seoul College.^[1]

Musical Actress

Ock has received much success as one of the most popular leading ladies of Korean musical theater. Today she is renowned almost more for her presence as a musical actress than her days as a pop-icon and singer.^[2]

In 2010 she appeared in the Count of Monte Cristo in the main role of Mercedes. She appeared as the leading female role in the Korean adaptation of Das Musical: Elisabeth, opposite JYJ's Junsu in 2012.^[5] She received a Best Actress Golden Ticket Award and Korean Musical Award for this role. She followed these acclaimed adaptations of European musical theater into a new role as "Mrs. Danvers" in the musical "Rebecca," inspired by Hitchcock's movie of the same name. Playing a slightly unhinged and dark character, Ock showed a new side of herself and was rewarded with great popularity among audiences and received the 2013 Korean Musical Award for Best Actress in a supporting role.^[6]

In 2014 Ock starred as Elphaba in the first Korean production of "Wicked the Musical"^[7] and also reprises the role of Danvers in "Rebecca" due to its popularity in South Korea. Starting in November 2014 Ock began her role as Marie Antoinette, in the musical Marie Antoinette at Charlotte Theater in Seoul, South Korea.^[8]

Personal life

Ock graduated from Kyung Hee University with Sung Yuri and Gong Yoo in February 2005. She is currently signed with Asia Bridge Contents. Ock revealed herself to be in a long-term relationship with Jeff Chang, son of Korean media mogul.^[9]

Awards

References

External links

• (Korean) Official website