Kim Sung-kyu

Kim Sung-kyu
Native name 김성규
Born Kim Sung-kyu
(1989-04-28) April 28, 1989
Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea
Alma mater Daekyung University
Occupation
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • Piano
Years active 2010–present
Labels Woollim Entertainment
Associated acts Infinite
Website Kim Sungkyu
Korean name
Hangul 김성규
Hanja 金聖圭
Revised Romanization Gim Seong-gyu
McCune–Reischauer Kim Sŏng-kyu

Kim Sung-kyu (born April 28, 1989), better known by the mononym Sunggyu[1] or Sungkyu is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, and MC. He is the leader and main vocalist of South Korean boy band Infinite.

In November 2012, Sungkyu debuted as a solo artist with his first extended play, Another Me, debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart. He continued to release a second extended play, 27 (2015), debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart and number eight on The Billboard World Album, and yielded two South Korean top-ten singles "The Answer" and "Kontrol".

Biography

Kim Sung-kyu was born on April 28, 1989[2] in Jeonju, South Korea. He attended Jeonju National University High School and was in the school rock band called "Coma Beat". When Sung-kyu first told his parents about his dream to become a singer, they rejected it because they wanted him to have a normal life and told him they'd rather he leave the house instead. He continued to practice in secret and came to Seoul alone to pursue his dreams after graduating from high school. In 2008, he auditioned for SM Entertainment but failed to make the cut. Due to his admiration for rock band Nell, he initially auditioned at Woollim Entertainment under the recommendation of Nell's manager whom he'd met coincidentally at the café where he worked at part-time. With a hurting stomach, Sung-kyu went to his audition and lightly threatened them by saying, "If you don't pick me, you're going to regret it." Afterwards he rushed to the hospital immediately and got an appendectomy. On the day of his release, he received the notification that he had passed his audition. Originally intending to pursue rock music in a band, Sung-kyu instead became a trainee for the dance group Infinite, of which he would later assume the positions of leader and main vocalist. Despite being criticized by his school friends, he believed that it was an opportunity nonetheless and persisted. In 2010, Sung-kyu finally made his debut with Infinite on June 9.

On February 15, 2013 Sung-kyu graduated from Daekyung University's Practical Music program and received along with members L, Sungyeol, Hoya, and Dongwoo, the 'Proud Daekyung University Student Award' in hopes that the group would continue to grow and bring prestige to the school. The members had been accepted through a special screened admittance in early 2011. Sungkyu is currently a student of Practical Music at Hoseo University.

Career

2010–11: Debut with Infinite and Solo activities

Sungkyu made his debut as the leader and main vocalist of South Korean boyband Infinite in 2010. The group officially debuted in June 9, 2010.[3] In the same years, he was playing the guitar in Epik High's music video "Run" along with fellow members Woohyun, Sungyeol, L, and Sungjong.

Sungkyu along with Infinite members Lee Sung-yeol and Lee Sung-jong became the special DJs for Super Junior's Kiss the Radio while Super Junior's Leeteuk and Eunhyuk were away. They were in charge of the radio broadcast from October 24 to the 30th in 2011.[4]

Sungkyu and other members of Infinite dubbed the children's cartoon Wara Store from December 27, 2011 to March 27, 2012 as themselves.

2012–14: Solo debut and Solo activities

Sungkyu made his debut as a musical actor, along with band member Woohyun, in the musical "Gwanghwamun Sonata".[5] Sungkyu plays the role of Jiyong, the son of the female lead. The musical lasted from January 3 until March 11, 2012.

In May 2012, it was announced that Sung-kyu would join Immortal Songs 2 as a fixed member alongside Super Junior's Ryeowook.[6] His first performance on the show was aired on June 23. In July, it was announced that he would be leaving the show due to Infinite's overseas promotions.[7] His final episode on the show aired on August 25.

He became a special host of the variety show Weekly Idol with bandmate Hoya for Tasty episode 64 on October 10, 2012.

Sungkyu released his solo EP, Another Me on November 19. Nell's Kim Jongwan gave his composed "Shine" to Sungkyu as a gift for his pre-release, which was released on November 7. Sung-kyu also composed the title track "60 Seconds" with Sweetune and personally participated in writing the lyrics for the track "41 Days".[8] L starred as the main character on the music video. Sungkyu made a short promotion period of three weeks, and the album became the top selling physical album for the month of November with 62,958 copies sold.[9] The album peaked at #22 with an album sales record of 70,552 copies on Gaon Chart's yearly physical album chart for 2012.[10] In 2013, the album managed to be in the Monthly Top 100 Gaon album sales and at the end of the year recording 13,283 copies. Within the year 2014, the album's additional sales were 6,098 copies. Since its release until March 2015, the total albums sold was 91,212 copies.

In January 2013, Sungkyu was confirmed to be a fixed cast on JTBC Lee Soo-geun and Kim Byung-man's High Society 2 along with Super Junior's Shindong.[11] The show was aired from February 9 to June 15.

In February 2013, Sungkyu was confirmed to have made a cameo appearance in KBS's new sitcom A Bit of Love alongside four other idols, MBLAQ's GO, KARA's Seungyeon, ZE:A's Siwan, and SECRET's Ji Eun. According to representatives, they'll appear as the younger versions of the five main characters for about three weeks. Sung-kyu will be playing the younger version of Lee Hoon.[12]

In April 2013, Sung-kyu was confirmed to join on tvN's new reality program, The Genius: Rules of the Game, alongside 12 other representative figures from different fields of work such as TV personalities, politicians, gamblers, and more. The premise of the show is that participants must use their brain power to find a winning formula and win the game through betrayal and the elimination of their competitors. The winner is to receive about 100 million KRW (approximately US$90,000). The first episode which earned Sung-kyu the title of 'Icon of Betrayal' was broadcast on April 26 on tvN. Sung-kyu had been considered one of the players with the strongest game ability.

In September, Sung-kyu and fellow Infinite member L made a guest appearance on SBS Running Man's Idol Special with twelve other idols from groups such as MBLAQ's Lee Joon & Seungho, Sistar's Hyorin & Dasom, 2PM's Chansung & Wooyoung, A Pink's Jung Eun-ji & Son Na-eun, Girl's Day's Minah & Yura, and Beast's Lee Gi-kwang & Yoon Doo-joon . In addition, Sung-kyu was also featured in KBS2's new variety show "The Sea I Wanted", which tells the story of six men's travel and experience in the open sea. The show is initially planned for a three-episode pilot with the first episode airing on September 11.[13] In October 2013, he made the first featuring since debut in rapper Kanto's debut single What You Want.

In 2014, Sungkyu was casted in the musical VAMPIRE along with Super Junior's Sungmin and F.T. Island's Lee Hong-gi. In December 2014, he made another guest appearance on SBS Running Man episode 179 with Rainbow's Kim Jae-kyung, Lee Dong Wook, Park Soo Hong, Sung Kyung Ah, John Park and Kim Kyung Ho.

2015–present: Solo comeback and Television roles

On January 29, 2015, Sung-kyu was confirmed to star in new KBS variety show, Fluttering India, along with EXO's Suho, CNBLUE's Jonghyun, Super Junior's Kyuhyun, TVXQ's Changmin, and SHINee's Minho.[1]

Sung-kyu released his second EP, "27" on May 11 which was produced by Nell's Kim Jong-wan.[14] He was promoted double title tracks "The Answer" and "Kontrol" for which the music video we're release on May 11. As of June 2015, the album has sold over 75 thousand copies locally.[15]

On May 15, 2015 Sung-kyu & L with other artists such as EXO, Girl's Day, Sistar, Niel and Ailee was participated to sang the KBS1 Special Program 'I Am Korea' theme song, "The Day We Met", for Gwangbok's 70th Anniversary".[16] Sung-kyu became a DJ for a special corner on Melon Radio for May 19, 2015 and May 26, 2015. He was also cast in the musical In The Heights, along with bandmate Dongwoo cast as the male lead 'Usnavi'. Sungkyu played the main role 'Benny' with EXO's Chen and actor Seo Kyung-soo. The musical was produced by SM C&C, a subsidiary of S.M. Entertainment, and ran from September 4 to November 22 at 'Blue Square'.[17] On September 17, 2015, it was revealed that Sung-kyu would star in a new KBS series, Youth Express, alongside comedian Kim Sook and actor Park Jaemin. In November 2015, he returned as a special host for Weekly Idol as the first special idol guest host from November 2, 2015 until November 9, 2015, during regular host Jung Hyung Don's temporary leave.[18]

In June 2016, he was confirmed to host JTBC variety show Girl Spirit with comedian Jo Se-ho. The program aired on July 19.[19] In early July, he became a guest competitor on MBC's Duet Song Festival.[20]

In February 2017, he was confirmed to become MC for Channel A's variety show Singderella.[21]

Discography

Filmography

Film

Title Year Role Notes
INFINITE Concert Second Invasion Evolution The Movie 3D 2012 Himself Documentary film of Infinite
Grow: Infinite's Real Youth Life 2014 Documentary film of Infinite

Dramas

Title Year Network Role Notes
The Thousandth Man 2012 MBC Himself Cameo
Pure Love 2013 KBS Lee Hoon (Young) Cameo

Television series

Title Year Network Role Notes
Wara Store 2011 Tooniverse Himself (voice) Korean dub

Music videos

Title Year Director
"60sec" 2012 Unknown
"60sec" (Band ver.)
"What U Want" (with Kanto) 2013
"The Answer" 2015
"Kontrol"

Theater

Title Year Role Notes
Gwanghamun Sonata 2012 Jiyoung Main Role
Vampire 2014 Count Dracula Main Role
In the Heights 2015 Benny Main Role
All Shook Up 2016 Elvis Main Role
In the Heights 2016–2017 Benny Main Role

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2015
7th MelOn Music Awards
 Top 10 Artists N/A Nominated
Best Rock Song
The Answer
 Won
The 7th Philippines KPOP Awards Best Solo Male Artist N/A Won
Best Collaboration of the Year Daydream (feat. Tablo, Jongwan) Won
KPOP Meetings Germany Awards Best Male Artist N/A Won
International K-Music Awards Best Male Solo N/A Won

Music Show Awards

Song Program Date
"The Answer" The Show May 19, 2015[22]
Show! Music Core May 23, 2015[23]

References

  1. 1 2 Won, Ho-jung (April 10, 2015). "'Exciting India' glitters with K-pop stars". The Korea Herald. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ Russell, Mark (April 29, 2014). K-Pop Now!: The Korean Music Revolution. Tuttle Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4629-1411-1.
  3. ↑ "Infinite debuts on M! Countdown". Allkpop. June 10, 2010.
  4. ↑ "인피니트, 뉴욕간 슈주 대신해 '키스더라디오' 임시 DJ". Newsen (in Korean). October 24, 2011. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  5. ↑ 인피니트 성규 우현+서인국, '광화문연가'로 뮤지컬 배우 데뷔. Nate (in Korean). December 27, 2011. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  6. ↑ "슈주 려욱vs인피니트 김성규 '불후' 고정합류, 아이돌 대결 활활". Nate (in Korean). May 28, 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  7. ↑ 인피니트 성규 '불후2' 하차 해외스케줄-콘서트 연습 주력. Newsen (in Korean). July 17, 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  8. ↑ [빌보드가 만난 사람] 인피니트 성규 '여친보다 부모님 집장만이 소원'. Billboard (in Korean). December 28, 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  9. ↑ "Gaon Chart releases chart rankings for the month of November 2012". Allkpop. December 8, 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  10. ↑ "Gaon Chart releases Yearly Chart Ranking for 2012". Allkpop. January 21, 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  11. ↑ 슈주 신동-인피니트 성규, '상류사회' 고정 '확정'. Daum (in Korean). January 9, 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  12. ↑ "G.O, Seungyeon, Siwan, Ji Eun, and Sung-kyu to cameo in upcoming KBS sitcom". Allkpop. February 6, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-09.
  13. ↑ "Sung-kyu, Jung Hyung Don, and others to star in new KBS' pilot variety show 'The Sea I Wanted'". Allkpop. August 22, 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  14. ↑ http://www.soompi.com/2015/04/27/infinites-sunggyus-new-album-27-includes-song-written-by-nells-kim-jong-wan/
  15. ↑ http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/chart/album.gaon?nationGbn=T&serviceGbn=&targetTime=06&hitYear=2015&termGbn=month
  16. ↑ "EXO, A Pink, INFINITE, MFBTY, SISTAR, & more come together to sing in MV for documentary 'I Am Korea'". Allkpop. June 11, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Chen, Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Key, Luna, & more cast in musical 'In The Heights'!". Allkpop (in Korean). July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ "INFINITE's Sunggyu to Be First Idol Guest MC on "Weekly Idol"". Soompi. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  19. ↑ http://www.allkpop.com/article/2016/06/infinites-sunggyu-and-jo-se-ho-to-mc-on-new-singing-competition-show
  20. ↑ http://www.allkpop.com/article/2016/07/yuju-sunggyu-crush-and-more-try-their-hand-at-winning-the-duet-song-festival
  21. ↑ http://www.allkpop.com/article/2017/02/infinites-sunggyu-to-join-singderella-as-the-new-mc
  22. ↑ "INFINITE's Sunggyu Takes First- Ever Solo Win on "The Show"". Soompi. May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Sunggyu Takes Home Second Solo Win on "Music Core"". Soompi. May 23, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
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