Lee Jong-hyun

Some Lesser Known Facts About Lee Jong-hyun

• When Lee Jong-hyun was four years old, his family moved to Japan. After spending a few years in Japan, they moved back to Busan.

  

• Before becoming a K-pop star, he was a Judo athlete. He won a gold medal in a Judo Championship held in his hometown when he was studying in high school. Once, when he was defeated just in few seconds in a Judo match, he realised that Judo was not his area of expertise, and he shifted his attention to music.

• After realizing his interest in music, he started learning the piano. One day, while watching TV, he heard English singer-songwriter and guitarist, Eric Clapton, playing the guitar and was deeply inspired to learn guitar.

• He was an Ulzzang at BEST NINE before making his debut. The term Ulzzang is a popular term in South Korea, which simply means a good-looking person. The Ulzzang is chosen through voting in an online contest.

  

• When a talent scouter from FNC Entertainment (then FNC Music) reached Busan to contact Jung Yong-hwa (actor, fellow member CNBLUE), he noticed Lee Jong-hyun on a street and suggested him to audition at their company. Jong-hyun went for auditions, passed it and began training in bass technology at the FNC Academy.

• He met Jung Young-hwa, a member of CNBLUE on his way to FNC-auditions at Seoul Station. Both of them then met Kang Min-hyuk at the auditions, and the three eventually cleared the auditioned.

• CNBLUE was formed with four members- Jung Yong-hwa, Kang Min-hyuk, Kong Kwang-jin, and Lee Jong-hyun. In early 2009, the band (CNBLUE) gave its first performance at the entrance of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. By the mid of June 2009, the band had already started giving live performances on the streets and live clubs.

• CNBLUE made their debut with the EP ‘Now or Never’ in Japan with Lee Jong-hyun as their lead artist. The EP was totally in English language and failed to make onto music charts. Their second EP ‘Voice’ was both in English and Japanese and made it 227^th number and lasted for two weeks on the charts.

• CNBLUE has many hit Japanese albums and EPs, like Code Name Blue(2011), What Turns You On? (2013), Wave (2014), Colors (2015), Euphoria (2016), and Stay Gold (2017).

• The song ‘I’m a Loner’ from the album ‘Bluetory’ was their debut Korean single. The band had their first televised stage performance on KBC Music Bank on 15 January 2010.

• A few of CNBLUE’s hit Korean albums and EPs are, First Step +1 Thank You (2011), Ear Fun (2013), Can’t Stop (2014), 2gether (2015), Blueming (2016), and 7ºCN (2017).

• Few of the hit singles (both Japanese and Korean) by the band are, I’m a Loner, Intuition, Hey You, I’m Sorry, Cinderella, Where You Are, Robot, Truth, White, Puzzle, and Shake.

• His first single ‘My Love’ was released as a part of the original soundtrack of the K-drama “A Gentleman’s Dignity” in  2012.

• In December 2013, Jong-hyun formed a duo ‘Romantic J’ with Juniel, a fellow labelmate and singer-songwriter. The duo released a single ‘Love Falls,’ which was composed by Jong-hyun and written by Juniel. The song peaked at #27 on the Melon Chart.

• Lee Jong-hyun released his second Japanese album “Metropolis” in 2018.

• He has also acted in a few K-dramas, including Orange Marmalade (2015), My Only Love Song (2017), Lingerie Girls Generation (2017), and That Man Oh Soo (2018).

• In 2019, he left CNBLUE; after facing backlash over sending inappropriate messages to a YouTuber, which brought light to his involvement in the ‘Burning Sun Scandal’ (2019).

• Jong-hyun enlisted to his mandatory military service in August 2018. In March 2020, it was reported that he would be discharged from his military service on 25 March 2020, according to COVID-19 Protocol.