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|Origin = [[Seoul]], [[Korea]]
|Origin = [[Seoul]], [[Korea]]
|Instrument =
|Instrument =
|Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]], [[Rhythm and Blues|R&B]], [[Funk Music|Funk]], [[Hip-Hop Music|Hip-Hop]]
|Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]], [[Rhythm and Blues|R&B]], [[Hip-Hop Music|Hip-Hop]]
|Occupation = [[Singer]], [[Actor]], [[Dancer]], [[Model]]
|Occupation = [[Singer]], [[Actor]], [[Dancer]], [[Model]]
|Years_active = [[1998]] [[2002]]-present
|Years_active = [[1998]] [[2002]]-present
|Label = [[JYP Entertainment]], [[Soul Records]], [[JYPE USA]], [[Poibos Co. Ltd]], [[King Records]]
|Label = [[JYP Entertainment]], [[King Records]]
|Associated_acts =
|Associated_acts =
|URL = [http://rain.jype.com/ Rain]
|URL = [http://rain.jype.com/ Rain]

Revision as of 00:23, 9 January 2007

Rain

Rain (Real name: Jeong Ji-Hoon, Hangul: 정지훈, born on 25 June 1982 in Seoul) is a male Korean R&B and pop singer. He has become well-known throughout East Asia -- including Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and Thailand -- as a leading star of the Korean wave, otherwise known as Hallyu. He has been called the "Asian Usher" or the "Asian Justin Timberlake."[1] In April 2006, Time named him the world's second most influential entertainer.[2]

Name

As the word for "rain" is different in many languages, he is known by a variety of names. In the West he is known by the English word Rain. In Korea he is known as 비 (pronounced as the letter B in English), Korean for "rain". In Japan, he is known as "Rain (ピ)", pronounced Pi in English. In China, he is sometimes referred to as Yu ("雨"), meaning "rain".

Biography

Rain became interested in R&B and Hiphop dancing when he was in 6th grade. He was a member of a boyband called fanclub. After the group disbanded, Rain was still keen to continue his dancing career and entered many different auditions. Despite his talent, the singer was rejected at several auditions because he was "too ugly". In a CNN interview, he recalled one incident where he was told, "Your dancing is great, but we're rejecting you because you don't have double eyelids"[3] (the fold in the eyelids that makes eyes appear bigger, which many Asians do not have). Finally, Rain entered an audition for a Korean entertainment company, JYP Entertainment. Park Jin Young, JYP's CEO, became interested in the entertainer and took him under his wing. During the early years of training, Rain was a backdancer for both Park Ji Yoon and Park Jin Young, who is also known as JY Park.[4]

Finally, in 2002 he debuted with the album Rain, where he was introduced to the media through his stage or commercial name, Rain. In the album, a similarly-named single Bad Guy was a big hit. After his first album, he took time off from his career as a singer to star in the drama series, Sang Doo! Let's Go To School. Following the success of his debut as singer and actor, Rain released his second album How to Avoid The Sun, and had another hit with the title song "Ways to Avoid the Sun."

In 2004, he starred in another successful drama called "Full House", which would be one of the highest-rated Korean dramas of all time with ratings of over 30% for every episode.[4] It would air in many other countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, China and Japan. Through Full House, Rain gained fans across Asia. His performance in the drama also won him the Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting Awards.

International recognition

His third album It's Raining sold over 1 million copies in Asia. According to a report by Rain's agency JYP Entertainment to the Korea Culture & Content Agency, It's Raining topped the charts in all of the following countries as of December 29th, 2005: Japan (100,000 copies), China (500,000 copies), Taiwan (70,000 copies), Thailand (150,000 copies), Indonesia (50,000 copies), and South Korea (154,000 copies), for a combined total of 1,074,000 units sold, making it Rain's most successful album to date both domestically and internationally.[5] His first concert, Rainy Day, held in Korea and Japan, was sold out the first day tickets became available.

In 2004, Rain earned greater recognition by winning the MTV Asia Grand Slam, securing top honors in all the Asian countries which broadcast MTV Asia. Rain won the Favorite Korean Artist at the 2005 MTV Asia Aid held in Bangkok, the Most Popular Asian Artist Award from Channel [V] Thailand, the Best Buzz Asia Award during the MTV Japan Video Music Awards 2005 (which he performed among world-famous artists as Ashanti and Hoobastank),[6] and the Best Korean Singer award in the MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Honors in Beijing. Rain was also the first Asian performing artist ever to be invited to the 2005 American MTV Video Music Awards in Miami, as well as the 2005 MTV Latin Video Music Awards in Mexico. These accomplishments earned Rain a lot of media attention, including interviews with ''Time'' Magazine Asian Edition and CNN Talk Asia. Rain also won the Best Korean Singer Award 2005 at the Mandarin Music Honors in Taiwan.

Rain then went on his RAINY DAY 2005 Tour, starting in Seoul and followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong; due to his fame and his extravagant performances, tickets sold out quickly.[7] His first solo concert in Japan last summer, entitled Rainy Day Japan held at the Tokyo International Forum, was so popular that all the tickets were sold out thirty seconds after going on sale.[4] The tickets for another of his concerts in Taiwan were sold out the moment they became available also. His performances in Hong Kong also sold out in a couple of hours. Rain continues to set records in Asia. Now planning to go beyond Japan and Hong Kong, Rain will make a foray into China by giving a concert in Beijing.

Fame in the United States

In addition to Time magazine voting Rain the second most influential artist of 2006,[2] second only to Taiwanese director Ang Lee, the magazine also noted that Rain may collaborate in the future with P.Diddy. This came after reviewing Rain's performances in Madison Square Garden in February 2006. His two day concert, Rainy Day New York was marketed and promoted by the Asian concert production company Rainstone Live. Tickets were sold out within a matter of days.[8]

His Madison Square Garden concert featured a performance by his mentor and producer JY Park, with an opening performance by Lim Jeong Hee, also known as JLim in the States. Special guests who made stage appearances at the concert included American pop singer JoJo, R&B singer Omarion and hip-hop mogul P. Diddy.

There is also news that Rain will be recording a duet with Omarion, who used to be the vocalist of the popular hip-hop group, B2K, and had starred in the movie, You Got Served. When Rain's first movie, I'm a Cyborg, But That's Okay, finished filming in early July 2006, he departed for the U.S. to discuss the possibility of singing the duet with Omarion, and to meet with the organizers of his Asian Tour. Rain apparently met Omarion through his producer, JY Park, who had written a song for Omarion's recent album. Also, after Rain's concert in February in New York - where Omarion danced to Rain's song "Bad Guy" - Omarion and Rain became friends, says JYP Entertainment. They also noted that the two may star in a movie together one day.[9]

JYP also announced in an interview with Yonhap News on June 4th, that the two will record their song when Rain next returns to the U.S., and it will be released as a digital single in Korea and the States. Also, the 13th track in Omarion's latest Album 21 will feature Rain. The song is called "Man Up". Unfortunately, this song has yet to be released due to contractual issues between several record labels.

Rain has scheduled two concert dates in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 23-24, 2006; the tickets to these concerts sold out within the first week of sales.[10]

Rain's World

Rain's highly-anticipated fourth album, Rain's World was released in Korea on October 14 2006 and internationally on the 16th. The first single was "I'm Coming", followed by the second single "In My Bed."

Rain has kicked off his Rain's Coming Tour on October 13 2006 at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. This premiere of his tour was a free concert in which 40,000 fans have attended. Close to a fourth of the audience consisted of fans from other countries. Rain's Asian tour will incorporate the talents of producers and stage designers (such as Jamie King and Roy Bennett) who have been involved with the concert tours of famous artists such as Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, Madonna, U2, Britney Spears, and The Rolling Stones. Ticket sales are expected to be over US$100 million.[11]

Discography

Further information: Rain's Discography

Filmography

Television series

Sang Doo! Let's Go To School received good ratings; however, Full House (2004), in which Rain costarred with actress Song Hye Gyo, was considered much more popular. The story is based on a manhwa about a girl who marries an actor while trying to get back her house.

In his most recent and most popular drama, A Love To Kill, Rain portrays a man who works as a bodyguard for a famous actress, taking revenge on her for putting his brother into a vegetative state.

Films

  • [2006] I'm a Cyborg, but It's Okay

I'm a Cyborg, but It's Okay directed by Park Chan-wook, is Rain's debut in the film industry. The two main characters, both from the mental hospital, fall in love with each other. I'm a Cyborg, but It's Okay will be first shown in South Korean cinemas starting December 7, 2006 and possibly a world-wide release sometime after.[12]

Commercials

  • [2005] DOHC Clothing Line (Korea)
  • [2005] Pantech Mobile Phone (China)
  • [2006] DHC Cosmetics Career (Hong Kong, China,Taiwan)
  • [2006] Pepsi (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan)
  • [2006] Ralph Lauren
  • [2006] BMW (Korea)
  • [2006] KB Star Card (Korea)

Awards

Years Awards
2002
  • KBS Award
  • M.NET Male Artist Award
  • KMTV New Male artist
  • MBC Top 10 Artist Award
  • New Artist Golden Disc Award
  • SBS New Male Performer of the Year Award
2003
  • M.NET Male Artist Award
  • KMTV Male Artist Award
  • MBC Top 10 Artist Award
  • KBS Male Artist Award
  • SBS Male Performer of the Year Award
  • KBS Rookie, Popularity, Best couple, Netizen actor Award of the Year
2004
  • KBS Best Actor Award
  • MBC Top 10 Artist Award
  • KBS Artist of the Year
  • SBS Male Performer of the Year Award
  • Popularity Award of TV Part (The Bak Sang Arts Grand Award)
2005
  • MTV Asia Awards: Favorite Artist Korea
  • MTV Korea Channel [V] Best Single Award
  • MTV Video Music Awards Japan: Best Buzz Asia Award
  • MTV China-CCTV Mandarin Music Honors Award
  • Best Star
  • KBS Drama "Love To Kill" or "이 죽일놈의 사랑"
2006
  • Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People Who Shape the World Award
  • M.NET Male Artist Award
  • Asia TV Awards: Best Movie Style [A Love to Kill]
  • MKMF Mnet: Best Solo Male Artist
  • SBS Gayo Daejun 2006: Bonsang

References

  1. ^ Sontag, Deborah. A strong forecast for Korean pop's Rain, The New York Times, 2006-01-27. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Walsh, Bryan. The People Who Shape Our World, Time Magazine, 2006-05-08. Retrieved December 16th, 2006. Cite error: The named reference "Time" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Hahn, Lorraine. Rain Talkasia Transcript, CNN.com Interview Transcript, 2005-12-14. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c Pop star Rain (Bi), reaching out beyond Asia, KBS Global. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  5. ^ Rain’s album records sales of over one million copies in Asia, KBS Global. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  6. ^ 'Rain' to Join Top Artists for MTV Video Music Awards Japan, The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition), 2005-04-24. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  7. ^ Rain Season Breaks Records Across Asia, The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition), 2005-10-13. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  8. ^ Rain's Sold-Out New York Gig Could Take K-Pop Global, The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition), 2006-02-03. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  9. ^ Singer Rain to Work with Top American Star Omarion, KBS Global. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  10. ^ It's raining ticket sales for Korean pop star, The Hankyoreh (English Edition), 2006-11-16. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.
  11. ^ Herzkovits, Jon. South Korean pop star Rain debuts as robot lover, Reuters/Yahoo! News. Retrieved December 14th, 2006.
  12. ^ Kim, Hyun. For Rain, 'Cyborg' may prove a stepping stone to world fame, Yonhap News (English Edition), 2006-12-06. Retrieved December 16th, 2006.


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