YESUNG

As part of K-pop heavyweights Super Junior, multi-talented performer Yesung and his bandmates stormed international charts and toured the world. As his star rose in Korea, he branched off into acting -- both onscreen and on-stage -- in the late 2000s. Once Super Junior hit a peak in popularity in the early 2010s, the smooth, silky-voiced singer struck out as a solo artist, releasing a series of EPs -- including his debut, 2016's Here I Am -- before finally issuing his first full-length, the Japanese-language Story, in 2019. Sensory Flows, the first full-length in his native Korean, landed in 2023. Born Kim Jong-woon in Seoul, he grew up singing, competing in singing competitions as a teenager before signing up with SM Entertainment as a trainee. Adopting the stage name Yesung, he eventually was recruited as part of Super Junior in late 2005. The group issued a pair of Top Three albums before exploding in 2009 with the international hit single "Sorry, Sorry." From there, Super Junior remained a fixture on the charts in both Korea, China, and Japan. On the side, Yesung was part of subunits Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super Junior-H, as well as a member of S.M. The Ballad. He also added acting to his resumé, appearing in television shows and stage productions. Outside of Super Junior, Yesung collaborated with the likes of Sungmin and Jang Hye Jin before releasing his first official solo single, "Blind," which appeared on 2014's S.M. The Ballad Vol. 2 - Breath. His debut EP, Here I Am, was issued in 2016, and the hit title track peaked outside the Korean Top 40. Spring Falling followed in 2017, yielding another popular single, "Paper Umbrella." Super Junior's eighth album, Play, arrived the same year, their seventh Korean chart-topper. Though Yesung remained relatively quiet in 2018, the next year proved to be a busy one, with the release of another Super Junior album (Time_Slip) and two efforts joining his solo catalog. First, he made his Japanese debut with Story (Avex Trax), which peaked at number seven on the Japan charts. Months later, he released his third Korean EP, the ballad-heavy Pink Magic. Yesung's first offering in the 2020s was a follow-up EP, Beautiful Night, which was released in 2021. 2023 was a busy year for the vocalist: he issued Sensory Flows, his first Korean-language LP, that January. Just a month later, a deluxe version -- Floral Sense -- added more smoothed-out ballads to the original collection. Both landed in the Top Four on the Korean charts. ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi