Lee Hyuk-jae (born April 4, 1986), better known by his stage name Eunhyuk, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, dancer and television host. He is a member of the South Korean

boy group A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Man ...

Super Junior and its subgroups Super Junior-T and Super Junior-H. In 2011, he joined Super Junior's

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkie ...

subgroup

Super Junior-M Super Junior-M (stylized as SJ-M), an initialism for Super Junior-Mandarin, is a Chinese sub-unit of the South Korean boy band Super Junior. The sub-unit is the first international music group in the Chinese music industry to have members of bot ...

and the duo

Super Junior-D&E Super Junior-D&E ( ko, 슈퍼주니어-동해&은혁, also known as Donghae & Eunhyuk, D&E or SJ-D&E) is the fifth sub-unit of South Korean boy band Super Junior, formed by SM Entertainment in 2011. It is composed of two Super Junior members: D ...

, active in China and Japan respectively. Gaining attention as the main dancer of Super Junior, he branched out with solo activities beginning as radio host through Super Junior's ''Kiss the Radio'' (2006–2011). Through television, Eunhyuk has also been a cast member in popular

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

s such as '' Star King'' (2009–11), '' Let's Go Dream Team 2'' (2009–2011) and ''Strong Heart'' (2009–2013). After his return from enlistment in 2017, he continued as a concert director for various artists, then transitioned to a performance director and dance mentor in '' Under Nineteen'' (2018–2019) and is currently the host of '' Weekly Idol'' (2020).

Early life

Eunhyuk was born in Neunggok, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea. He has an older sister called Lee So-ra. Raised in a family that struggled financially, he was interested in street performing as a child. Inspired by the likes of H.O.T's

Jang Woo-hyuk Jang Woo-hyuk (Hangul: 장우혁; Hanja: 張佑赫; born May 8, 1978) is a South Korean singer and rapper. He debuted in 1996 as a member of the best-selling K-pop boy band H.O.T. After the band broke up due to a contract dispute, Jang and two ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and singer-dancer

Yoo Seung-jun Steve Sueng Jun Yoo (born December 15, 1976), also known as his

Kim Junsu, Hwang Tae Jun, and Choi Min Seok. The crew's popularity prospered in their hometown; and when SRD appeared in a local newspaper, it was then that Eunhyuk cemented his dream to become a singer/performer. In 1999, together with Junsu he auditioned for

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

through the company's ''Starlight Casting System'' at age 13. However he failed the audition in 1999 and entered again the following year and got in as a trainee. He began training in singing, dancing, acting, and had brief

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

language courses. He was also scouted with an interview offer from a top modelling agency in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, yet declined due to contract issues. In the midst of trainee life in 2000, he reached SM's master dance class and won the Goyang citywide dance competition in 2000. In 2002, Eunhyuk, Kim Junsu, and another trainee Sungmin were placed in a project R&B group. A year later, the group along with three future members from TRAX ( Jay Kim, No Minwoo, Kang Jungwoo) made a brief appearance in a show called ''Heejun vs. Kangta, Battle of the Century: Pop vs. Rock'', in which Moon Hee-joon and Kangta taught them techniques on different types of singing. In 2003 the trio disbanded when Junsu went on to debut as a member of

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

. Eunhyuk and Sungmin were then placed in another project group with ten other male trainees, ''Super Junior 05'', the first generation of rotational boy band Super Junior.

Career

2005–2006: Debut with Super Junior

Eunhyuk officially debuted as part of 12-member project group ''Super Junior 05'' on 6 November 2005 on SBS's music programme '' Popular Songs'', where the group performed their first single, " Twins (Knock Out)". Their debut album '' SuperJunior05 (Twins)'' was released a month later on 5 December 2005 and debuted at #3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts. In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation. However, plans changed and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. Following the addition of thirteenth member Kyuhyun, the group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group's first CD single " U" was released on 7 June 2006, which was their most successful single until the release of "

Sorry, Sorry Sorry, Sorry may refer to: * ''Sorry, Sorry'' (album) , a 2009 album by Super Junior ** "Sorry, Sorry" (Super Junior song), from the 2009 album ''Sorry, Sorry'' * "Sorry, Sorry" (Femi Kuti song), from the 1998 album ''Shoki Shoki'' *"Sorry Sorry", ...

" in March 2009. Through their first official album, Eunhyuk helped produce as a

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

and wrote the rap lyrics for a majority of Super Junior's songs. The rap lyrics to " Show Me Your Love" from the winter single with TVXQ was written by him, along with

Heechul Kim Hee-chul (; born July 10, 1983), better known mononymously as Heechul, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior and has further participated in its subgroup Su ...

and

Shindong Shin Dong-hee (born September 28, 1985), better known by his stage name Shindong (lit. meaning: "prodigy"), is a South Korean rapper, singer, dancer, host, radio personality and video director. He is best known as a member of Super Junior and ...

, and "One Love", which became his solo performance in Super Junior's first concert, ''Super Show''.

2006–2009: MC-ing, sub-groups, variety shows

Eunhyuk was partnered with bandmate

Leeteuk Park Jeong-su (born July 1, 1983), known professionally as Leeteuk (), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter, radio personality and actor. He debuted as the leader of the boy band Super Junior in November 2005 and since then has part ...

as radio DJs for KBS ''Super Junior's Kiss The Radio'' (aka SUKIRA) starting on 21 August 2006. With the exception of four months from March to June 2011, where bandmate Yesung temporarily replaced Eunhyuk, while he was away on promotional activities for

's third EP ''

Perfection Perfection is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence. The term is used to designate a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts. These have historically been addressed in a number of discrete disciplines, ...

''. Eunhyuk replaced Kangin as MC on Mnet's music programme ''

M! Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. B ...

'' in late 2006. He hosted with bandmates

and Shindong for two years and four months. In February 2007, Eunhyuk was placed in the

trot The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...

-singing sub group Super Junior-T and released the single ''Rokkugo''. A year later, he became a member of Super Junior-H. From 2009, along with

and

, Eunhyuk was cast as a panel for '' Star King''. In the midst of Super Junior's growing popularity through their 3rd studio album ''Sorry, Sorry'', Eunhyuk became a variety member of '' Strong Heart'', where they hosted special segment, Boom Academy with comedian Boom. He became a member on KBS' ''

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

'', an athletic competition show and guested on ''Intimate Note'', ''Fantasy Couple'', ''Miracle'' and ''Introduce The Star's Friend''. Super Junior's prominence nationally and overseas lead them to their second concert tour, ''Super Show II'' and line-ups in 2009 Asia Song Festival, Dream Concert, and premium live events in Japan, Singapore, and Thailand. It was then that ''Sorry, Sorry'' became critically and commercially successful hit in Asia; the first occasion in which the group won top honor at all of the local end-of-the-year music awards.

2010–2011: Musical theatre and album releases

On 26 February 2010, Eunhyuk was diagnosed with H1N1 influenza, but was set to appear as a guest at label mate Girls' Generation's '' Into the New World'' encore concert in Seoul, hence had to pull out and was replaced by bandmates

and

. Super Junior released their 4th studio album, ''

Bonamana ''Bonamana'' (; literally: ''Beauty'') is the fourth studio album by South Korean boy band Super Junior. It is the first album with ten out of the original 13 members to take part, also marking the first album not to feature all active members. ...

'', with similar success in Korea, sweeping awards in music programs after the release date. Their follow-up song, ''Boom Boom'', was choreographed by Eunhyuk and performed on music programs Inkigayo and Music Core. On October 8, 2010, the digital single 'Angel' for HARU OST was released, with Eunhyuk featuring a rap verse. In 2011, Eunhyuk, along with Sungmin was placed two new members of

. On 27 September 2011, he along with

Yesung Kim Kang-hoon (born Kim Jong-woon; August 24, 1984), better known by his stage name Yesung is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, radio personality and television presenter. He debuted in 2005 as a member of Super Junior and its subgroup ...

and

filled in for bandmate

, who enlisted for mandatory military service on 1 September, during the performance on

Music Bank Music Bank may refer to: * ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS **''Music Bank World Tour The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...

and Show! Music Core of

Kim Jang-hoon Kim Jang-hoon (; born 14 August 1963) is a South Korean singer, known for his rock ballads. Early life and education Kim dropped out of school and worked as a DJ at cafes. In 1991, he released his debut album. Cho Dongik mainly wrote and arra ...

latest single, "Breakups are So Like Me". Heechul is featured in the song and starred in the music video, which was completed the day before he enlisted. '' Mr. Simple'', Super Junior's award-winning 5th studio album, was promoted heavily with Eunhyuk participating in much of the album's production through choreography, and rap lyrics for the track, ''Oops''. The album sold over 500,000 units and won the Disk Daesang Award at the 26th

Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to promo ...

and 21st Seoul Music Awards, as well as Album of the year at the 13th Mnet Asian Music Awards. The album is listed as the 2nd best-selling album as of the year 2011. In November, Eunhyuk made his musical theatre debut in '' Fame'', where he played Tyrone Jackson, along with Tiffany of Girls' Generation,

Son Ho Young Son Ho-young (; born March 26, 1980) is a Korean-American singer and musical actor based in South Korea. Best known as a member of g.o.d, he made his debut in the entertainment industry with the group in 1999 and pursued a solo career as a sing ...

, Lina of The Grace and Kim Jung Mo of TRAX. It was on at the Woori Financial Art Hall from 25 November 2011 to 29 January 2012.Lee, JinH
"Eunhyuk Attends ‘Fame’ Showcase"
''Mnet News''. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-01 It was announced on 30 November 2011 that after five years, he and Leeteuk would leave ''Super Junior's Kiss the Radio'' and was replaced by fellow members, Sungmin and

Ryeowook Kim Ryeo-wook (born June 21, 1987), better known by the mononym Ryeowook, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and musical actor. He is best known as a member of boy group Super Junior and its subgroups, Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super Junior-M. ...

on 4 December 2011.

2011–2012: ''Oppa, Oppa'' and comeback with Super Junior

On 16 December 2011 Eunhyuk and Donghae released digital single '' Oppa, Oppa'', where they first performed it at Super Junior's '' Super Show 4'' Seoul concert on 19 November 2011. This marks the first release of their collaborations. The single was also released in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

with an original Japanese music video on 4 April 2012. On the day of its release, it reached number two on Oricon Daily Chart with 42,114 copies sold. While also preparing for Super Junior's first world tour Super Show 4, the pair held a fan meeting, ''Premium Mini Live Event'', in support of the single on 11 April at Shibuya-AX,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Eunhyuk is MC for MBC every1's ''Super Junior Foresight'', along with fellow members

, Kyuhyun,

and

. From 23 March 2012, he took over as MC for the last three live shows of singing-survival program ''Great Birth 2'', better known as ''MBC Star Audition'', on MBC. As of the 10 April 2012 broadcast, following the change in MCs and the departure of

from '' Strong Heart'', the show was re-vamped with Leeteuk and Eunhyuk billed as two of the 'six-fixed guests'. In June 2012, Eunhyuk reunited with his Super Junior bandmates for their sixth studio album, '' Sexy, Free & Single'' released on 4 July. On 21 June 2012, the first teaser photo of Eunhyuk was released showing him in a white shirt, blue jeans, styled with a mullet-like hairstyle and blindfolded with white and pink flowers. In October SM Entertainment and Hyundai partnered up to release the " Maxstep" featuring Eunhyuk and other SM artists Super Junior-M's

Henry Lau Henry Lau (; ko, 헨리; born October 11, 1989), often mononymously referred to as Henry, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor based in South Korea and China. He debuted in 2008 as a member of Super Junior-M ...

, SHINee's

Lee Taemin Lee Tae-min (born July 18, 1993), better known mononymously as Taemin, is a South Korean singer, actor and dancer. He debuted as a member of the boy band Shinee in May 2008 and the supergroup SuperM in 2019, both under SM Entertainment, and ...

, EXO-K's Kai, EXO-M's Luhan and Girl's Generation's Hyoyeon. The group became the official dance unit; Younique Unit. The official cover of Zedd's

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

was released via

SBS Gayo Daejeon ''SBS Gayo Daejeon'' (, broadly ''SBS'' '' Battle of the Bands'') is an annual televised music festival that is broadcast by the Seoul Broadcasting System at the end of each year. The program first aired in 1997, and awards were given to musica ...

held on December 29, 2012, with Eunhyuk featuring. The single was performed by the members of SM The Performance and also included Donghae, along with TVXQ's Yunho, Shinee's Taemin and Minho and EXO's Kai and Lay.

2013–2014: Comebacks with Super Junior-M, concerts, mini-albums

Super Junior at press conference of Super Junior M Breakdown in Bangkok

On January 7, 2013, Super Junior-M released their second album, '' Break Down'', along with the music video for the lead single of the same name. A press conference took place in Beijing on January 7. They promoted the album in China. After returning to Korea, Eunhyuk heavily participated in variety shows, ''Come to Play (놀러와)'' and ''Barefooted Friends''. Because of conflicting schedules due to Super Show 5: World Tour, Eunhyuk withdrew from both programs. Super Junior held 28 shows in total from March 2013 to February 2014, and toured in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. In the midst of concerts, Eunhyuk returned to the studio for album recording. He and Donghae released '' I Wanna Dance'' on June 19, 2013 in Japan. The single peaked at #3 on both the Gaon and Oricon charts. ''Still You'', the follow-up single, was released on December 18, 2013. Donghae & Eunhyuk then debuted their first studio album, Ride Me, on February 26, 2014 under Avex Trax. The song became the main theme of the Japanese TV show, 'Sukkiri' (爽快情報バラエティースッキリ!!). Eunhyuk returned to

promotions via '' Swing''. The EP consists of six songs, which were released for digital download on March 21, 2014 in China and Taiwan by S.M. Entertainment. The group released the album in Korean music sites, such as MelOn, genie, Naver music and more, on March 31, 2014, and promoted on Korean music programs. The first Japanese tour for sub-group Donghae & Eunhyuk, Super Junior D&E The 1st Japan Tour, kicked off in Nagoya on March 4, 2014. After touring numerous cities, he participated in a dance project with Beat Burger, entitled "Beat Burger Project x Eunhyuk". In August, the project released an official video, choreographed to Yoo Young Jin's song "Mo Jazzy". In August 2014, it was announced that Eunhyuk and Super Junior would be making their comeback with the group's seventh album, '' Mamacita'' which was released online on August 29 and in stores on September 1. On the album, Eunhyuk contributed choreography to their second lead single, 'Shirt,' which received praises from Allkpop, "The track is one of the most energetic on the album beyond the title track." The group made their official comeback performance on the Korean music show ''

'' with the songs "Shirt" and "Mamacita" on August 29 and continued their promotions on

Music Core Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, Inkigayo and

while preparing for their new world tour Super Show 6 which would open on September 19 on Seoul.

2015: Sub-group, main group comeback, military enlistment

In February 2015, Donghae & Eunhyuk first Korean album, '' The Beat Goes On'' was released on March 9, 2015. The album had seven tracks, including the title song, "Growing Pains". On April 1, Donghae & Eunhyuk released first Japanese mini-EP called ''Present'', which contained a total of eight songs including the lead title "Saturday Night". The duo kicked off its concert tour "Super Junior D&E The 2nd Japan Tour" and "Super Junior-D&E Asia Tour" during April to August. Super Junior special album, ''

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

'' was released on 16 July 2015 to celebrate the group's 10th anniversary. Eunhyuk participated in writing lyrics for song, "Alright". On September 2, 2015, SM Entertainment announced that Eunhyuk enlisted for active duty military service on October 13, 2015.

2017–present: Comeback to music and television

Eunhyuk was discharged on July 12, 2017. After his discharge from his enlistment, Eunhyuk participated in the songs writing and composing for Super Junior's 8th Album "Play", which was released on the group's 12th anniversary. In November 2017, Eunhyuk and Donghae announced their comeback in Japan as the duo group Super Junior D&E. Eunhyuk began to serve as the concert director of his group's concert tours through Super Show 7, Super Show 7S, and the subunit Super Junior-D&E's The D&E. Starting in January 2018, Eunhyuk and his Super Junior members started a new variety program called "'' Super Junior's Super TV''". On May 22, 2020, Super Junior held their press conference for their web reality show on V Live with

as the main host. Fans were wondering why Eunhyuk was absent, and

spoke up, saying, "Eunhyuk couldn't come because of personal reasons." He is the current host of popular variety show, '' Weekly Idol'', alongside

Hwang Kwanghee Hwang Kwang-hee (Hangul: 황광희; Hanja: 黃光熙; born August 25, 1988), also known mononymously as Kwanghee, is South Korean singer, actor, and TV personality. He debuted in 2010 as a member of the boy band ZE:A. He is also known for his a ...

, since April 2020.

Personal life

Car accident

On 19 April 2007, almost two months after Super Junior-T's release of their first single "

Rokuko "Rokkugo" ( ko, 로꾸거!!!) is the first single by Super Junior-T, released on February 23, 2007. Over 45,997 copies were sold by the end of the year, marking it Korea's sixteenth best-selling record and best-selling single of 2007. "Rokkugo" has ...

", Eunhyuk was involved in a car accident, along with

, Kyuhyun, and two managers, when returning home following a recording of the radio show ''Super Junior Kiss the Radio''. While they were on the highway, the front left tire burst as the driver was switching lanes and the van ran into the guard rail/median on the driver's side and skidded for about 30 metres. At some point, the momentum caused the van to flip over on its right side. While Shindong and Eunhyuk suffered minor injuries, Leeteuk and Kyuhyun sustained more serious injuries, which required both to be hospitalized."Super Junior car accident, Leeteuk has over 170 stitches on face"
''Sina.com''. 27 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-27

Discography

Singles

Other appearances

Lyrics and composition

Filmography

Film

Television series

Web series

Television shows

Web shows

Hosting

Radio shows

Musical theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{Authority control 1986 births Living people People from Goyang Japanese-language singers of South Korea Mandarin-language singers of South Korea South Korean male idols South Korean pop singers South Korean male singers South Korean rhythm and blues singers South Korean male film actors South Korean male television actors South Korean television presenters South Korean radio presenters South Korean singer-songwriters Super Junior members Super Junior-H members Super Junior-T members Donghae & Eunhyuk members Super Junior-M members Trot singers South Korean male rappers 21st-century South Korean singers South Korean male singer-songwriters Weekly Idol members