Ellison Kyoung-jae Kim (born March 13, 1991), better known by his stage name Eli, is a South Korean-American singer and

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

. He is a member of South Korean boy band

U-KISS U-KISS (; ) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2008. Their name is an acronym, standing for Ubiquitous Korean International Idol Super Star. The group is currently composed of Soohyun, Yeo Hoon-min, Hoon, Lee Ki-seop, Kiseop, Alexander Lee ( ...

Early life

Eli was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

parents. He spent most of his years in

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond, Virginia, R ...

. He has a younger sister Minah and an older sister Hannah. He attended Ni River Middle School and Riverbend High School in Virginia. After dropping out of high school, he went alone to

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

at 15 to pursue his studies, and also learned

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. He trained in

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

and

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

for 12 years, opening an opportunity for him to be cast as an extra in a Chinese movie. He is fluent in English, Korean and Mandarin.

Music career

U-Kiss

Eli is the fourth addition to the Korean boy band

, which was formed by NH Media Entertainment in 2008. They were launched in Power of Atamix in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

alongside other Korean boy bands such as Paran. They also debuted in South Korea days later. On April 27, 2011, Eli and

Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

went to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

for a special street date with their Hong Kong fans for their show ''Star Date with U-KISS in Hong Kong'' special. This was sponsored by Binggrae, which aims to connect the fans all over the world to Hallyu stars to encourage cultural exchanges. The special was aired through Arirang TV on May 3. On May 16, 2019, NH Media announced that Eli’s contract with NH Media had expired and he had decided not to renew it along with other fellow U-KISS member Kiseop.

Other activities

Eli was one of the hosts for the variety show ''Raising Idol'' along with U-KISS member

Shin Dongho Shin Dong-ho (; born June 29, 1994) is a former South Korean singer who acquired fame as a singer of the boy group U-KISS. Dongho was the most active member of the group, appearing in a great many reality shows and other productions. He join ...

MBLAQ MBLAQ (, ; an acronym for Music Boys Live in Absolute Quality) is a South Korean boy band created by South Korean singer Rain under J. Tune Camp. The group consists of Seungho, G.O, and Mir, and formerly Lee Joon and Thunder. The group debuted ...

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

and

Shinee Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key (entertainer), Key, Choi Min-ho, Minho, and Taemin. Originally a five-piece band, Jonghyun died on ...

's Key. He appeared on MBC's ''We Are Dating'' on December 24, 2010 where he showed his Casanova type of being a man. He also hosted the segment "All About You" on

Arirang TV Arirang TV () is a South Korean international broadcaster owned and operated by Korea International Broadcasting Foundation. It broadcasts current news and programs offering political, economic, and cultural content from a Korean perspective t ...

's ''

Pops in Seoul ''Pops in Seoul'', airing from 1998 to 2021, has presented Korean pop music for the past eleven years on the network Arirang TV. The show's VJ presented current music, news about K-pop culture, and provided overseas viewers with the latest Korean ...

'', along with fellow U-KISS members, Alexander and

. He also acts as an MC in the show ''Fusion'' with Park Myung-soo under MBC which premiered on April 1. In November 2012, Eli along with NS Yoon-G were chosen to host a new weekly English show, ''K-pop Tasty Road'' on Olive TV (and on

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

in the United States and various other countries). The show gives K-pop fans a sense of where Hallyu celebrities eat, play, work, and shop. The first episode was aired on November 10.

Acting career

In January 2010, Eli and fellow member Kibum started their acting career in a Thai-Korean drama, ''Autumn Destiny'', with Thai actor

Mario Maurer Mario Maurer (, ; ) is a Thai actor and model. He was in the 2007 film ''The Love of Siam, Love of Siam'' and the 2010 sleeper hit ''First Love (A Little Thing Called Love), Crazy Little Thing Called Love''. He was also in Thailand's highest gro ...

. Eli and Kibum's voices were dubbed since they could not speak Thai. In 2011, Eli and fellow members Dongho and Kiseop were cast in an MBC sitcom titled ''Real School''. The trio acted in a 40-episode series, transforming into

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

students who reside at an "English Village" in an attempt to face and crack their fear of speaking English. In October 2014, Eli was cast as the male lead in a Chinese adaptation of the Korean drama ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about the recently widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend ...

''.

Personal life

On April 18, 2011, Eli was injured during a rehearsal. He fractured his right hand and underwent surgery. The hospital stated that it wouldn't be difficult for Eli to perform, and he managed to perform with a cast on his right arm. On December 4, 2015, Eli announced via instagram that he had been married for over a year, since June 5, 2014, having dated his wife, who is a model 11 years his senior, for five years. It was also announced that they were expecting a child. His fellow members Soohyun and Kevin took to Twitter to comfort the fans about the surprising news of Eli's marriage news. On December 6, 2015, U-KISS' label NH Media released a statement to clear up some questions. His label said that Eli's marriage would not affect his promotions with U-KISS and that he would continue filming his Chinese drama and asked fans to refrain from leaving hate comments, as he would soon be a father. On June 8, 2016, Eli's son, Michael Min-soo Kim, was born. On August 30, 2016, Eli revealed his wife, Ji Yeon-soo to the public on MBC Every1's ''Video Star''. On January 4, 2017, Eli revealed his life as a husband and father by joining reality show, KBS's '' Mr. House Husband'' with his wife, Ji Yeon-soo and their son, Michael Min-soo Kim. Eli announced his separation from Ji in November 2020, with Michael remaining with his mother while he is staying in the United States.

Filmography

Television drama

TV shows

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Eli 1991 births Living people South Korean male idols South Korean male rappers 21st-century male rappers Singers from Los Angeles American expatriates in China South Korean expatriates in China U-KISS members Korean-language singers of the United States K-pop singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers