Rain (singer)

Jung Ji-hoon (; born June 25, 1982), better known by his stage name Rain (Korean: 비; IPA: piː">Help:IPA/Korean">piː, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and record producer. Rain's musical career includes seven albums (six Korean, one Japanese), 28 singles and numerous concert tours around the world. He achieved breakthrough success with his third Korean album, '' It's Raining'' (2004), which spawned the number one single of the same name. The album sold a million copies in Asia, and established Rain as an international star.

Rain made his acting debut in the 2003 drama '' Sang Doo! Let's Go To School''. His lead role in the pan-Asia hit drama ''Full House'' (2004) established his status as a Hallyu star. In 2008, Rain made his Hollywood debut in the film ''Speed Racer'' and starred in ''Ninja Assassin'' (2009), the latter of which made him the first Korean to win an MTV award. Rain has set up his own company twice, the first being J. Tune Entertainment in 2007, and R.A.I.N. Company in 2015.

Rain has received numerous accolades for his work in both music and acting, including 6 Mnet Asian Music Awards, 3 Golden Disc Awards, 9 KBS Drama Awards and 2 Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2008, he was ranked 3rd among 100 leaders of the Korean entertainment industry by ''Sports Dong-a'' and was named one of ''Time'''s 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2011.

Early life

Rain was born as Jung Ji-hoon on June 25, 1982, in Seosan, South Korea. His mother died in December 2000 as she struggled with diabetes. In the same year, Rain was recruited as a trainee for JYP Entertainment, led by recording artist and producer Park Jin-young. In a CNN interview and also in a Discovery Channel documentary called ''Discovering Hip Korea'', he recalled being repeatedly rejected because of his looks: "In fact, I was told after one audition that my singing and dancing was great but I did not make it because I did not have double eyelids." He was eventually recruited into JYP Entertainment, as Park Jin-young saw his drive and persistence. During his early years of training, Rain was a backup dancer.

Music career

1998–2006: Debut, ''Bad Guy'', ''How to Avoid the Sun'' and Pan-Asia success

Rain, aged 16, debuted as a member of a boy band named Fanclub (팬클럽). Despite releasing two albums, the group failed to be commercially successful. On May 13, 2002, Jung debuted as a solo singer with his first solo album titled '' Bad Guy'' where he was introduced to the media through his stage name, Rain. Two singles were released from the album—the eponymous title track "Bad Guy" and "Handshake". Following the success of his debut, Rain released his second album, '' How to Avoid the Sun'' on October 16, 2003 with the lead single " Ways to Avoid the Sun", again to commercial success. From 2002 to 2003, he became a host for KBS's '' Music Bank''.

Rain then released his third album, '' It's Raining'' on October 8, 2004, which further consolidated his popularity throughout East and Southeast Asia. To promote the release, Rain embarked on his first tour, Rainy Day Tour, which spanned a total of 14 concerts in 8 countries. The album went on to sell over a million copies in Asia, cementing Rain's position as one of the region's top musical acts. According to JYP Entertainment, Rain earned US$35 million in revenue from promotional activities and endorsements throughout 2005.

2006–2007: Expansion outside Korea, ''Eternal Rain'' and ''Rain's Coming''

As part of his Rainy Day Tour, Rain held a two-day concert at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February 2006. It was the largest concert by a Korean artist in the city at the time, attracting over 10,000 people, and was sold out within a matter of days. The concert featured appearances from Park Ji-yoon, as well as JoJo, P. Diddy and Omarion and was promoted by the Asian concert production company Rainstone Live. In April 2006, Rain was included in ''Time'' magazine's list of "100 Most Influential People in the World". Rain released his debut Japanese album, '' Eternal Rain'' on September 13, 2006, which peaked at number 14 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

After his Japanese promotions, Rain followed up with the release of his fourth album, '' Rain's World'' on October 14, 2006. It was the 9th best-selling album of the year in South Korea, and a repackage of the album was released 2 months later. In support of the record, Rain held a free promotional concert at the Seoul World Cup Stadium one day prior to the album's release in front of 40,000 fans. He subsequently held his second concert tour titled the Rain's Coming World Tour, which began on December 15, 2006 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. It continued through 2007 to various parts of Asia, Australia, United States, and Canada and was well received. Rain performed two concert dates in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 23–24, 2006, held at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for a total of 7,600 fans.

In April 2007, Rain topped ''Time'' Magazine's online user poll, defeating Stephen Colbert by 100,000 votes; Colbert jokingly retaliated by producing a parody of Rain's music video for "Ways to Avoid the Sun" called "He's Singin' In Korean", and challenged Rain to a dance-off or a "cuddle-off", or a "spoon-off". He also made it into ''People's'' 2007 list of the "Most Beautiful People" in the world. In a press release, Rain stated that he was honored to be on the list, and also noted that it will be a great boost to his efforts to raise his public awareness in the United States. On May 25, 2007, Rain became the first Korean artist to hold a concert at the Tokyo Dome, which attracted nearly 40,000 attendees. Later that year, Rain left JYP Entertainment to start his own company, J. Tune Entertainment, but still retains his collaborative relationship with Park Jin-young. On May 5, 2008, Rain appeared in a surprise guest segment at the end of ''The Colbert Report'', and proceeded to engage Colbert in a dance-off on a Dance Dance Revolution machine.

2008–2012: Olympics, ''Rainism, Back to the Basic'' and continued popularity

In January 2008, Rain was tapped to sing the theme song of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, "Hand in Hand". He also performed at the Beijing Olympic closing ceremony in August, singing the closing theme song “Beijing, Beijing, I Love Beijing”. On October 15, 2008, Rain released his fifth Korean album, ''Rainism'', which spawned the number one hit single "Love Story". The music video for "Love Story" featured Korean actress Ha Ji-won. A second single, titled "Rainism", was subsequently released. Rain held a comeback showcase for the album, and appeared in a two-day special program where exclusive footage and interviews of the singer was shown.
On November 24, 2008, the Commission of Youth Protection deemed the album inappropriate for people under 19 years old because the lyrics in the song "Rainism" were considered problematic due to their phallic and sexual references. Rain re-released a "clean version" of "Rainism" shortly after, but instead of changing the original album's contents, a sticker was placed on the album that prohibited its sale to those under 19 years old.

In October 2009, in support of his fifth album ''Rainism'', Rain kicked off his third concert tour, The Legend of Rainism Tour with two shows at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul on October 9 and 10. It continued with concerts in various parts of Asia and at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 24–25, 2009. On April 6, 2010, Rain released a special mini-album titled '' Back to the Basic'', including the singles "Love Song" starring Han Ye-seul in the music video as well as "Hip Song". Once again, Rain topped the Time 100 reader's poll. In October, Rain represented Korea and performed at the 7th Asia Song Festival, organised by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.

In 2011, Rain made his third appearance at the top of the Time 100 poll and the second time as a finalist. ''Time'' describes his win as "The South Korean pop star turned actor Rain, 28, took the top spot in the Time 100 reader poll for the third year, trouncing competitors from Barack Obama to Lady Gaga. That's pretty impressive online power for a guy whose main claim to Western fame is a role in the 2009 film Ninja Assassin." Along with the ''Time'' honor, Rain went on a farewell tour, The Best Show Tour, before his 21-month compulsory military service. The tour spanned Southeast Asia including his first tour dates throughout South Korea. His last concert, Rain: Last of The Best was deemed as the best event in Gangnam District for 2011.

2013–2019: Cube Entertainment, ''Rain Effect'', The Squall tour and ''My Life''

On September 17, 2013, it was officially announced that Rain signed with Cube DC, a sub-label of Cube Entertainment After signing with Cube DC, it was announced Rain would be going on his first tour since his discharge. The 2013 Zepp Tour: Story of Rain saw Rain perform 10 dates in four cities in Japan over a few dates in November. In October, Rain held his first fan meeting since his discharge in Seoul.

As a precursor to his new album, Rain starred in a reality show ''Rain Effect'', which premiered on December 19, 2013. The new album, titled '' Rain Effect'', was released on January 2, 2014 with music videos for double title tracks, "30 Sexy" and "La Song". A few months later, Rain released a repackaged version of the album, featuring the ballad single "I Love You". On September 7, 2015, Rain announced through his Facebook page that he and the CEO had come to a mutual decision to not renew his contract with Cube Entertainment. On October 11, he announced through his official website that he had created his own one-man agency with the aid of his longtime manager and other entertainment figures.

From late 2015 to 2016, Rain embarked on his second world tour, titled The Squall World Tour. On December 12, 2016, R.A.I.N. Company announced that Rain would release a new album in 2017 with a series of promotional activities to accompany his musical comeback. He released the single "The Best Present", produced by Psy on January 14, 2017. In October 2017, Rain appeared as a mentor on KBS' survival audition program, ''The Unit''. On November 7, it was announced that Rain would come back with a new mini album in December with a comeback special titled ''2017 Rain is Back'' airing December 3 on KBS. The comeback special was followed by a series of variety and music show promotional activities. Rain's album, ''My Life'' was released on December 1, 2017.

2020–present: Career resurgence and SSAK3

In mid-May 2020, Rain's 2017 music video and song "Gang" from his second EP ''My Life'' went viral on YouTube in South Korea for its overly bombastic production, choreography and mannerisms, and self-absorbed lyrics after a parody dance video "1 Gang a Day" by a high school student released in late 2019 became a sensation online. Rain embraced his newfound fame with grace and self-deprecation, inviting more interest towards the song and invoking more parody videos. The phenomenon ― consuming, leaving comments, producing parodies ― blew up further after Rain's appearance on MBC's television program ''Hangout with Yoo''. An official remix version of "Gang" by Sik-K, PH-1, Jay Park, and Haon was released on June 4, 2020 and topped all real-time charts upon its release.

Rain joined Mnet's survival reality show I-Land, which premiered on June 26, 2020, as a judge and mentor. Rain also featured in Zico's song "Summer Hate" from his third EP '' Random Box'', which was released on July 1, 2020. In the summer of 2020, through ''Hangout with Yoo'', Rain, under the stage name B.Ryong, collaborated with Yoo Jae-suk and Lee Hyori to form a summer project co-ed trio SSAK3. The group's song "Beach Again", released on July 18, 2020, topped various music charts upon release and topped the Gaon Digital Chart for five consecutive weeks. SSAK3 also released "Play That Summer" as well as solo songs, including Rain's "Exciting" featuring Mamamoo, on July 25 as part of the group's project. In December 2020, Rain was recognized as one of the ten "2020 Visionary" figures, selected by CJ E&M, who inspired the global public with their pioneering work in Korean pop culture in 2020.

Rain is set to release a new album after three years. He reunited with his mentor Park Jin-young to release the collaboration song "Switch To Me" on December 31, 2020. Rain also featured Chungha and released the song "Why Don't We", which is the title track for his third EP ''Pieces by Rain''. On March 3, 2021, Rain released his new EP, which includes five songs, including "Switch To Me" and "Why Don't We".

Acting career

2003–2006: Acting debut and Hallyu fame

Rain made his television debut in the KBS drama, '' Sang Doo! Let's Go To School'' (2003). The drama achieved good ratings and he won the Most Popular TV Actor award at the 2004 Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2004, Rain's popularity continued to climb when starred alongside Song Hye-kyo in the hit romantic comedy series ''Full House'', which drew solid viewership ratings nationwide throughout its run with a peak viewer rating of 42.7 percent. The series was broadcast in various parts of Asia as well as the United States, garnering much popularity and establishing Rain as a Hallyu star. His performance in the drama won him the Best Actor award at the KBS Drama Awards. Rain next starred in action romance drama '' A Love to Kill'' opposite Shin Min-ah. In 2006, Rain made his big-screen debut in romantic comedy film '' I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK'', directed by Park Chan-wook. The film won the Alfred Bauer Award at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival, and was selected as the opening film for the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Rain was nominated for and won the Best New Actor award at the 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards.

2008–2013: Hollywood ventures

In 2008, he starred in his first English-language film, playing Racer Taejo Togokahn in ''Speed Racer'', directed by the Wachowskis. He then made his starring role debut in ''Ninja Assassin'' (2009), as the main character Raizo. ''Ninja Assassin'' was directed by James McTeigue, and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowskis. The project was inspired by the ninja scenes featured from ''Speed Racer'', in which Rain had impressed the Wachowskis with his portrayal as a fighter. For his first Hollywood lead role in ''Ninja Assassin'', Rain trained alongside stuntmen for six hours a day, over six months. He won the Biggest Badass award at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards for his performance.

In 2010, Rain returned to the small screen after five years with KBS action drama '' The Fugitive: Plan B'', in which he plays a young, rich and cunning Korean private investigator. This was followed by a leading role in the aviation film '' R2B: Return to Base'', which was released in August 2012. In 2013, it was announced that Rain would appear alongside Bruce Willis, Jason Patric, and John Cusack in the film ''The Prince''. Filming took place in the United States, including in New Orleans