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Onew: Wiki, Career, Awards, 6 Fun Facts & More

Biography of Onew

Lee Jin-ki popularly known as Onew is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor and host. He was discovered by SM Entertainment and debuted as the lead vocalist and the leader of the boy group Shinee. He is one of the best-selling artists in South Korea.

Early Life and Education

Onew was born on 14 December 1989 in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi-do. He graduated from Chungwoon University with his Masters in Music Broadcasting.

Career

2008–2009

SM Entertainment discovered Onew during their 2006 SM Academy Casting. The event was a talent hunt by the company to find new potential stars. He impressed Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment at a showcase event for another group, Girls’ Generation.

He signed a contract with the company the day after he auditioned. In 2008, he was chosen as the leader of the group Shinee, the five-member boy group which debuted on 25 May 2008 on SBS’ Inkigayo.

Kdramalive Image of Onew
Credit: Pinterest

Outside his activities with SHINee, he contributed singles for Lee Hyub-ji in 2008 titled ‘Vanilla Love’ and ‘Vanilla Love Part 2’. The following year, he recorded the song ‘One Year Later’ with Girls Generation member Jessica for the EP ‘Genie’. He also sang a duet with Kim Yeon-woo, ‘The Name I Loved’ for Shinee’s third EP ‘Year of Us’ (2009).

2010–2017

In 2010, along with bandmate, Minho wrote the lyrics for the song ‘Your Name’ from Shinee’s second studio album ‘Lucifer’. He co-hosted KBS2’s Night Star alongside Shin Dong-yup, Yoon Jong-shin, movie director Jang Hang Joon, and Gil from the group Leessang. His other MC credits include: Dream Concert, Incheon K-Pop Concert and Mnet’s special event in Taiwan called Nihao Taiwan.

He debuted in ‘Brothers Were Brave’ alongside singer Lee Ji-hoon and starred in various musicals from 2010. He played the lead role in the Korean production of Rock of Ages and cameo role in the drama ‘Dr. Champ’.

His other cameo credits include ‘Athena Dramas: Goddess of War’, ‘Oh My God x2’, ‘Pure Love’, and the ‘Royal Villa sitcom’. In 2012, he recorded the song ‘In Your Eyes’ for the drama series ‘To the Beautiful You’. He sang ‘Moonlight’ for the drama ‘Miss Korea’ released on 3 January 2014. 

Kdramalive Image of Onew
Credit: Pinterest

He participated in the Borneo edition of the reality show ‘Law of the Jungle’. He also has experience in radio hosting and presented shows like Kiss the Radio, hosted by his labelmates Super Junior.

In 2016, he was cast in the drama ‘Descendants of the Sun‘ starring Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki. He acted as the character Dr. Lee Chi-hoon and the drama was a blockbuster.

He was awarded the ‘Newcomer Scene Stealer Award’ at the 2016 Scene Stealer Festival for his role in ‘Descendants of the Sun’. He appeared in the tvN program ‘Eat, Sleep, Eat’. Onew and Lee Jin-ah released a duet, ‘Starry Night’ as a part of SM Station, a digital music project by SM Entertainment. He penned the lyrics of ‘So Amazing’ and ‘Beautiful Life’ (repackaged album, 1 and 1).

In 2017, Onew and indie duo Rocoberry released the song ‘Lullaby’ as a part of SM Station. The same year he featured in Heize’s music video ‘I Don’t Know You’. The following year, he featured in Kim Yoon-woo’s fifth studio album song ‘Play the Field’. This was his first contribution to songwriting for an artist other than SHINee.

2018–2021

His debut EP ‘Voice’ was released on 5 December 2018 with the lead single ‘Blue’. It includes two songs co-written by Onew ‘Shine On You’ and ‘Illusion’. He joined the military musical Shinheung Military Academy and performed a part of the musical on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of South Korea’s provisional government.

In 2019, he joined another military musical ‘Return: The Promise of That Day’ with Exo and Xiumin. He resumed activities as part of SHINee in 2021. He released the song ‘Shadow’ as a soundtrack for the drama ‘Breakup Probation: One Week’. The same year, he was cast in the musical ‘Midnight Sub’ as the lead role of Ha-ram and released two musical soundtracks ‘Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down’ and ‘Goodbye Days’, a duet with Kei.

Kdramalive Image of Onew
Credit: Pinterest

He appeared as a regular cast member on Sea of Hope. He released the song ‘Dear My Spring’ on 3 August 2021 as a soundtrack for the drama series ‘You Are My Spring’. He joined the cast of March of the Ants Chapter 5. He collaborated with Elaine and released a duet ‘Blue’, the drama series ‘High Class’ soundtrack.

As a part of The Cultural Heritage Administration and The Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation’s tourist campaign, he promoted Korea’s Cultural Heritage in the Korea On Stage project filmed at Yangdong Folk Village in 2021.

He was cast in SM C&C Studio’s web variety show Solider Idol Camp and the short-form horror series 4 Minutes and 44 Seconds. On 6 December 2021, Onew and Punch released a duet ‘Way’. He penned the lyrics along with songwriter Kim Eana. On 27 December 2021, Onew alongside Kyuhyun and Taeil released the song Ordinary Song for the album 2021 Winter SM Town: SMCU Express.

2022- Present

He released the song Mind Warning for the drama Forecasting Love and Weather. He released a song Mind Warning for the drama Forecasting Love and Weather. He played the role of Ha-ram for the 2022 production of Midnight Sun. He released two musical soundtracks ‘The Sun Is in My Eyes’ and a duet, ‘A Melody Called You’ with Kim Nam-joo.

His first solo comeback after his discharge from the military was his second EP ‘Dice’ with the lead single of the same name. This was his first solo release with six tracks. One song was dedicated to his fans titled ‘In the Whale’ and the EP peaked at number three on the Circle Album Chart.

Kdramalive Image of Onew
Credit: Pinterest

As a pre-release of his Japanese debut album, he released a digital EP ‘Who Sings?’ Vol.1.  The EP has four cover songs: Kazumasa Oda’s Kirakira, Motohiro Hata’s Uroko, Misia’s Everything and Dreams Come True’s Yasashii Kissete. He released his first Japanese studio album ‘Life Goes On’. The album contains six original tracks and four cover tracks.

He held his first solo concert tour in Japan at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. He released his Japanese single ‘Dance Whole Day’ which was later released in Korea. The last concert was broadcast live on TBS Television.

He released two songs ‘The Cure’ and ‘Where You Are’ collaborating with other labelmates for SM Entertainment’s winter album 2022 Winter SM Town: SMCU Palace.

Onew held his first Korean concert, O-New-Note at the Olympic Hall in Seoul. The last day of the concert was live-streamed globally online through Beyond Live in 74 regions internationally. He released his first Korean studio album Circle with the lead single ‘O’.

Kdramalive Image of Onew
Credit: Pinterest

The album has ten songs composed of different methods of singing. He precisely chose the words healing, recovery and circulation as the album’s keywords. He held his concert O-New-Note in Japan at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo and he performed an unreleased single ‘Inspiration’.

He won his first music show as a solo artist on MBC’s Show! Music Core and released ‘Inspiration’ and ‘Knock On My Door’ digitally. He abstained from participating in the Korean concert of SHINee’s tour, ‘SHINee World VI: Perfect Illumination’, and the promotions for their eighth studio album on account of health issues.

When the contract expired with SM Entertainment he signed with a new agency Griffin Entertainment for his solo activities. His group activities with SHINee will continue unchanged under SM Entertainment. After 10 10-month health hiatus, he made his first public appearance performing at the 2024 Star Awards in Singapore.

On 17 May 2024, he set forth on his first-ever solo Asian fan meeting tour Guess!, performed at Sejong University Daeyang Hall in Seoul and released a new unreleased song All Day. The tour was staged in places like Seoul, Osaka, Yokohama, Macau, Manila, Kaohsiung and Singapore.

Kdramalive Image of Onew
Credit: Pinterest

The tour wrapped up on 21 July 2024 with twelve performances in seven Asian cities. He resumed his activities with Shinee, joining them on stage for Shinee World VI Perfect Illumination: Shinee’s Back held at the Inspire Arena in Incheon, celebrating their 16th debut anniversary.

He was crowned as Best Song Stealer on MBC’s Song Stealer. He released the cover of Byul’s debut song December 32 Days, digitally released on 24 June 2024. He released the single ‘All Day’ and his third EP ‘Flow’ in 2024.

Achievements

Onew is the main vocalist and leader of the group, SHINee under SM Entertainment. Known for his vocal abilities, he rose to stardom with hits like Replay, Ring Ding Dong and Lucifer. He has contributed to SHINee’s impressive album sales, starred in various musical theatre productions, appeared in several TV dramas and is a celebrated solo artist.

  • Onew won the Newcomer Scene Stealer Award for Descendants of the Sun at the Scene Stealer Festival in 2016.
  • Onew won the Leader of the Year at the 2015 SBS Gayo Daejeon.

Military Life

Onew enlisted for his mandatory military service as an active duty solider on 10 December 2018 and was officially discharged on 8 July 2020. He was discharged 12 days earlier than expected due to South Korea’s efforts to Combat COVID-19.

Personal Life

Much about his personal life is not known to the public.

Net Worth and Lifestyle

Onew has a net worth of 3-5 million US dollars.

He is the lead vocalist of SHINee and is one of the most popular and loved singers. He is one of K-pop’s promising vocalists and contributes greatly as a group and solo artist. He is also known to be the trendsetter of fashion.

Awards

  • Scene Stealer Festival (2016)
    Newcomer Scene Stealer Award (Male)
  • SBS Gayo Daejeon (2015)
    Leader of the Year

Interesting Facts about Onew

  1. Onew’s hobbies are listening to music, playing the piano and eating chicken.
  2. Lee Jin-ki’s favourite number is 2.
  3. Onew’s nicknames are Leader Onew, Dubu, Ontokki, Onewhan, and Tofu.
  4. Onew makes the most mistakes during practices.
  5. Lee Jin-ki had small roles in different dramas like: ‘Dr. Champ’, ‘Pure Love’, ‘Royal Villa’, and ‘Descendants of the Sun’.
  6. Onew’s official colour is green and his fans are called ‘MVPs’ because of the lyrics he sang in their single, ‘Replay’: ‘Noona you’re my MVP’.

FAQs

  1. When did Onew leave SHINee?
    On 3 April 2024, it was announced that Onew had signed with a new agency, Griffin Entertainment.
  2. What has happened to SHINee Onew?
    Onew was on hiatus from June 2023 because of health conditions.
  3. What is Onew’s Instagram ID?

    dlstmxkakwldrl

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