Rain, Jeong Ji-Hoon (born on 25 June 1982 in Seoul)
is a male Korean R&B and pop singer. He has become
well-known throughout East Asia as a leading star of
the Korean wave: Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan,
Mainland China, and Thailand . He has been called
the "Asian Usher" or the "Asian Justin Timberlake."
In April 2006, Time magazine called him the world's
second most influential entertainer.
Biography
The story of his name is rather complicated: he's
known by a variety of names in different countries.
Although his stage name is an English word, in
Korea, he is known as Bi (pronounced like the
English word be), which is the Korean word for
"rain". In Japan, his name is pronounced Pi ("ピ,"
pronounced like pea in English). In countries
outside of Korea and Japan, the English name Rain
prevails.
Rain discovered his passion for dancing ever since
he was in the 6th grade. As a teenager, he was part
of the boyband group called "fanclub" and years
after the group ended, Park Jin Young (Korean
producer/singer who worked with American singers
Will Smith, Mase, Lil’ Kim, 3LW, Tyrese) took Rain
under his wings after he auditioned for JYP
Entertainment and trained him for years in dancing
and singing. Rain was a back-dancer for a famous
Korean singer named Park Ji Yoon and Park Jin Young
himself. During those training years, Rain was not
at home much and would lie to his parents telling
them he was going to study in the library while in
fact he went to the dance studio. He struggled
financially and at times had to go without meals.
Nevertheless, he continued to focus on his dance and
singing even though he was anxiously waiting for his
debut.
Finally in 2002 he debuted with the song "bad guy"
charming fans with his singing and powerful
choreography. After the 1st album, he starred in the
drama "Sangdoo let’s go to school". Many people were
impressed by his acting skills regardless that it
was his first time acting in a drama. Following the
success of his debut, he came back with a new set of
style in his 2nd album and hit song "Way's To Avoid
The Sun".
In 2004, he starred in another successful drama
called "Full House" which has aired in other Asian
countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia,
Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia,
Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and was one of the highest
rated Korean dramas which has won the hearts of many
fans across Asia. His performance in Full House has
won him the Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting
Awards.
His 3rd album "It’s raining" has been released in
Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore,
Indonesia, Thailand and has top the foreign music
charts in those countries. This album has selling
over 1 million copies in Asia. His concert called
"Rainy day" which was held in Korea and Japan had
concert tickets sold out on the first day.
In 2004, Rain earned even greater recognition by
winning the MTV Asia Grand Slam, winning top honors
in all the Asian countries that broadcast MTV Asia.
Rain won the "Favorite Artist of Korea" from the
2005 MTV Asia Aid held in Bangkok , the "Popular
Asian Artist Award" from Channel [V] Thailand, and
the "Best Buzz Asia Award" during the MTV Japan
Video Music Award 2005 and the "Best Korean Singer"
award in the MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Honors in
Beijing. Rain was also the first Asian performing
artist ever to be invited to the 2005 American MTV
Video Music Awards in Miami and the 2005 MTV Latin
Video Music Awards in Mexico. These accomplishments
among others earned Rain media attention including
interviews with Time Magazine Asian Edition and CNN
Talk Asia.
Rain also won the "Best Korean singer" award 2005 at
the Mandarin Music Honors in Taiwan. Having been
voted as the best Asian singer by the Taiwanese
media, Rain is positioning himself as one of the
most admired Asian stars this year. Wherever he
goes, he generates huge public interest and becomes
a hot topic of conversation. His every move is
monitored by the media and draws keen attention from
music fans.
In addition to Times magazine voting Rain the second
most influential artist of 2006, the magazine has
also noted that Rain may do a future collaboration
with P.Diddy. This was after reviewing Rain's
awesome performances in Madison Square Garden in
February 2006. His two concerts, Rainy Day in New
York, were sold out in a couple of days.
Rain is currently on a RAINY DAY 2005 Tour which
started in Seoul and will travel to Tokyo and Hong
Kong. He is creating and showcasing fresh new
spectacles at every single concert, and tickets are
selling out quickly as a result. His first solo
concert in Japan last summer, entitled "Rainy Day
Japan" and held at the Tokyo International Forum,
was so popular that all the tickets were sold out 30
seconds after going on sale. And the tickets for
another of his concerts in Taiwan were sold out the
moment they became available. His performances in
Hong Kong also sold out in a couple of hours. Rain
continues to set records in Asia. Now planning to go
beyond Japan and Hong Kong, Rain will make a foray
into China by giving a concert in Beijing.
There is also news that Bi will be singing a duet
song with Omarion, who used to be the vocalist of
the popular, hip-hop group, "B2K", and had starred
in the movie, "You Got Served". When Bi's first
movie had completed filming in early July, he had
departed for the U.S. to discuss about the
possibility of singing the duet song with Omarion,
and meeting up with his organizers of his Asian
Tour.
Bi's Asian Tour will include producers and stage
designers (for example, Jamie King and Mark Fisher)
who have done tour concerts with famous artists,
such as Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, Madonna, U2,
Britney Spears, and the Rolling Stones.
Rain had apparently met Omarion through his
producer, Jin-Young Park, who had written a song for
Omarion's recent album. Also, after Bi's concert in
February in New York - where Omarion had danced to
Bi's song "Bad Guy" - Omarion and Bi became friends,
says JYP Entertainment. They also noted that the two
may star in a movie together one day.
JYP also announced in an interview with Yonhap News
on June 4rth, that the two will record their song
when Bi arrives to the U.S. the next time, and it
will be released as a digital single in Korea and
the U.S.
Also, Pepsi Cola has shot a TV commercial with Bi
and Christina Aguilera, a well-known, American pop
singer and star. There is also talk that the two
will sing a duet song together.
Bi's fourth album will be released in Korea in the
fall.
Korean Discography
Albums
Volume 1 | Bad Guy
Volume 2 | Rain
Volume 3 | It's Raining
Singles
나쁜 남자 | Bad Guy (debut single)
악수 | Hand Shake
태양을 피하는 방법 | Way's To Avoid The Sun
알면서 | You Already Knew
It's Raining
I Do
Japanese Discography
Singles
Sad Tango (2006)
Free Way (2006)
Chinese Singles
手記 | Memory In My Hand (2006 for Pantech)
Filmography
Television Series
[2002] Orange / 오렌지
[2003] Sang Doo, Let's Go To School
[2004] Full House
[2005] A Love To Kill
Sangdoo, Let's Go To School (2003) had good ratings
but Full House (2004), in which he costarred with
Song Hye Gyo, was much more popular. The story is
based on a manwha about a girl who marries an actor
while trying to get back her house.
In his most recent and most popular drama, A Love To
Kill (2005), Rain portrays a man who works as a
bodyguard for a famous actress to take revenge on
her for putting his brother into a vegetative state.
Other appearances
Commercials
[2005] DOHC Clothing Line (Korea)
[2005] Pantech Mobile Phone (China)
[2006] DHC Cosmetics Career (Hong Kong, China,Taiwan)
[2006] Pepsi (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan)
News
In early May of 2006 Rain was the first Korean
performer honored as one of the 100 most influential
people who shape the world [2] by Time Magazine.
Superstar Rain headed to New York and walked down
the red carpet at the Lincoln Center to attend the
Time 100 party [3]on Monday, May 8 2006 where he was
given a commemorative medal.
Rain is becoming more and more popular, and is now
at the level of an international star. He will make
his official debut in the United States in 2007.
On May 29, 2005, Rain was invited to the MTV Japan
Awards as a performing artist in Tokyo, Japan. He is
the only non-Japanese Asian singer to perform at the
show. Other international guest artists included
American singers Ashanti, and Mariah Carey. He
performed the title song from his latest album, It's
Raining.
On July 1, 2005, Rain held his third album showcase
and press conference in Beijing, China. He also
performed at various mini concerts in Hong Kong on
July 3-5. Thousands of fans swamped the Hong Kong
International Airport to greet him. His popularity
in Hong Kong and China has soared since the KBS
series "Full House", starring the artist, aired in
that country.
Rain has been invited to perform at the pre-match
show of the game between the English premier league
team Manchester United and Japan’s Kashima Antlers
on July 28 at 7 p.m. at the Tokyo Yoyoki National
Stadium.
Rain held his first solo concerts in Japan, entitled
"Rain Day In Japan," on July 30-31, 2005 at the
Tokyo International Forum, Aug. 3-4, 2005 at the
Osaka Pension Hall and an encore concert held in
Budokan, Tokyo.
Rain held his first solo concerts which sold out
within a few days in the United States, entitled
"Rainy Day in New York," on February 2-3, 2006 at
the Madison Square Garden, New York. Both nights
were sold out and Rain was the subject of a profile
in the January 28th New York Times and his
performance at the Madison Square Garden was also
reviewed by the New York Times. The review also
noted possible future collaboration with Sean Combs,
who at the concert named him the first Asian Sean
Jean model.
In March of 2006, it was announced that Rain was to
make his film debut in the movie "I'm a Cyborg, But
It's Okay" (Saibogujiman Kwenchana). Filming has
already begun and the movie is said to be released
around December.
His fourth album will be released on October 15,
2006. He will then tour 11 countries in Asia to
promote his new album.
