If you find our kpop platform useful please consider subscribing to kpopping or disabling your adblocker
Onew is a South Korean singer and actor under SM Entertainment. He debuted as a member and leader of the boy group SHINee on May 22, 2008, with the group's first mini album Replay.
In mid-2015, Onew had a vocal polyps surgically removed. He had to retrain his single skills due to the period of his voice loss.
In August 2017, Onew was involved in an incident of sexual harassment. The victim stated that Onew touched his leg two or three times as he was trying to stand up for two hours. However, the victim realized that such incidents could occur if a person was under the influence of alcohol and withdrew the accusations. After a four-month hiatus, Onew issued a letter of apology.
Onew made his solo debut on December 5, 2018, with his first mini-album Voice.
In July 2019, Onew joined the military musical Shinheung Military Academy, which tells the story of patriotic youths who fought to gain independence from Japan. Onew joined another military musical in August 2019 with Exo's member Xiumin. They were cast in the new army musical titled Return: The Promise of That Day as the young Seung-ho who fought during the Korean War. It was an original army musical and dealt with the topic of excavating the remains of the heroic soldiers who sacrificed themselves to protect their country during the Korean War.
He was officially discharged on July 20th, 2020.
On June 9, 2023, SM Entertainment released a statement and revealed that Onew would be taking a break from activities due to health reasons.
On March 5, 2024, It was reportedly announced that Onew would not renew his contract with SM Entertainment.
On April 2, 2024, It was announced that he would be signed under GRIFFIN Entertainment for his Solo activities.