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From the 1st Kpop idol group to Director at SM Entertainment, here’s singer Kangta’s journey
A look into the life of Kangta.
Kangta, originally named Ahn Chil Hyun, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, composer, producer, radio host, actor, and social personality. He is widely known as being one of the five members of the legendary boy group H.O.T. He has had a presence in the South Korean entertainment industry for a long time and today we take a look at it.
Ahn Chil Hyun was born on 1 October 1979 and was discovered at the young age of 13 at a theme park. He joined SM Entertainment as a trainee and started working as a backup dancer. A group was formed between Moon Hee Joon, Jang Woo Hyuk, Tony An, Lee Jae Won, and Kangta. They were called H.O.T, an acronym for Highfive Of Teenagers. This group is known as the first K-pop idol group that eventually gave rise to a myriad of other groups debuting after them. Their debut created a whole new music industry in the country.
The Hallyu Wave that is now subjected to the interest of millions of fans and critics every year seems to have begun from these men, one of whom was Kangta playing the role of the lead singer. H.O.T discontinued after 5 years after not renewing their contracts with SM Entertainment. Kangta then decided to continue as a solo artist and debuted again with a solo album Polaris. He followed with 2 more albums, Pinetree and Persona, all of which were very successful. 
Along with being a singer, Kangta always harboured dreams of becoming an actor and hence started acting in Chinese as well as Korean dramas. He received love from fans all around the world and held several concerts while also winning multiple awards.
He was a part of a group called ‘S’ (Supreme) with Shin Hye Sung (Shinhwa) and singer-actor Lee Ji Hoon. Later he became a part of a duo with Taiwanese singer Vanness Wu of the drama ‘Meteor Garden’ fame. Kangta has featured on labelmates BoA and Taeyeon’s songs and has taken part in the writing of numerous tracks owing to his spectacular songwriting skill.
After completing his mandatory military service, Kangta entered the Chinese music industry with albums of his own. His solo radio journey also began as he starred in KBS 2FM’s 'Freedom Declaration' as a solo DJ. Kangta then joined as a mentor on ‘The Voice of Korea’ Seasons 1 and 2, making valuable contributions to a show that was renewed for another season last year.
In 2014, he was announced as a de facto creative director at SM Entertainment. Kangta also starred as a solo DJ on MBC’s ‘Starry Night’ soon after.
Kangta confirmed that he was dating actress Jung Yu Mi after the two met on a radio broadcast.
He has celebrated his 20th debut anniversary with SM Entertainment and is now carrying out his 25th debut anniversary throughout 2021. He hosted the SM Congress 2021 where the remastering of about 300 songs was announced.
Following this, a ‘Free To Fly 2021’ was released where NCT’s Sungchan and aespa’s Winter were featured.
It has indeed been a rollercoaster for Kangta and we hope to see more of him in the coming years!
Also READ: SM Remastering Project: See which of your old SM favourites are getting re released soon, bigger & better
What do you think about Kangta’s journey in music? Let us know below.
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