Kevin Woo

Kevin Woo (born November 25, 1991),^[1] also known mononymously as Kevin, is a South Korean-American singer-songwriter and television host based as a Korean in New York City. He is primarily known as a former member of South Korean boy band U-KISS from 2008 until 2017, as well as a host of various programs such as After School Club.

Kevin Woo
Woo at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Background information
Also known as	Woo Sung-hyun
Born	(1991-11-25) November 25, 1991 (age 33) Danville, California, United States
Genres	K-pop
Occupations	Singer songwriter television host
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	2006–present
Labels	XING NH Media Coridel
Formerly of	XING U-KISS
Korean name
Hangul	우성현
Revised Romanization	U Seonghyeon
McCune–Reischauer	U Sŏnghyŏn
Stage name
Hangul	케빈우
Revised Romanization	U Kebin
McCune–Reischauer	U Kebin

Born and raised in California, he was discovered by South Korean entertainment agency XING Entertainment at the age of 15 and subsequently moved to South Korea. After a few months of training, Woo debuted as a member of boy group XING in 2006. After leaving the group two years later, he re-debuted as a member of U-KISS in August 2008.

In March 2017, he left U-KISS after his contract expired.^[2] Following his departure from U-KISS, Woo pursued a solo career in South Korea and Japan; he debuted as a soloist with his first single "Ride Along" in October 2018.

Life and career

1990–2012: Early life and career beginnings

Woo was born and raised in Danville, California,^[3] where he lived with his parents and elder sister. He has also been described as a San Francisco native.^[4] His family has a creative background being that his mother was a fashion model in South Korea and his paternal uncle, Emmanuel Woo,^[5] was an actor and classical opera singer in Germany. At the age of 15, Woo was initially discovered through a XING Entertainment audition. After he was accepted as a trainee, Woo and his mother moved to South Korea.^[6]

After a few months of training, Woo debuted as a first member generation of boy group XING in December 2006. After releasing three singles with the group, Woo left the group in April 2008. Following his departure, Woo signed with NH Media and re-debuted as a member of boy group U-KISS in August 2008.

In February 2009, Woo joined Arirang TV's^[7] radio show Pops in Seoul as a host of segment "All About You" alongside co-host Kim Isak. In December 2009, Woo with fellow U-KISS member Alexander released a single "Finally", which was composed by Brave Brothers.

In July 2010, Woo with U-KISS members Soohyun, Kibum, Kiseop and Dongho became a part of the drama I Am Legend,^[8] acting as a rock band. In August 2010, Woo with fellow members Alexander were selected as the new MCs for Arirang TV's music show The M-Wave.^[9]

On January 5, 2011, Woo participated in the musical On Air Live as the lead actor. He acted in a total of 26 shows, his last stage appearance coming on February 14, 2011. On March 17, Woo with U-KISS members Eli and Alexander quit MCing for Arirang's Radio School due to the loss of U-KISS members Alexander and Kibum from the group. On October 12, Woo with U-KISS members Eli announced that they would have a collaboration with Japanese singer JAMOSA from Avex label for her single "Together". The single was released on December 7 and the trio held release events at Lazone Kawasaki Plaza (December 9), Osaka Senri Selcy (December 10) and Asunal Kanayama (December 11).^[10] The song "Together" was then selected as the theme song for BeeTV's sweetTV.^[11] In November 2011, Woo and bandmate Eli were selected as MCs for Mnet's English-language version of M! Countdown, US M! Countdown.^[12]

In 2012, Woo and Soohyun remade UN's "Remember" for the drama Syndrome.^[13]

2013–2017: U-KISS uBEAT and television roles

In April 2013, U-KISS' first sub-unit, uBEAT, was formed with Woo and fellow members Eli and AJ. The sub-unit debuted with the release of an EP titled I Should Have Treated You Better with a title track of the same name, which was composed by Brave Brothers. uBEAT made their debut stage at M! Countdown's special global edition in Taiwan.^[14] Woo alongside bandmates Soohyun, Eli and Kiseop participated in the drama KPOP The Ultimate Audition, having small cameo appearances in three episodes as a senior idol group to the main cast.^[15] Woo and Soohyun were selected to appear in the Korean adaptation of the musical Summer Snow alongside Super Junior's Sungmin, Supernova's Sungjae, SS501's Heo Young-saeng and FT Island's Seunghyun from April to June 2013. This was Woo's second musical.^[16]

On May 1, 2014, Woo was a guest on music talk show After School Club and from episode 43, he became a co-host alongside Eric Nam, Jae Park and Park Jimin. Woo graduated from the program and left as MC on April 10, 2018, after four years as host.^{[17][unreliable source?]}

On March 1, 2017, NH Media announced that Woo would officially leave U-KISS following the expiration of his contract on March 31, 2017. He decided to continue his promotion with U-KISS until mid-April.^[18]

2018–present: Solo career

Following his departure from U-KISS, Woo signed with Japan Music Entertainment to pursue his solo career in Japan.^[19] He also stated that he intended to pursue his career back in the United States.^[6] In October 2018, he debuted as a soloist with his single, "Ride Along", which he released in both Japanese and English.^[20]

Woo was part of the cast of the Korean adaptation of the musical Altar Boyz from February to March 2019.^[21] In July 2019, Woo was featured in British DJ duo Hollaphonic's single "Over You", which marked his first international collaboration.^[22] He debuted the song during his set at music festival KCON at its New York dates, fulfilling one of his dreams to perform at Madison Square Garden.^[21][22] He released his first extended play, Treasure, on July 31; it was preceded by its lead single "Freedom", which was Woo's first self-composed song.^[20][23] To promote the album, Woo embarked on his first solo tour, Come Alive Tour, spanning four dates in July and August 2019.^[24] Woo and former Royal Pirates bassist James Lee collaborated for the single "Falling", which was released on August 2.^{[25][unreliable source?]} The duo promoted the single with a two-date concert tour in Los Angeles and San Francisco on August 24 to 25, and a music video released in November 6.^[25][26]

Woo joined the Live From Home livestream charity concert held on May 23, where proceeds benefitted the CDC Foundation's crisis fund for the COVID-19 pandemic.^[27] Woo temporarily rejoined U-KISS as a duo with Soohyun as part of a special throwback-themed "Guilty Pleasures" concert from SBS and its variety show MMTG in October 2020. The duo also performed "Shut Up!!" with Teen Top in a special collaboration stage.^{[28][unreliable source?]} He joined the lineup of the 2nd annual Joy Ruckus Club concert, which was broadcast online on October 17 & 18.^[29]

In March 2021, it was announced that survival horror video game Dead by Daylight would feature a K-pop-themed killer called "The Trickster;" Woo was brought on as a consultant for the character's portrayal.^[30] He released his debut English single, "Got It", on June 29, through Sony Music Korea. The song was co-produced by Shintaro Yasuda and co-written by Woo.^[31] Woo released his first NFTs with KLKTN, an NFT platform where he serves as creative director.^[32]

Woo will make his Broadway debut with the K-Pop inspired musical KPOP, which began previews on October 13, 2022, and opened on November 20 in New York City.^[33]

Personal life

In a Japanese survey through popular fortune-telling site Cocoloni, Woo was ranked as the number one luckiest Hallyu star for 2012. 100 fortune-tellers participated in the survey, predicting the stars' fortunes through zodiac, blood type and other methods. When Woo received the news, he stated: "I'm honored to be ranked first. I want to make this really happen this year. U-KISS will go on a Japanese tour and we will also release our album. Please keep supporting us and help us rank first on the Oricon chart."^[34]

Woo resided in South Korea until 2021, the year he moved to Los Angeles, California.^[31] As of July 30, 2022, Woo currently resides in New York City.^[35] He is known to be active in social media, where he regularly posts on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.^[29]

Discography

Main article: U-KISS discography

Extended plays

Title	Details
Treasure	Released: July 31, 2019 (JPN) Label: Japanese Music Entertainment Formats: CD, digital download Track listing "The Greatest Night" "SPARK!" "君と僕の約束" "What's up" "Beautiful Day" (Japanese) "Dreamer"

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Sales	Album
		JPN
Japanese
"Don't Break Us Down"	2015	—	—	Non-album single
"Make me/Out of my life" (feat. K)	2016	7[36]	JPN: 15,506[37]	Make me/Out of my life
"Ride Along"	2018	—	—	Ride Along
"Freedom"	2019	—		Freedom
"Dreamer"		—		Treasure
English
"Ride Along" (English version)	2019	—	—	Non-album single
"Got It"		—
Korean
"Beautiful Day"	2019	—	—	Non-album single
"Falling" (Korean version)		—

Collaborations

Year	Title	Album
2011	"Together" with Jamosa, Eli Kim	Together
2019	"Over You" with Hollaphonic	Non-album single
2019	"Falling" with James Lee[38] (former member of Royal Pirates)	Non-album single

Soundtrack appearances

Year	Title	Album
2018	"Camouflage"	Top Management OST

Filmography

Television dramas

Year	Title	Network	Role	Notes
2010	I Am Legend	SBS	Kiss band member	Supporting
2012	K-POP Extreme Survival	Channel A	Himself as U-KISS member	Cameo
2015	About Love	Naver TV Cast	Kevin	Web-drama; Main role
	Let's Eat 2	tvN	Hye-rim's friend	Cameo

Television shows

Year	Title	Network	Role	Notes
2010	The M-Wave	Arirang TV	Host
2011	US MCountdown	Mnet	Host
2014–2018	After School Club	Arirang TV	Co-host	Left to focus on music career.

Musical theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	On Air Live
2013	Summer Snow
2014	On Air – Night Flight
2017	Maybe Happy Ending
2017	Altar Boyz
2019	Altar Boyz
2022	KPOP	Jun Hyuk	[39]

See also

• Koreans in New York City

References

1. "Kevin Woo (케빈)". HanCinema. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
2. KBS World. U-KISS Archived November 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. March 13, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
3. Song Woong-ki (March 30, 2010). "U-Kiss to bring back '80s kitsch". The Korea Herald. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
4. Frater, Patrick (July 27, 2023). "Wonyoung, Rain and Bang Chan Set as MCs for KCON LA Concert Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Yahoo Movies. Archived from the original on June 5, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
5. "Emmanuel Woo". IMDb. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
6. Woo, Kevin (July 7, 2017). "What It Takes to Become a K-Pop Star: U-KISS Idol Kevin Woo Explains". Seventeen. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
7. Arirang. Arirang. February 8, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
8. Nate News. U-KISS become acting idols, 5 members to debut in drama. July 27, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
9. MSN News. Alexander & Kevin chosen to be Arirang TV Music Show's MC's^{[permanent dead link‍]}. August 2, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010
10. oricon. JAMOSA, U-KISS First Collaboration. October 12, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
11. musicman-net.com. JAMOSA+KEVIN&ELI(U-KISS), "Together" Selected as BeeTV's Theme Song. December 19, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
12. @US_MCountdown. US_Mcountdown.
13. korea.com. U-Kiss releases a beautiful ballad, "Remember" Archived November 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. February 29, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
14. 유키스 유닛 유비트, 오는 25일 대만서 첫 무대 '기대↑'. Naver News. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
15. news.nate.com. "KPOP Ultimate Survival" U-KISS. April 22, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
16. "NEWS | U-KISS(ユーキス) Japan official website". Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
17. "Kevin Woo to Leave MC Position on "After School Club" After 4 Years". April 4, 2018.
18. "[공식입장 전문] 유키스 측 "케빈, 계약종료로 팀 탈퇴..5인조 재정비"" (in Korean). Retrieved March 2, 2017.
19. Lee, Yoojin (July 23, 2018). "U-KISS 前멤버 케빈, 日대형기획사 계약 체결 "솔로가수로 도쿄돔 서겠다"" [Former U-KISS member Kevin signs contract with a large Japanese agency, "I will stand in Tokyo Dome as a solo singer"]. Sports Kyunghang (in Korean). Retrieved July 11, 2021.
20. Lee, Dagyeom (June 30, 2021). 케빈 미국데뷔, 아리아나 그란데 프로듀서 지원 사격 [Kevin Woo Debuts in America, Ariana Grande Producer Supports]. Maeil Business Newspaper (in Korean). Retrieved July 11, 2021.
21. Macdonald, Joan (July 9, 2019). "Solo Artist Kevin Woo Has Seen K-pop Take Off From The Inside". Forbes. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
22. Khouri, Samar (September 1, 2019). "Why K-Pop star Kevin Woo has eyes on the UAE". Gulf News. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
23. Travis, Emlyn (September 6, 2019). "Kevin Woo On The First Song He Ever Wrote: 'It Gives Me a Better Connection While Performing'". PopCrush. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
24. "KEVIN初ツアー「KEVIN FIRST TOUR 2019～COME ALIVE～」開催決定 [9/12更新]". PODA. May 23, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
25. "James Lee and Kevin Woo Unleash Music Video for "Falling"". The Kraze. November 6, 2019. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
26. Benjamin, Jeff (August 23, 2019). "Kevin Woo & James Lee Discuss Upcoming Joint Tour, Life After K-Pop". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
27. Benjamin, Jeff (May 14, 2020). "'Live From Home' Charity Concert Spotlights Asian Artists & YouTubers For Coronavirus Relief". Forbes. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
28. Leary, Edward (November 17, 2020). "Kevin Woo Shares His Emotional Achievements As A Solo Artist + Updates In Exclusive Interview". Kpop Starz. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
29. MacDonald, Joan (October 9, 2020). "K-Pop Singer Kevin Woo Shares Why He Will Join Joy Ruckus Club Concert". Forbes. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
30. Kim, Matt T.M. (March 3, 2021). "Dead by Daylight Collaborates With BTS Producer on New K-Pop-Themed Chapter". IGN. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
31. Vitagliano, Joe (July 1, 2021). "Kevin Woo Gets Personal On New Retro-Pop Bop, "Got It"". American Songwriter. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
32. Pillay, Navin (July 5, 2021). "Kevin Woo Of U-KISS Has Conquered K-Pop, And Now He's Off To Hollywood". Harper's Bazaar Singapore. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
33. Evans, Greg (April 4, 2022). "Broadway's 'KPOP' Announces Additional Cast Of K-Pop Stars". Deadline. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
34. korea.com. Japan predicts luckiest Hallyu stars for 2012 Archived November 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. January 18, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
35. "Kevin Woo 케빈 ケビン on Instagram: "Moving day!🚍📦 It's only been a year since I moved to LA, but I guess it's already time to say goodbye and take on a new city..the BIG Apple..NYC!🗽 craaaazy I still can't believe it I've been quite the nomad my whole life (SF to Seoul to Tokyo to LA) and you'd think I'd be pretty used to moving by now, but tbh I'm really not.😢 It's always hard to leave behind a certain lifestyle you've adapted to, new and old friends, and especially the memories you've made along the way. But on the other hand, I'm super stoked to see what lies ahead of me! Life always throws you so many opportunities, but it's up to your heart to let you decide at the end of the day and I've always lived strongly by that motto. Might be kinda cliché but I guess what I wanna say is..don't be afraid to take a chance in whatever it may be! Great things always come when you least expect it👍🏻 Sorry it's been a long day moving and I'm finally winding down by writing down my thoughts in this post hehe phew💦 Anyways…wish me luck in my new adventures in New York! Come see me on Broadway this fall! @kpopbroadway ⭐️ I'll keep you guys posted on my move! That's a whole 'nother mountain to climb haha😅"". Instagram. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
36. "Make me/Out of my life". Oricon. July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
37. "2016 Orion Chart – July Week 2". Oricon Chart. July 19, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
38. Murphy, Eryn (November 6, 2019). "James Lee and Kevin Woo Release 'Falling' Music Video". cheatsheet.com. Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
39. Yang Yu-jin (April 6, 2022). 뮤지컬 'K팝', 뉴욕 브로드웨이 진출…루나·김보형·민 등 출연 [Musical 'K-Pop' to enter Broadway in New York... Starring Luna, Kim Bo-hyung, Min, etc.] (in Korean). My Daily. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Naver.