Tony Ahn

Tony Ahn (Korean: 토니안; born June 7, 1978) is a South Korean singer, best known as a member of boy band H.O.T.. After H.O.T. disbanded in 2001, its ex-members Tony Ahn, Jang Woo-hyuk and Lee Jae-won formed the dance music trio jtL. Eventually, JTL unofficially disbanded as each member, including Ahn, released their solo material.

Tony Ahn
Background information
Birth name	Ahn Seung-ho
Also known as	Tony Ahn
Born	(1978-06-07) June 7, 1978 (age 46) Ichon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea[1]
Genres	K-pop R&B dance
Occupations	Singer songwriter businessman
Years active	1996–present
Labels	TN Nation Entertainment SM Entertainment
Formerly of	SMTOWN H.O.T. jtL
Website	tonyan.co.kr

Stage name
Hangul	토니안
Revised Romanization	Tony Ahn
McCune–Reischauer	Tony Ahn
Birth name
Hangul	안승호
Hanja	安勝浩
Revised Romanization	Ahn Seung-ho
McCune–Reischauer	Ahn Sŭng-ho

Biography

He is the CEO of TN Nation Entertainment, a music entertainment company; Skoolooks, a school uniform company; and Shinenihs, an undergarment company. Popular comedians Jung Hyung-don and Jo Hye-ryun were both part of TN Nation Entertainment.^[2][3]

In 1997, Ahn was admitted to Dongguk University. He majored in stage performance and graduated in 2003.^[4]

Career

Solo

Ahn changed his genre to fast-paced soft rock songs and gave a speech, telling about his views on his former H.O.T. members, and how he tried to contact them. He also released a music video title "Melody" featuring SAT from his special album, "Untold Story".

On April 28, 2008, Ahn came back with a new special album entitled "Look Blank", with its principal song "Wallet". In September 2010, Ahn completed his 2-year army duty and released a new song, "Going To Meet You Now". He released an EP titled 'Top Star' in February 2011, and after leaving as MC for the popular No. 1 Kpop chart show Mcountdown! in 2012 he released a single called "Beautiful girl" which also features Hyun Jun of SMASH.

jtL

Main article: jtL

When JTL was created, Ahn was the lead vocal for the group and not just a back-up vocal and English rapper. H.O.T. fans had mixed feelings for jtL. Many of jtL's music videos were boycotted. However, things changed around when jtL held a 'Guerilla Concert' in front of 12,133 fans.^[5]

TN Nation Entertainment

After Ahn wanted to pursue a solo career during his jtL days, he created his own label, TN Nation Entertainment. Artists under this label are Ahn and former Click-B member Yoo Ho-suk, going under the name "Evan", along with Jung Ju-ri, Shin Bong-sun, 어썸베이비 (Awe5omeBaby), and others. South Korean comedian and entertainer Jung Hyung-don was the member of this company.

TN Nation Entertainment also debuted a boy band named SMASH, who released a music video for their debut song, "비상[Emergency]", on August 14, 2008. Ahn collaborated with SMASH in February 2012 with 'Get Your Swag On'. They promoted the song together on various live music shows.^[6] SMASH later disbanded at the end of 2014.^[7]

On June 19, 2015, the company debuted their first girl group, a five-member beatpella (beatbox + a cappella) group called 어썸베이비 (literally Awesome Baby, stylized as Awe5omeBaby). The members include June, Sumin, Yechan, Dahee, and Lina. Their debut single was '내가 왜?' or 'Why Should I?'.

Personal life

In November 2013, Ahn was investigated for illegal online sports gambling alongside South Korean comedian Lee Soo Geun and South Korean entertainer Tak Jae-hoon. Reportedly, he gambled a total of 400,000,000 KRW (approximately $376,000 USD) between May 2009 and March 2012. He had his first hearing on December 6 and received a six-month prison sentence with one year probation on December 27.^[8][9][10]

On February 13, 2014, in light of Ahn's illegal gambling incident, KBS revealed they had imposed a ban on all of H.O.T.'s songs and prevented his show appearances on their media outlets while MBC simultaneously announced a temporary ban on Ahn's show appearances on their channels as well.^[11][12] As of 2016, all the major stations lifted the ban on Ahn.

An is currently housemates with Sechs Kies's member Kim Jae-duck. The arrangement had caused a stir amongst their contemporaries as both groups were regarded as one another's fiercest industry rivals during the late 1990s and largely avoided any contact with one another despite crossing paths many times. They had met and befriended one another during their mandatory military service.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2022	Reverse		Cameo; sound film	[13]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
2003	Hello Franceska	Tony	MBC	Cameo ep. 2
2012	Reply 1997	Himself	tvN	Cameo ep. 1 & 3
2019	How to Hate You?		JTBC	Cameo ep. 2
	Melting Me Softly	Himself	tvN	Cameo ep. 1
2020	Hanging On	Dr. Ahn Jung-seop	JTBC	Cameo ep. 4 & 6
2021	The Second Husband	a producer	MBC	Cameo ep.2[14]
	Fly Again	Yoo Min-hyuk	Kakao TV	[15][16]
2023	Oh! Youngsim	Lee Woo-sang	ENA	[17]

Variety show

Year	Title	Role	Network
2000–2002	Star Survival Dongeodongrak	Cast Member	MBC
2010–2011	Oh! My School	Host	KBS1
2011–2012	M Countdown	Main Host	Mnet
2013	MasterChef Korea Celebrity	Contestant	O'live
	Handsome Boys of the 20th Century	Cast Member	QTV
2016	Attraction TV	Cast Member	OnStyle
2016–2018, 2022	My Little Old Boy	Cast Member	SBS
2016–2017	Lipstick Prince	Cast Member	OnStyle
2017	Raid the Convenience Store	Cast Member	tvN
2018	Plan Man 3	Main Host	Naver
	Mimi Shop	Main Host	JTBC
2019	Go Together, Travel Alone	Cast Member	TV Chosun
	Escape Idols	Cast Member	Studio DIA
2020	Idol Fishing Camp	Cast Member	JTBC
	Top 10 Student	Cast Member	KBS2
2021–Present	Boss in the Mirror	Cast Member	KBS2

Discography

See also: H.O.T. discography and JtL § discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		KOR (RIAK) [18]
Believe	Released: October 19, 2004 Label: TN Entertainment Format: CD, cassette	8	KOR: 49,369[19]
Yutzpracachia's Love	Released: April 14, 2006 Label: TN Entertainment Format: CD	3	KOR: 21,488[20]

Extended plays

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions		Sales
		KOR (RIAK) [18]	KOR (Circle) [21]
Behind The Clouds (촌스럽게)	Released: November 29, 2005 Label: TN Entertainment Format: CD	13	—	KOR: 16,448[22]
Untold Story	Released: May 29, 2007 Label: Nega Network Format: CD	5	—	KOR: 12,094[23]
Top Star	Released: April 4, 2011 Label: TN Entertainment Format: CD, digital download	N/A	—
I'm Tony An	Released: July 3, 2013 Label: TN Entertainment Format: CD, digital download		9	KOR: 2,932[24]
"—" denotes release did not chart.

References

1. "이수만이 배터리 사러가는 열정에 합격시킨 아이돌 정체". Daum (in Korean). March 19, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
2. "Entry on Nate.com". Nate. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012.
3. "Artist Profile on KBS". Korean Broadcasting System. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
4. Cho, Hyeji (November 5, 2012). 가수 토니 안 동문, 모교 찾아 후배 격려 (in Korean). Dongguk University. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
5. "Artist Profile on KBS World". Korean Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on January 14, 2007.
6. Sunwoo, Carla (April 1, 2012). "Tony An wraps up performing with his boy band". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
7. "Tony Ahn-Produced Boy Band SMASH Disbands". April 3, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
8. "Celebrities Indicted for Illegal Gambling (Tony Ahn, Lee Soo Geun, Andy, and More) Receive Their Sentences". Soompi. December 2, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
9. "Tony Ahn, Lee Soo-geun, & Tak Jae-hoon To Have First Hearing Dec. 6th". Korean Broadcasting System. November 1, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
10. "Tony An, Lee Soo Geun, and Tak Jae Hoon receive suspended 6 month prison sentence for illegal gambling". Allkpop. December 2, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
11. "KBS to no longer broadcast any of H.O.T's songs due to Tony An's gambling controversy". Allkpop. February 1, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
12. "'도박' 이수근·탁재훈·토니·붐·앤디, MBC 출연금지" (in Korean). Star News. February 1, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
13. Han, Hyun-jeong (November 16, 2022). "리버스' 임원희 "카메오 토니안, 배우로서도 손색없어" ['Reverse' Lim Won-hee "Cameo Tony An, as an actor is not inferior] (in Korean). Maeil Business Star Today. Retrieved March 19, 2023 – via Naver.
14. Seo Ye-jin (August 10, 2021). "[공식] 토니안, '두 번째 남편' 특별출연…엄현경과 의리 지켰다→차서원과 호흡" [[Official] Tony An, special appearance on 'Second Husband'... I kept my loyalty with Uhm Hyun-kyung → Breathing with Cha Seo-won]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
15. Kim Myung-mi (June 29, 2021). "형원 김명지 박은혜 토니안, 음악 드라마 '다시 플라이' 캐스팅(공식입장)". Newsen (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
16. Ko Da-yeon (October 28, 2021). "형원 주연, 하이틴 뮤지컬 드라마 '다시, 플라이' 11월 공개" [Starring Hyungwon, teen musical drama 'Again, Fly' to be released in November] (in Korean). Newsis. Retrieved October 28, 2021 – via Naver.
17. Jeong Ga-young (May 4, 2023). "'오!영심이' 추억 속으로…송하윤·이동해 둘러싼 관계도 공개" (in Korean). Sports World. Retrieved May 31, 2023 – via Naver.
18. Recording Industry Association of Korea chart positions:

    • Believe: "2004.10월 - 가요 음반 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
    • Yutzpracachia's Love: "2006.4월 - 가요음반 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
    • Behind The Clouds: "2005.11월 - 가요 음반 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 18, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
    • Untold Story: "2007.5월 - 가요음반 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
19. "2004년 총결산 가요 음반 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
20. "2006년 - 가요 총결산 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
21. Circle Album Chart positions:

    • I'm Tony An: "Album Chart, 2013 Week 28". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved October 7, 2022.
22. "2005년 - 가요 총결산 음반 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
23. "2007.상반기 결산 판매량". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
24. "Album Chart, 2013.07 Month". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved October 7, 2022.

External links

• Tony's official website (in Korean)
• Tony Ahn on Weibo (in Chinese) (in Chinese)