Jung Min-joo (born Jung A-rin, October 11, 1990), known professionally as Joo (stylized in all caps), is a South Korean singer, songwriter and musical actress. In 2006, she became a contestant on JYP Entertainment's Superstar Survival. Although she didn't win, she was accepted as a trainee at JYP Entertainment. After two years of training, Joo debuted as a soloist with her single album Young Girl in January 2008. However, she resumed training for two years, as she didn't feel ready for her debut. Joo later returned in January 2011 by releasing her EP Heartmade.
Joo | |
|---|---|
| 주 | |
| Born | Jung A-rin October 11, 1990 Seoul, South Korea |
| Other names |
|
| Education | Dongguk University |
| Occupations |
|
| Relatives | Jung Il-hoon (brother) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active |
|
| Labels | |
| Website | officialjoo |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 정민주 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong Min-ju |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Minchu |
| Birth name | |
| Hangul | 정아린 |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong A-rin |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Arin |
Aside from her music career, Joo has participated in various musical dramas, including Youthful March (2011–2012), Catch Me If You Can (2012–2013), and Full House (2014). She also participated in notable TV drama Dream High (2011) and the movie Marriage Blue (2013).
Early life
editJoo was born on October 11, 1990, in Seoul, South Korea. She spent her childhood in Indonesia because of her father's work.[citation needed] Her younger brother is Jung Il-hoon, a former member of the South Korean boy group BtoB.[1]
Career
editPre-debut
editJoo was one of the contestants in the 2006 survival series Superstar Survival alongside 2PM's Chansung, Taecyeon and Junho. Although Junho was ultimately crowned the winner, she was accepted to train at JYP Entertainment.[citation needed]
2008: Young Girl and return to trainee
editOn January 10, 2008, JYP Entertainment stated that they would debut a new solo singer, Joo. She made her debut stage on January 11, 2008, with her single "Young Girl" on KBS' Music Bank.[2] Despite already making her debut, Joo ultimately decided that she was not yet ready to finish her training. She continued life as a trainee until her comeback in 2011.
2011–2014: Heartmade and musical acting
editOn January 3, 2011, Joo released her much-awaited comeback video, titled "Bad Guy", which featured 2PM's Chansung[3] on her official YouTube channel. The single was part of her album titled Heartmade. Her comeback stage featured the same song on the January 7 broadcast of Music Bank.[4]
On May 12, 2011, Joo released another teaser video with a new song titled "Ice Cream" featuring Super Junior's leader, Leeteuk.[5] The music video was released on May 16, 2011.
On May 23, 2011, JYP Entertainment officially announced that JYP artists would come together for two “JYP NATION in Japan 2011” concerts in Japan in August 2011. The star-studded line-up included Park Jin-young, Lim Jeong-hee, Wonder Girls, Joo, 2AM, 2PM, Miss A, and San E. The two concerts took place on August 17 and 18 at the Saitama Super Arena.
On October 10, 2011, JYP Entertainment revealed that Joo had been selected as a leading actress in a musical called Youthful March, scheduled to perform from November 12, 2011, to January 29, 2012.[6] This marked her debut as a musical actress. As it was her first time in a musical, she said: "I'm excited to take my first step into the world of musicals. It's only the beginning, and as it is a leading role, I'll be rehearsing harder than anyone else to create an amazing show. I'll do my best to show a different image from singer Joo as musical actress Joo, so please give me your support.".[7]
On October 31, 2012, JYP Entertainment announced that Joo had been selected to take on the role of Brenda in the new musical of Catch Me If You Can scheduled to have its first performance on December 14, 2012, and final on February 9, 2013. Other prominent stars such as Girls' Generation's Sunny, CSJH The Grace's Dana and Oh Sang-eun have taken turns to take on the role previously.[8][9]
On March 5, 2014, it was announced that Joo was selected to join Beast's Yoseob in the musical remake of Full House, which ran from April 11, 2014, to June 8, 2014. She joined the cast of Full House, which included VIXX's Leo, A Pink's Jung Eun-ji, Kim San-ho, Seo Ha-joon, and Kwak Sun-young.[10]
Through an interview, she shared her thoughts and experiences on living as a musical actress, which is a career quite different than the one in her past. She said: "I've been enjoying performing for the musical Full House. I've been watching other musicals and taking lessons on my days off." She also revealed her hopes of wanting people who come to watch Full House to see her as Han Ji-eun, not as singer Joo or actress Jung Min-joo.[11]
2015–present: Cry & Blow, Late in the Morning, The Unit
editIn January 2015, Joo's contract with JYP Entertainment ended.[12] In April, it was revealed that she had signed an exclusive contract with Woollim Entertainment.[13]
In October 2015, Woollim Entertainment confirmed Joo would be making a comeback after five years, releasing a ballad track.[14] Joo released her single, Cry & Blow, on November 2.[15]
Joo release her second digital single Late in the Morning on May 26, 2017.[16] The ballad track was composed by Nell's Lee Junghoon.[17][18]
On October 2, 2017, Joo confirmed she would be appearing on reality television series The Unit and participated in a recording for the program on October 1, which aired on October 28.[19]
Personal life
editJoo married her non-celebrity boyfriend from Taebaek on May 4, 2019, after dating for a year.[20] Her younger brother, BTOB’s Jung Il-hoon, was in attendance, as were his fellow members Yook Sung-jae, Im Hyun-sik (singer), and Peniel Shin. The group reportedly performed “Only One For Me” as the congratulatory song.[21]
Discography
editEPs
edit| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | |||
| Heartmade |
|
40 |
|
Single album
edit| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | |||
| Young Girl (어린 여자) |
Track listing
|
No data |
|
Singles
edit| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | ||||||
| "Because of a Man" (남자 때문에) | 2008 | — | — | Young Girl | ||
| "Like Yesterday" (어제처럼) | — | |||||
| "Bad Guy" (나쁜 남자) | 2011 | 5 | Heartmade | |||
| "Ice Cream" (아이스크림) (with Leeteuk) |
21 | Non-album singles | ||||
| "Cry & Blow" (울고 분다) | 2015 | 19 |
| |||
| "Late in the Morning" (어느 늦은 아침) | 2017 | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes songs that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||||
Soundtrack appearances
edit| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | ||||||||||||||||
| "Premiere" (초연) | 2007 | — | — | Conspiracy in the Court OST
| ||||||||||||
| "That's Love" (그게 사랑이야) | 2008 | — | One Mom and Three Dads OST | |||||||||||||
| "Color" (색) | — | Painter of the Wind OST | ||||||||||||||
| "Turn Around" (뒤돌아봐) | 2010 | 9 | Cinderella's Sister OST | |||||||||||||
| "You Want It" (원하잖아) (San E feat. Joo) |
157 | Everybody Ready? | ||||||||||||||
| "Dream High" (with Suzy, Wooyoung, Taecyeon, Eunjung, and Kim Soo-hyun) | 2011 | 42 | Dream High OST | |||||||||||||
| "Not What I Expected" (기대했단 말야) | 2012 | — | History of a Salaryman OST | |||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||||||||||||||
Other charted songs
edit| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | ||||||||||||||||
| "Can't Even Take a Glass of Water" (물 한잔도 마실 수 없어) | 2011 | 66 | — | Heartmade | ||||||||||||
| "Not Even in the Movies" (영화도 안보니) (feat. Chansung of 2PM) |
95 | |||||||||||||||
| "After Looking At You" (마주치고 나서) | 117 | |||||||||||||||
| "Unbelievable" (꿈만 같아) | 123 | |||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||||||||||||||
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Marriage Blue | Ah-reum |
Television series
edit| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dream High | Jung Ah-jung | KBS2 |
Musical theatre
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–2012 | Youthful March | Young-shim |
| 2012–2013 | Catch Me If You Can | Brenda |
| 2014 | Full House | Han Ji-eun |
Music video appearances
edit| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Confession of a friend | 2AM | Herself |
| 2010 | This Christmas | JYP Nation | Herself |
| 2011 | Bad Guy | Herself and Chansung of 2PM | Herself |
Awards
edit| Year | Award-Giving Body | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best New Female Artist[23] | "Because of a Man" | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ Tae, Yoo-na (May 4, 2019). "가수 주, 오늘(4일) 비공개 결혼...친동생 정일훈 및 동료 연예인 참석". Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Retrieved December 24, 2020.
- ^ krnloop (10 January 2008). "Joo, JYP's new singer". Korean pop music news source. krnloop. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "[M/V] JOO "나쁜 남자" from Heartmade". YouTube. 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
- ^ "KBS Music Bank". Soompi. Soompi Inc. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "Joo And Leeteuk Release Teaser For "Ice Cream"". Soompi. Soompi Inc. 12 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "JOO Debuts as Lead Actress in Musical "Youthful March"". Soompi. Soompi Inc. October 10, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
- ^ "JOO cast for her debut musical, 'Youthful March'". Allkpop. October 10, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
- ^ "JOO joins the cast of 'Catch Me If You Can' musical". Allkpop. October 30, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
- ^ "Singer JOO Cast in Musical "Catch Me if You Can"". Soompi. October 31, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
- ^ "VIXX's Leo, A Pink's Eunji, JOO, and more to join Yoseob in musical remake of 'Full House'". Allkpop. March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
- ^ "[Interview] Singer Joo Returns as Musical Actress in ′Full House′". Mwave. May 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
- ^ "JOO Searches for New Agency as 7-Year Contract with JYP End". Mwave. January 20, 2015. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
- ^ "Solo Artist JOO signs with Woollim Entertainment". Soompi. April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ "JOO to make her comeback after a 5 year hiatus". Allkpop. October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ^ "JOO reveals title for her comeback track!".
- ^ "JOO, 과거 발표한 '남자 때문에' 로 역주행 성공할까". 26 May 2017.
- ^ "주(JOO), NELL 콘서트 인증샷♥ "오라버니들 부러워"". 26 May 2017.
- ^ "[단독] 주(JOO), 1년6개월만에 컴백 확정 '5월 가요대전 전격 합류'".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "주(JOO) 측 "'더 유닛' 출연하는 것 맞다"".
- ^ "JOO Gets Married in Private Ceremony Attended by Her Brother Ilhoon's Group BTOB".
- ^ "JOO Gets Married in Private Ceremony Attended by Her Brother Ilhoon's Group BTOB".
- ^ "2008.상반기 결산 판매량" [First half of 2008 sales]. Music Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 5, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
- ^ "2008 Mnet KM Music Festival Part1" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. MAMA. Retrieved 2014-12-17.