SS501 Profile

SS501(pronounced as Double-S 501 or Deo Beul E Seu Oh Gong Il) is a popular South Korean boyband under management of Daesung Entertainment, also known as DSP Entertainment. The name of the band is a combination of the alphabet and numbers that have special meanings in them. The first “S” stands for “Super”. The second “S” is an abbreviation for whatever they want to be that starts with an S, Star/Singer etc. The number 5,0 and 1 means `five members united as one forever.’ Their official fan club is known as “Triple S”. There are only three official Triple S currently, but more are surfacing from other countries and waiting for DSP to recognize them.

Debut

SS501 debuted in 8 June 2005 with their first single “경고” (“Warning”), with a second single “Snow Prince” released in late 2005. The group was inactive in Korea for most of 2006, although they had a fan meeting in Japan in April.^{[citation needed]} The hiatus was due to Heo Young Saeng’s throat condition which required surgery, thus resulting in a need for time to fully recover.^{[citation needed]}. In mid-2006, they held their first concert, “Step Up Concert” in Osaka, Japan. In late 2006, they returned to Korea in order to promote their first full album, which was released on November 10. Singles from the album included “Unlock” and “Four Chance”. As well as promoting the album on various variety and music shows, they also filmed a show on MNet called SOS. On their 600th day (January 28, 2007), they won the Mutizen award from SBS Inki Gayo for their song “Four Chance”.

Entering Japan

Later in 2007, the group debuted in the Japanese market. A Japanese fanclub has been established with the name of “Triple S Japan”; it officially debuted on March 25, 2007, when SS501 had their first official meeting with the group. In Korea, their fan club members number around 41,700^{[citation needed]}. The group had a Japanese single “Kokoro”, which had multiple versions, including one with all members and five others featuring the members individually. The single debuted at #5 on the Oricon chart,and jumped to #3 the next day. A full album was released later in the year.

Comeback to Korea

In 2008, SS501 returned to Korea with their single Deja Vu released on March 8, 2008. The title track was the first song to be promoted, and they started their comeback on music channel M.Net’s M Countdown.^[1] After success with their single “Deja Vu”, they began to promote their second single, “A Song Calling For You”. They performed their Goodbye Stage on Music Bank on June 6th, 2008, to return to Japanese activities.

Boys Over Flowers

On October 2, 2008, an official announcement confirmed Kim Hyun Joong as part of the cast for the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango, also known as Boys Over Flowers, which is scheduled to be broadcast via KBS 2TV in the first half of 2009 with a total of 25 episodes. According to an official from Group Eight, the production house in charge of the drama, Kim Hyun Joong was selected to play Hanazawa Rui, or Yoon Ji Hoo (Korean ver.). He was the only flower boy who was selected without going for any auditions. After the show, SS501 gained even more fans and Triple S started forming and expanding, both in Korea and overseas.

Subgroup

Due to two of the members’ busy schedules, Jungmin performing in a Korean production of the musical “Grease” and Hyun Joong filming the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango, also known as Boys Over Flowers, SS501’s album, originally due for release in late 2008, was to be pushed back to July 2009. Instead, a subgroup SS501 was formed. They initially wanted to use Triple S as their group name but gave up the idea because they think that they are 5 members always as 1 no matter what, so they continued to release a special project album U R Man (released on November 25, 2008) under the name of SS501.

The three (members of the subgroup) also had a cameo in the fourth episode of Boys Over Flowers as performers in a club, singing “Ur Man”. Finishing their promotional activities for ‘Ur Man’, they went on to promote ‘내 머리가 나빠서 (Because I’m stupid)’, a song they sang for the OST of ‘Boys Over Flowers’. This song is very well-received due to the success of the drama. They won the “Song of the month (Feb)” award with this song at the 32nd Cyworld Digital Music Awards (28 Mar 09) with about 110,000 downloads for BGM at http://www.cyworld.com.

2nd Japanese Album

They released their official 2nd Japanese album on 13 May 2009 titled “All My Love”. They held a ‘SS501 ALL MY LOVE Sale Commemoration Hand Shake Session’ on 17 May at TFT Hall in Tokyo where 7,000 fans attended.

1st Asia Tour PERSONA

The original group, with all five members, cameback in August 2009. They begin their First Asia Tour from Aug’09, which includes countries like Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hongkong etc. Two Asia Tour Concerts has been done, 01 Aug & 02 Aug in Seoul and 13 Aug (1pm & 7pm) in Tokyo. SS501 held a fanmeeting in Taiwan on 28 Jun and HongKong on 01 Aug prior to their Asia Tour.

Members

Kim Hyun Joong

• Korean：김현중  Chinese： 金賢重
• SS501 Leader
• Nickname: dog or cow
• Birthday: 1986/06/06
• Zodiac: Gemini
• Seoul origin
• Height: 183cm
• Weight：63kg
• Blood type：B
• Education: Kyonggi University, Department of electronic digital music
• Family member : Parents, Elder brother
• Hobbies : swimming, workout, basketball, football
• Talents : guitar, paino
• idol : Lee Hyori
• dream girl : straightforward, like friend
• own body part that like most : eyes
• motto : You can only live once
• In 2008 starred in MBC variety show, “We got married”; 2009 Korean Drama Boys Over Flowers (South Korean version of “Meteor Garden”), which of Yoon Ji-Hoo
  

Career

Kim debuted as the leader of SS501 in 2005. In addition to their musical activities, SS501 participated in two reality shows — Thank You For Waking Us Up (2005) and Thank You For Raising Us(2006) — that profiled the group’s life together. They also appeared in MNet’s Idol World in 2007, which showed SS501 doing various missions in Japan.

He joined the cast of MBC variety reality show We Got Married on May 11, 2008, with Hwang Bo, who is 6 years his senior. They achieved high popularity acting as a newlywed couple. Due to his appearance on We Got Married, he was cast in the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango as one of the members of the famous F4. Known as the “Lettuce Couple”, Kim and Hwang Bo went on to win MBC’s Best Couple Award. The couple made their official exit from We Got Married on December 14, 2008 due to scheduling conflicts presented by Boys Over Flowers.

In the hit drama series, Boys Over Flowers, he plays Yoon Ji Hoo. The series was a huge media and ratings sensation in Korea during its run from January to March 2009, garnering a huge amount of popularity for the entertainer.

Along with his bandmates, Kim is preparing SS501’s new Korean album, for which each member will be doing a solo. Their Asia Concert Tour began in mid-August 2009.

Filmography

• Boys Over Flowers (KBS2, 2009) Yoon Ji Hoo
• Nonstop 5 (Episode 208, MBC, 2005)
• Can Love Be Refilled? Sitcom (KBS2, 2005

Awards

• Popularity Award for Television on KBS2’s Boys Over Flowers (The 45th PaekSang Arts Awards, February 2009)

• Best Couple Award on MBC’s We Got Married with Hwang Bo (MBC Awards, December 28, 2008)

Heo Young Saeng

• Korean: 허영생, Chinese：許永生
• SS501 Prince
• Nickname : Otter
• Birthday: 1986/11/03
• Zodiac: Scorpio
• Gochang gun Jeollabuk origin (born in Guangzhou City, Gyeonggi-do)
• Height 178cm
• Weight 63kg
• Blood Type: O Type
• Family member : Parents
• Hobbies: Online game, listening to music, self-portrait (photos)
• Talents: Piano, voice intimation
• idol : Song Hye-gyo
• First Love: Middle school with a girl three years older than him
• ideal girl: cute, considerate, intelligence
• motto: I need to overcome all the difficulty to keep go on

Career

Heo Young Saeng was a trainee under SM Entertainment, making him close with members of TVXQ and Super Junior. He later joined DSP Entertainment and debut as a member of SS501 on 8 June 2005.

Young Saeng hosted SS501’s Youngstreet (SBS, 2006) with fellow member Park JungMin from 1 May 2006. He had to part with the program in Aug’06 due to some problems on his vocal cords which requires surgery and time to recover.

In 2008, due to 2 members’ busy schedules, Jung Min performing in a Korean production of the musical “Grease” and Hyun Joong filming drama “Boys Over Flowers“, SS501’s album which was originally due for release in late 2008, was to be pushed back to July 2009.

Instead, a sub unit of SS501 was formed, with Heo Young Saeng as the leader of this sub unit. Other two members in this unit are Kim Kyu Jong and Kim Hyung Joon. This unit group was initially named “Triple S” but they changed it back to “SS501”, reason being that they are 5 members always as 1. The unit group released a special project album “U R Man” (released on November 25, 2008).

Young Saeng composed and wrote his solo song, ‘사랑인거죠 (Is it Love?)’ which is also included in the special project album. This song is written while SS501 were having activities in Japan in 2007. He is the first member to have both composed and wrote lyrics for a song.

Finishing their promotional activities for “U R Man”, they continued their activities to promote “내 머리가 나빠서 (Because I am stupid)”, a song they sang for the OST of “Boys Before Flowers”. This song is very well-received due to the success of the drama. They won the “Song of the month (Feb)” award with this song at the 32nd Cyworld Digital Music Awards (28 Mar 09) with about 110,000 downloads for BGM at http://www.cyworld.com.

Solo

• Hajimete Miru Sora Datta (はじめて見る空だった) (‘Kokoro’ August 2007)
• Is It Love? (사랑인거죠) (‘U R Man’ November 2008)
• Memories without a name (이름없는 기억) (SS501 Solo Collection June 2009)
• My Baby You
• Go wipe your tears(눈물을 지워가)- Friend, Our Legend Drama OST

Radio Show

• SBS SS501’s Youngstreet (May ~ Aug 2008)

Kim Kyu Jong

• Korean: 김규종, Chinese：金奎鐘
• SS501 Center
• Nickname: Center
• Birthdate: 1987/2/24
• Zodiac: Pisces
• Blood type: A type
• Height / Weight: 181 cm / 65kg
• Education: All Beijing Normal University affiliated High School (graduate) Baiji University of the Arts Department of Music (studying in)
• Family member: Parents, little sister
• Hobbies: listening to music, reading, basketball
• Talents: Magic
• idols: Wu Shijing
• ideal girl: someone like idols Wu Shijing, warm hearted
• Motto: No regrets, I would like to challenge all!

Career

Kim Kyu Jong debuted as a member of SS501 on 06 June 2005.

Kim Kyu Jong took over the role of DJ from Heo Young Saeng for SBS radio program ‘SS501’s Youngstreet’ on 21 Aug 2006 as Young Saeng had to undergo a throat surgery and require time to recover. He hosted this program with his fellow member Park Jung Min.

Kim Kyu Jong started his acting career with a role in Mnet hip-hop music drama “Break” (11 May 06) showcasing his acting skills and dance skills at the same time while playing the role of a b-boy.

In 2008, due to 2 members’ busy schedules, Jung Min performing in a Korean production of the musical “Grease” and Hyun Joong filming drama “Boys Over Flowers”, SS501’s album which was originally due for release in late 2008, was to be pushed back to July 2009.

Instead, a sub unit of SS501 was formed with Heo Young Saeng, Kim Kyu Jong and Kim Hyung Joon. This unit group was initially named “Triple S” but they changed it back to “SS501”, reason being that they are 5 members always as 1. The unit group released a special project album “U R Man” (released on November 25, 2008).

Finishing their promotional activities for “U R Man”, they continued their activities to promote “내 머리가 나빠서 (Because I am stupid)”, a song they sang for the OST of “Boys Before Flowers”. This song is very well-received due to the success of the drama. They won the “Song of the month (Feb)” award with this song at the 32nd Cyworld Digital Music Awards (28 Mar 09) with about 110,000 downloads for BGM at http://www.cyworld.com.

Kim Kyu Jong joined as one of the regular host for MBC Every1 “God Of Cookery Expedition” since 21 Nov 08.

Solo

• Hikari (光) (‘Kokoro’ August 2007)
• Never Let You Go (‘U R Man’ November 2008)
• Wuss Up (SS501 Solo Collection June 2009)

Drama

• Break (Mnet, 2006)

Variety Show

• God of Cookery Expedition (MBC Every1, 21 Nov 2008 to 01 May 2009)

Radio Show

• SBS SS501’s Youngstreet (21 Aug 2006)

Park Jung Min

• Korean name: 박정민, Chinese: 朴政玟
• SS501 SEXY CHAIRMA
• Nickname: Horse
• Birhday:  1987/04/03
• Zodiac: Aries
• Seoul origin
• Height: 185cm
• Weight: 66kg
• Blood Type: O Type
• Education: Dongguk University, Normal University affiliated high school, Kyonggi University, Department acting
• Family member: Parents, elder sister
• Hobbies: listening to soft music
• Talents : Tap dance
• idol: Gao Ying
• ideal girl: with long hair
• always saying: some English expression like “Oh! my goodness”
• motto: always living with thankful heart

Solo

• HERE (‘Kokoro’ August 2007)
• If You Cannot feat. Jisun (SS501 Solo Collection 2009)

TV Shows

Elephant (Episode 85)

Musical

• Grease (musical) (December 2008 – March 2009)

Kim Hyung Joon

• Korean name: 김형준, Chinese: 金亨俊
• SS501 baby
• Position: Main vocal, Rap
• Nickname: dinosaur or rabbit
• Birthday : 1987/08/03
• Zodiac: Leo
• Seoul origin
• Height: 181cm
• Weight: 66kg
• Blood Type: O Type
• Family member: Parents, little brother (Kim Ki Bum @ U-Kiss)
• Education : Dongguk University Teacher’s College High School (Middle school of it), Kyonggi University (still attending)
• Hobbies: basketball, listening to music, online game
• Talents: fanciful constellation of talents
• idol: BoA
• ideal girl: Feminine, hard-working
• motto: no matter what I encounter, I won’t give up

Solo

• Impossible Goodbye (Sayonara Ga Dekinai) (‘Kokoro’ August 2007)
• I Am (‘U R Man’ November 2008)
• Hey G (SS501 Solo Collection 2009)

Single Album

• Men From Mars, Woman From Venus Feat Miso (9 April 2009)

Official Site

DSP entertainment: http://ss501.dspenter.com/

DSP entertainment Japan: http://www.dspenter.jp/