SG Wannabe

SG 워너비: 3 male member Korean group known for their emotional ballads. Members include: Kim Jinho, Chae Dongha (David), and Kim Yongjun (Whyme)—with Jinho being the youngest member. They debuted in 2004 with their first single, ‘Timeless’ and (as of March 2007) have released five albums: SG WANNABE+, Saldaga, The 3rd Masterpiece, Classic Odyssey (a remake album), and The Sentimental Chord . They have been quoted,saying: that they prefer not to appear in their music videos so that their audience will care more about the music, rather than the appearance. They are under the label Mnet Media.Chae Dong Ha (David, 채동하, 蔡東河)Birthday: June 23, 1981. Kim Yong Jun (Whyme, 김용준, 金勇俊)Birthday: September 12, 1984. Kim Jin Ho (김진호, 金鎮浩)Birthday: May 21, 198

1st album: Wannabe+ (2004)

SG Wannabe debuted in 2004 with their first album, Wanna Be+. It was produced by Lee Kyung Sub and Park Keun Tae, two very famous music producers in Korea. The title track's music video for the album attracted media attention, featuring top actors such as Seol Kyung-goo and Kim Nam-jin, and actresses, Kim Yoon-jin, Kang Hye-jeong, and Seo Sung-min. The production costs were reportedly about 2 billion won. The group also raised awareness for being quite mysterious for not showing their faces as they did not star in any of their music videos. Nevertheless, their vocal ability was able to attract many fans and the album was an instant hit with pre-sales of 90,000 copies. Later in 2004, the group was recognized for their vocal ability with numerous awards, including nominations for Best Newcomer at the Golden Disc Awards and the Seoul Popular Music Awards.

2nd album: Saldaga (살다가) (While You Live) (2005)

On March 29, 2005, SG Wannabe released their second album. It included the two #1 hits "Sin & Punishment (죄와벌)", which received numerous awards both for the music video and for the song itself, and "살다가 (While You Live)". Like its predecssor, "Saldaga" was able to attract media attention for the group's vocal ability, thus SG Wannabe became the only artist in 2005 to sell more than 400,000 copies of their album. On September 14, 2005, the group released the "Classic Odyssey", their 2.5 album. 1 billion Won ($1,000,000,000) budget went into SG Wannabe's new remake album. It included hits such as "My Heart's Treasure Box" (내 마음의 보석상자). To top off the success of their 2nd album, SG Wannabe was awarded the prestigious Daesang (the "Artist Of The Year") from the Golden Disc award. When 2005 was over, SG Wannabe were ranked at #1, with over 400,000 copies sold of their 2nd album, and 12th, with 147,047 copies sold of their remake album on the year-end chart.

3rd album: The 3rd Masterpiece (2006)

On April 11, 2006, the trio released the long anticipated 3rd album, called "The 3rd Masterpiece". Just like what they did in the second album (the music video had two parts; the first part was with the song "Crime and Punishment" (죄와벌), while the second part was with the song "As We Live" (살다가)), their third album also contained two-part music videos. The first part was with their new title song, "Partner for Life" (내 사람) starring Shinhwa's Kim Dong Wan and also featuring Jeong So-Young, and the second part was released with "Slowpoke" (느림보). Once again, the album manage to chart high, reaching #1 on numerous charts.

On November 18, 2006, they released a Greatest Hit's Compilation entitled "SG Wannabe Best Album - The Precious History." It was a collection of their favorite songs from the past 3 albums and also included 3 new songs. They also released a music video for those songs which was called "Saranga (사랑가) featuring Vibe", "Even If I Could See You (그저 바라볼 수만 있어도)", and "Ordinary People" featuring Hoo Ni-Hoon, Min Kyung-Hoon, Jang Hye-Jin. The music video starred singers Kim Bum Soo and Nam Gyu-Ri from female trio, See Ya. However, despite having high sales and topping the charts, they did not win another , though the group was nominated daesang. Another male group with more commercial success and similar album sales, Dong Bang Shin Ki, swept four daesangs.

4th album: The Sentimental Chord(2007)

Their highly anticipated 4th album, "The Sentimental Chord", was released on April 6, 2007, almost a year after their 3rd album. Again, they amazed the audience with their new title song "Arirang" (아리랑), which had the classic instruments of Korea playing as the background music. With the release of their 4th album and their title song, they went as the #1 in the Bugs Chart as well as the Korea monthly chart. The album was also number one on the "Top 20 Album Sales (May 2007)" with 44,618 copies sold in May and 125,450 sold altogether. They also released two special albums, "SG Wanna Be+" and "Story In New York." Both the special album manage to be successful as well, continuing SG Wannabe's popularity and success. Towards the end of the year, SG Wannabe was awarded their second daesang from the Golden Disk Awards, reigning as the top artist of the year. Selling almost 200,000 copies, The Sentimental Chord was the best-selling album of 2007 in Korea.

Chae Dong Ha Leaves SG Wannabe

After being the top selling artist in South Korea for the past 3 years, SG Wannabe is currently on the verge of breaking up. The group's contract with their management agency expires at the end of May 2008, thus the group's leader Chae Dong Ha may leave the group. MNET (the agency) stated via the media on January 22, 2008 that they will not extend their contract with Chae Dong Ha. Regarding the reasons why they do not want to extend the contract, MNET explained that they have differing views on the development process. They said that besides music, Chae Dong Ha would like to try his hands on performing. But MNET hope their artists to focus solely on music. Even though they have tried to discuss with him to settle it, in the end they still do not have a resolution. Chae Dong Ha said that (by leaving) is the best solution for SG Wannabe, the company and himself. He really hope that SG Wannabe, without him, will still continue as a group and that the other 2 members of SG have become like his real brothers. He also hope that the group will achieve greater success in music. SG Wannabe is still planning to release their 5th album near the end of March, with it being Chae Dong Ha's last participation.

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