Taeyang

Dong Young Bae
Birth name	Dong Youngbae
Also known as	Taeyang, Sol
Born	May 18, 1988 (1988-05-18) (age 23) Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Genres	R&B, hip hop, pop, k-pop
Occupations	Singer, dancer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	2006–present
Labels	YG Entertainment (South Korea) YGEX (Japan)
Associated acts	Big Bang
Website	twitter.com/Realtaeyang Taeyang's signature

Birth name
Hangul	동영배
Hanja	董永培
Revised Romanization	Dong Yeong-bae
McCune–Reischauer	Tong Yŏngbae
Stage name
Hangul	태양
Hanja	太陽
Revised Romanization	Taeyang
McCune–Reischauer	T'aeyang

Dong Youngbae (born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage name Taeyang (Hangul: 태양, Hanja: 太陽, meaning Solar) or Sol, is a South Korean recording artist, entertainer. After appearing in Jinusean's music video "A-yo", Taeyang began training under YG Entertainment at the age of 12 alongside fellow member and leader G-Dragon. After six years of vocal and dance training he made his debut in 2006 as a member of Big Bang.

Career

2000—2008: Early beginnings and debut with Big Bang

Main article: Big Bang (Korean band)

Dong's first appearance in the entertainment industry was in the hip-hop group Jinusean's music video "A-yo".^[1] The collaboration eventually lead him to successfully auditioning into the group's record label YG Entertainment, where he became one of the rappers alongside fellow trainee G-Dragon. The two were later coined as GDYB.^[2] In 2003, Dong provided the rap verse in singer Wheesung’s single "Player" on the latter's second album.^[3]

Although Dong was scheduled to debut alongside G-Dragon as the duo GDYB, the plan was scrapped by their record label. Instead, they were joined by four other trainees (T.O.P., Daesung, Seungri, and Hyun Seung) to form the group Big Bang. Before their official debut, however, Hyun Seung was dropped and their final lineup consisted of five members. Choosing the stage-name Taeyang (Korean: 태양, meaning sun), Dong abandoned the idea of rapping to focus on singing.^[4] The group's formation was documented on television.^[5] Although their debut was fairly successful, the group reached mainstream success with the release of their mini-album Always, which yielded the number-one song "Lies" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised Romanization: Geojitmal).^[6] followed by "Last Farewell" (Korean: 마지막 인사; Revised Romanization: Majimak Insa) from the mini-album Hot Issue and "Day by Day" (Korean: 하루하루; Revised Romanization: Haru Haru) from Stand Up, both chart-toppers.^[7][8]

2008—present: Solo career establishment

After contributions to singer Lexy's album, Taeyang was scheduled to release a solo album. Initially scheduled for a September release, the project was pushed back due to conflicting schedules with his group.^[4] Taeyang released his debut mini-album Hot on May 22, 2008, backed by a production team that included Teddy, Yang Hyun Suk, Kush, and his fellow member G-Dragon.^{[nb 1]} Moving beyond the hip-hop genre of Big Bang, Taeyang incorporated mainly R&B songs into his album, stating that it was his "main focus".^[4] He expressed disappointment with the album, however, admitting that he did not write any of the songs; he later stated that he would do so in the future to express his "thoughts and ideas."^[4]

The first single released was "Only Look At Me" (Korean: 나만 바라봐), an R&B song written by Teddy and Kush.^[9] G-Dragon later recorded a "Part Two" version to the song. The second single was "Prayer (Korean: 기도)" which featured Teddy of 1TYM. Promotional videos were shot for both. In support of his album, he also staged his first solo concert, Hot.^[10] Later on, Taeyang received two awards from the 7th Korean Music Awards: Best R&B/Soul Song for "Only Look At Me" and Best R&B/Soul Album.^[11]

Throughout the majority of 2009, Taeyang contributed to his group's activities, recording the song "Lollipop" with his group and labelmate 2NE1. He later flew to Japan to promote the group's Japanese albums. After activities ended, he went back to the studio to record and release his first digital single "Where U At",^[12] followed by another digital single, "Wedding Dress". Promotional videos were filmed for both "Where U At" and "Wedding Dress." "Wedding Dress" was voted #3 on an online poll for a Dutch radio station.^[13]

Taeyang's first full-length album Solar was released on July 1, 2010. Two versions of this album - the “Regular Edition” and the “Deluxe Edition” - was released. The regular edition contained 11 songs, while the deluxe edition, limited to 30,000 copies worldwide, had 13 songs, including “Only Look At Me” and “Prayer" from Hot. On the first day of sales for the limited deluxe edition, the 30,000 copies released by YG entertainment were sold out in online and offline stores.^[14] The album was later released on iTunes,^[15] charting at the number-two spot on the iTunes' Top R&B-Soul albums chart in the United States and number-one in Canada, making him the first Asian musician to do so.^[16] Two singles were released for promotion: "I Need A Girl" featuring his bandmate G-Dragon and "I'll Be There." Taeyang is scheduled to release a solo album during the second half of 2011, although, the exact date is unknown.

Discography

Main article: Taeyang discography

See also: Big Bang discography

EPs

• Hot

Albums

• Solar (2010)
• Solar International (2010)

Awards

Years	Awards
2008	The 6th Korean Music Awards: Best R&B/Soul Song - 나만 바라봐 (Only Look At Me) The 6th Korean Music Awards: Best R&B/Soul Album - Hot 2008 Naver Music Song of the Year – "Only Look At Me"
2010	12th Mnet Asian Music Awards: Best Male Singer Award
2011	8th Korean Music Awards: Male Musician of the Year Netizen Vote

Notes

1. ^ According to the credits on the album's jacket.

References

1. ^ (Korean)"Taeyang Profile - Naver". Naver. http://people.search.naver.com/search.naver?sm=tab_txc&where=people_profile&ie=utf8&query=%ED%83%9C%EC%96%91&os=173766. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
2. ^ (Korean)"'준비된 그룹' 빅뱅, 대폭발 예고". Sports Chosun. http://sports.chosun.com/news/news.htm?name=/news/entertainment/200607/20060708/67h18001.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-15. 
3. ^ (Korean)"'태양'이 누구인가요?". Nate. 2008-07-30. http://ask.nate.com/qna/view.html?n=8438034. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} (Korean)"동영배를 들어라, 빅뱅 '태양'". Nate. 2008-06-13. http://www.dcnews.in/etc_list.php?code=succeed&id=11632. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
5. ^ "Big Bang Profile". KBS World. 2008-06-13. http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainment/enter_artists_detail.htm?No=103896. Retrieved 2010-01-15. 
6. ^ "Big Bang's Showcase & First Fan Meeting". Arirang. 2007-09-03. http://www.arirang.co.kr/Tv2/Showbiz_OnLocation.asp?PROG_CODE=TVCR0112&OnAir_Date=2007-09-03&sys_lang=Eng. Retrieved 2009-12-07. 
7. ^ (Korean)Kim, Hyung Woo (2008-01-21). "빅뱅 쥬크온차트 8주 연속 1위 기염, JOO도 2주만에 7위 진입". Newsen. http://www.newsen.com/news_view.php?news_uid=200034&code=100200. Retrieved 2008-02-01. 
8. ^ "Big Bang Signs Modeling Contract with FILA Korea". KBS Global. 2008-09-08. http://english.kbs.co.kr/mcontents/entertainment/1546222_11692.html. Retrieved 2011-02-18. 
9. ^ (Korean)"빅뱅 태양, ‘HOT’로 솔로 데뷔 코앞". JK News. 2008-05-16. http://news.jkn.co.kr/article/news/20080516/7946185.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
10. ^ Han, Sang-hee (2008-07-17). "Big Bang Members Branch Out as Soloists". JK News. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2008/07/201_27537.html. Retrieved 2009-12-07. 
11. ^ (Korean)Oh, Mi (2009-03-12). "Taeyang of Big Bang Wins Double Prizes from the Korean Music Awards". CBS. http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/show.asp?idx=1090297. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
12. ^ Ryu, Seung-yoon (2010-03-30). "Big Bang members to continue solo career". The Korea Herald. http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20090928000083. Retrieved 2009-12-07. 
13. ^ "Tae-yang Climbs in the Dutch Music Chart". KBS World. 2009-12-02. http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainment/enter_chart_detail.htm?No=10961. Retrieved 2009-12-26. 
14. ^ "Taeyang's Solo Album Sold Out Instantaneously". KBS World. 2010-07-02. http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainment/enter_chart_detail.htm?No=12432. Retrieved 2010-07-10. 
15. ^ "Solar Flare Up: Big Bang's Taeyang's Shines Bright on Brand New 'International' Release". DFSB Kollective. 2010-08-25. http://www.dfsb.kr/projects/solar-flare-up-big-bangs-taeyang-shines-bright-on-brand-new.html. Retrieved 2010-08-25. 
16. ^ (Korean)Mun, Wanski (2010-08-26). "태양, 캐나다-미국-일본 아이튠즈 차트 '톱5'". Nate. http://news.nate.com/view/20100826n04439. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 

External links

• Official Website
• Official Youtube Channel
• Official Twitter
• Official Facebook
• Official me2day

Persondata
Name	Taeyang
Alternative names	SOL
Short description
Date of birth	May 18, 1988
Place of birth	Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Date of death
Place of death