Baek Ji Young

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Baek Ji Young

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Img_capt =
Background = solo_singer
Born = birth date and age|1976|03|25
Died =
Origin = South Korea
Genre = K-pop, R&B, dance, ballad
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 1999 - present
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL =

Infobox Korean name
hangul=백지영
hanja=白智英
rr=Baek Ji-yeong
mr=Paek Chiyŏng

Baek Ji Young (백지영) (born March 25, 1976 ) is a South Korean pop and ballad singer.

Career

Baek began her music career in 1999, splashing onto the Korean dance scene with her first album "Sorrow". The first single, "선택" "(Choice)", was unusual in that it was one of the first Korean pop songs to feature Latin beats. However, this single proved to be popular and charted very well. She quickly followed this album with a second, "Rouge", which came out in April 2000, selling 360,000 copies [ [http://www.miak.or.kr/stat/kpop_2000_2h.htm Album Sales For The Year Of 2000] ] and cementing her status as one of Korea's most popular female dance artists.

Her career took a major hit, though, in the fall of that same year. A sex tape leaked out on the Internet featuring her having sex with her former manager in a hotel. The tape spread widely on the internet, due to heavy media coverage and South Korea's status as a heavily "wired" country. Participant in a major scandal, Baek initially apologized, but then claimed that she had no knowledge of the videotape and refused to remain quiet. [MacIntyre, D. (2001.) [http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2000/1225/korea_video.html "Sex, Lies and the Internet"] . "TIMEasia.com". Retrieved on January 6, 2006.] She released a third album, "Tres", in June of the following year, and it sold a respectable number of copies (the total close to 200,000). [ [http://www.miak.or.kr/stat/kpop_2001_2h.htm Album Sales For The Year Of 2001] ] The scandal, however, still plagued her; as a result, Baek took a break from the Korean music industry.

Two years after the release of "Tres", Baek released her fourth album "Smile" in September of 2003. Although not a runaway success, it managed to sell a decent number of copies, placing 46th for the year. [ [http://www.miak.or.kr/stat/kpop_2003_2h.htm Album Sales For The Year 2003] ] However, her real comeback occurred in 2006, when Baek released her fifth album "Smile Again" in March. "사랑 안해" "(I Won't Love)", her first single from the album, was a ballad, unlike the rest of her Latin-style singles. Although this was a significant change, it proved to be a very popular song, getting to the top spot on certain performance show charts. This change was not a permanent one, as there were many Latin/dance tracks on the album. In fact, the second single has seen Baek going back to her musical roots, as "Ez Do Dance" is a sexy Latin number. She performed this single until the end of summer 2006, at which point she finished promotional activities for the album. In November 2006, Baek won an award for "Best Female Solo Singer" from the MKMF Awards and was one of the candidates for the "Overseas Viewer" award as well. [ [http://english.kbs.co.kr/entertainment/news/1429019_11858.html Shinhwa Chosen Best Korean Singer Overseas] "KBS GLOBAL" Retrieve on May 22, 2007] .

On September 7, 2007, Baek's sixth album, "The Sixth Miracle", was released, with the lead single " _ko. 사랑 하나면 돼" ("I Only Need One Love"). She won an award for the album at the Seoul Music Awards in January 2008. [ [http://www.sportsseoul.com/news2/hnSStv/hntEnter/2008/0131/20080131101070800000000_5162867914.html 서울가요대상 백지영 두 번째 본상 수상] . Retrieved February 16, 2008.] .

She was scheduled to undergo vocal cord surgery to remove a cyst some time in February 2008. Although there were fears that her singing voice may change, the fear of losing her voice entirely is what prompted her to go ahead with the operation [ko icon [http://star.moneytoday.co.kr/view/stview.php?no=2007121808105827251&EVEC 백지영, 가수생명 걸고 성대낭종 제거수술] . Retrieved January 28, 2008.] .

Discography

Albums

*Sorrow (July 10, 1999)
*Rouge (April 17, 2000)
*Volume 1 & 2 Repackage (November 15, 2000)
*Live Concert (May 21, 2001)
*Tres (June 14, 2001)
*Best & Live New Release (January 30, 2002)
*Smile (August 29, 2003)
*Ultimate Edition (October 2, 2003)
*Smile Again (March 21, 2006)
*Thank you I Can Smile Again (Special Edition) (August 18, 2006)
*The Sixth Miracle (September 7, 2007)

Digital Singles

*Tomorrow (SBS 도전성공시대 '내일은 모델퀸') (August 7, 2006)
*Crush (with Jade from Sweetbox) (May 11, 2007)
*사랑은 라랄라 (Love is...lalala, with Yuri) (February 15, 2008)

References

ee also

*K-pop
*Contemporary culture of South Korea
*South Korean scandals
*List of Koreans

External links

* [http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200605/200605190009.html "Baek Ji-young Smiles Again Six Years After Sex Scandal"] , "Chosun Ilbo", May 19, 2006.
* [http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2000/1225/korea_video.html "Sex, Lies, & the Internet"] , "Time Asia", January 1, 2001.
* [http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200802/200802290011.html Man Behind Baek Ji-young Sex Tape Held in U.S.] , "Chosun Ilbo", February 29, 2008.