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Kim Jong-hyun better known mononymously as Jonghyun, was a South Korean singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. He was a vocalist of the South Korean boy group Shinee, and further participated in S.M. Entertainment's project group S.M. The Ballad. Jonghyun debuted as a solo artist on January 12, 2015, with his first EP, titled Base. In the same year, on September 17, Jonghyun released a compilation album, Story Op.1. On May 24, 2016, Jonghyun released his first studio album, She Is, followed by his second compilation album, Story Op.2 on April 24, 2017.
Jonghyun was the first artist of S.M. Entertainment to have participated
Kim Jong-hyun better known mononymously as Jonghyun, was a South Korean singer-songwriter, radio host, and author. He was a vocalist of the South Korean boy group Shinee, and further participated in S.M. Entertainment's project group S.M. The Ballad. Jonghyun debuted as a solo artist on January 12, 2015, with his first EP, titled Base. In the same year, on September 17, Jonghyun released a compilation album, Story Op.1. On May 24, 2016, Jonghyun released his first studio album, She Is, followed by his second compilation album, Story Op.2 on April 24, 2017.
Jonghyun was the first artist of S.M. Entertainment to have participated heavily in writing, organizing, and composing an album. The company is known in the K-Pop industry for limiting its artists' control over the production of their albums. Kim Da-hee of the Korea Times named Jonghyun as one of four K-pop musicians who have distinguished themselves from the mass-produced singers in the idol industry, the other three being G-Dragon, Zico and Jinyoung by their "exceptional talent in songwriting, producing and dancing, plus other abilities that make them successful musicians". Jonghyun is considered to have had a style in his music that is all his own, and was praised for writing and composing the majority of his solo tracks. Insight Korea mentioned him as one of seven idol group members who seemed to have been "born to music".
In April 2013, Jonghyun was involved in a car accident and injured his nose. His agency reported that he had undergone surgery. He sat out most of his group's promotions for their third full-length album, though he participated in the final week.
In December 2013, Jonghyun changed his Twitter profile picture to an image that had indicated support for the LGBT community, and received defamatory responses from Ilbe Storehouse members allegedly claiming to be members of SHINee's fanclub.
Jonghyun had secretly rented an apartment studio in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District in southeastern Seoul for two days and checked in at 12:00 PM KST on December 18, 2017. Jonghyun's older sister, Kim So-dam, made the initial call to emergency responders at 4:42 PM, reporting that she believed her brother was committing suicide. He reportedly sent a number of messages on KakaoTalk to his sister with words such as "last goodbye". He was last seen at a convenience store next to his apartment, where he bought a pack of cigarettes, soda, and snacks.
After tracing his cell phone from the messages he left his sister, Jonghyun was found unconscious in his apartment on the floor between the bed and the table by the police and emergency dispatchers around 6:10 PM. By the time they had arrived, the room was filled with smoke and there were traces of vomit on the floor. He was immediately rushed to Konkuk University Hospital in a state of cardiac arrest, where he received emergency CPR treatment. However, he failed to regain consciousness and was pronounced dead at the hospital around 6:32 PM, aged 27. Investigators believe he died from inhaling either toxic fumes or smoke, as they discovered coal briquettes burnt on a frying pan upon arriving at the apartment. The police stated that, at the request of Jonghyun's family, a post-mortem would not be carried out, and they declared his death as suicide.
Jonghyun's death was linked to depression by various media outlets, as prior to his death, he had written songs about loneliness, including "Lonely" and "Breathe", which he penned for Lee Hi. He also quoted some of those lyrics on his Instagram account. In addition to that, he posted an image of a black dog, a symbol of depression, and had gotten a tattoo of it as well. Fans also noticed that during his December concerts, his teleprompter included an announcement for his January 2018 solo comeback, but he ignored it and instead performed a new song he had written titled "Phantom Pain" in Korean (English title "Only One You Need"), which was about comforting others after the loss of a loved one.
Following Jonghyun's death, fellow singer and friend Nine9, of the band Dear Cloud, posted his suicide note on Instagram that he sent to her two or three days before his December 9 concert; the note referred to a "devouring" depression and struggles with fame, and said, "I was broken from the inside". Nine9 was alarmed by the note and was advised by her agency to keep in touch with Jonghyun. She had tried to help him, but this only "delayed his passing" and "did not prevent it."
On December 21, following the three-day funeral service which was attended by celebrities and fans, Jonghyun was moved from the hospital to a private funeral attended only by his family and close friends, and was then laid to rest in an undisclosed location.
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Korea, Republic of
In Memoriam 2017 (128 person items)