Key (entertainer)

Early life

Key was born on September 23, 1991 in Daegu, South Korea. At the age of 14, he represented Dae Gu Yeong Shin Middle School as a water-skier and competed in water-skiing competitions. In 2006, he joined S.M. Entertainment after a successful audition at the SM National Tour Audition Casting. One year later, he appeared as a background dancer in the film Super Junior, Attack on the Pin-Up Boys. Key continued his training under S.M. Entertainment and debuted as a member of Shinee at the age of 16.

2008–13: Career beginnings

In 2008, he was chosen as a member of the group Shinee. The group released their first mini-album, Replay on May 22 debuting at #10 and reached the #8 position on the charts. The first television presentation of the group occurred on May 25, 2008 in the program SBS's Inkigayo.

Shorty after debut, Key has appeared on television shows such as Idol Maknae Rebellion as a guest star alongside his Shinee group mates Taemin, Onew, and Jonghyun, for two episodes. Together with other idol group members: Dongho from U-KISS, Shorry J from Mighty Mouth, Jinwoon from 2AM, Yunhwa from T-Max, Seunghyun from F.T. Island and in the later part, Mir from MBLAQ. Key was also part of the cast of the show Raising Idol along with Dongho from U-KISS and Thunder from MBLAQ. Key was also featured in label-mate Xiah's solo performance of "Xiahtic" in TVXQ's concert, 2009: The 3rd Asia Tour Mirotic, in Seoul. In 2010, he was featured in the song "치유 (Healing)" on TRAX's mini album "Trax Mini Album Volume 1". Key was also featured in Girls' Generation's song "Hwaseongin Virus (Boys & Girls)" (Korean: "화성인 바이러스 (Boys & Girls)") on their second studio album Oh!. In 2011, Key collaborated with Leeteuk of Super Junior on a song called "Bravo" for the drama History of a Salaryman. He also took part in EXO's song "Two Moons" on their debut mini album MAMA and BoA's song "One Dream" as the theme song for SBS "K-pop Star" with label-mate Henry of Super Junior-M.

Key was cast as Frank Abagnale Jr., rotating with Um Ki-joon, Kim Jeong-hoon, Park Gwang-hyun and label-mates Super Junior's Kyuhyun with Girls' Generation Sunny and The Grace's Dana, in the Korean production of Broadway musical "Catch Me If You Can", marking his theatrical debut. The musical ran from March 28 to June 10 at the Blue Square, Samsung Card Hall, in Hannam-dong, Seoul. On October 24, 2012 it was announced that Key would be participating in the return of the Korean adaption of the broadway musical Catch Me If You Can. The production started on December 14, 2012 and continued until February 9, 2013 at the Opera House in the Seongnam Arts Center. Key also did a cameo in SBS Sitcom "Salamander Guru and The Shadows" in episode 4.

On July 18, 2013, it was announced that Key would be cast as Clyde in the Korean production of the broadway musical "Bonnie & Clyde", alongside the cast Kim Min-jong, Um Ki-joon, Dana of CSJH The Grace, and Hyungsik of ZE:A. The performance ran at the Chungmu Art Hall in Seoul from September 4 until October 27, 2013. Not long after, on October 22, he was cast in another Korean adaptation of the broadway musical "The Three Musketeers" as D'Artagnan.

2014–present: Toheart and acting debut

In 2014, Key formed a duo with Woohyun from Infinite. It is a collaboration between S.M. Entertainment and Woollim Entertainment. According to the members, it was their idea to form a duo since they are close friends but they weren't thinking of a musical collaboration, instead of photoshoots and similar activities. The duo was well received, winning the Popularity Award at the 29th Golden Disk Awards. Jeff Benjamin from Billboard praised the duo's vocals, and also the choreography and on-screen charisma. In the same year, Key was cast as the lead role for new musical "Zorro", sharing the main role with singer Wheesung and Beast's Yoseob. "Zorro" ran from August 27 till October 26 at the Chungmu Art Hall in Seoul. Key also participated in the MBC variety show "We Got Married Global Edition". His virtual wife was Arisa Yagi, a Japanese model.

In March 2015, Key and CNBLUE's Jung-shin were appointed as the main presenters of Mnet's M! Countdown. The same year Key collaborated with AXODUS, a duo formed by Don Spike and DJ Hanmin. Key took over the vocals for the track "Hold On," and they made a special presentation on July 25, 2015 at the Ansan Valley Rock Festival. In July 2015, Key was announced to be part of the musical "In the Heights", which was also performed with Japanese subtitles at Kanagawa Arts Theatre in Yokohama in 2016. Key made his theatrical debut as Byeong Gu in "Save the Green Planet!", based on the 2003 film of the same name. Key also had his own web show entitled "Key's Know How" produced by Mnet.

In September 2016, Key made his official acting debut in the tvN drama Drinking Solo which aired from September 5 to October 25. He took the role of a student who has been studying for the civil service exam for 3 years. His character has lived an easy life so far but he's currently experiencing a life with no income. Even though this was Key's first time acting in a network, his acting was well received by the production team, stating:

Personal life

Key was raised by his grandmother from birth; his mother was sick after giving birth and his father was busy with work. On October 10, 2014 Kibum announced on his Instagram account that his grandmother died on September 23, 2014. Furthermore, he stated that he wanted to announce it on his own because it didn't feel right for him to announce it through his company. Key graduated from Myongji University with a degree in Film and Musical. He currently attends for his graduate degree in Woosuk University, majoring in "Culture and Education Contents Development". His thesis is titled "The Influence of Styling Education on Appearance Satisfaction and Self-Esteem of Korean Adolescents".

Fashion

Key is one of the best fashionistas among K-idols, with his peculiar and particularly appealing style often not afraid to mix colors. In media, his style is compared to fashion icon G-Dragon. Both are known not to follow trends, but instead have their own unique style, mixing elements of the new trends with outdated items. Key has stated that he enjoys to try something new to look different from others and that instead of being constrained by fashion, he cares more about the attitude towards fashion.

Years after his debut, Key has also ventured into the fashion industry. For instance, he collaborated with designer Ko Taeyong on self-designed sweatshirts depicting his dogs and sold them for charity. In addition, he was also promoted to one of S.M. Entertainment's fashion directors and has been designing Shinee's concert outfits since 2015. In 2016, Key collaborated with Japanese illustrator Bridge Ship House for Shinee's fifth Korean concert tour titled SHINee World V. Key's primary goal of the costume directing is a well-balanced combination of Shinee’s identity as a group and each member’s individualities. In January 2016, Key became a model for Jill Stuart Accessory. A representative explained that Key was chosen for the brand because he has promoted professionally in a variety of areas such as music and broadcasting, which showed an artistic aspect that overlaps with sensual style and fashion concept of the brand. Key also became a special editor for the Korean Elle, sharing his personal lifestyle in a column called 'Key Story', which is released bi-weekly by the magazine. He shared tips on colour contact lenses, cameras, applications, and more.

Philanthropy

Key and his fans are known to take part in charitable events. In 2012, Key and his fans from Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and seven other countries donated 2.12 tons of rice to World Vision, which was able to feed 17,000 undernourished children and elderly among 11 cities. Later on September 23, 2014, on Key’s birthday, fans raised a total of 2 million won and established a well in Cambodia and to be used as medical aid for poor children. In 2015, Key posted on his Instagram account encouraging viewers to help the citizens in Nepal after its devastating earthquake, and sent moral support. In the same year, Key collaborated with designer Ko Taeyong and sold sweatshirts depicting his dogs. All revenue (approximately 1250 million won) were later donated to the Animal Freedom Union. In 2016, Key along with groupmate Taemin and other artists from S.M. Entertainment took part in the "Make a Promise" campaign organised by UNICEF and Louis Vuitton; whereby 40% of the proceeds were donated through UNICEF to the children in need.

Songwriting

Key has also taken part in lyric-writing (mostly writing the lyrics for rap). In 2009, Key wrote the lyrics to "Get Down" in the album 2009, Year of Us. One year later, he was credited for writing the rap for the track "Get It" in the album, Lucifer, and the track "Girls, Girls, Girls" in the album Dream Girl – The Misconceptions of You. In 2013, Key also wrote the rap for the track "Colourful" in the extended play, Everybody. Key also wrote the rap for the tracks "You're My Lady" and "Tell Me Why" in Toheart's 1st mini-album. In the album Odd, Key was also credited for writing the rap for the track "Alive". In 2016, he wrote the rap for the tracks "Don't Let Me Go" and "Don't Stop", which are in the album 1 of 1.