Kim Tae-yeon (born March 9, 1989), referred to as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She had been a trainee at SM Entertainment's Starlight Academy during her middle school years before debuting as a member of the agency's girl group,Girls' Generation, in 2007. Since then, she has risen to prominence due to the group's success on the Asian music scene and further participated in the agency's projects Girls' Generation-TTS and SM the Ballad. Aside from group activities, she has also recorded songs for various television dramas and movies.
Taeyeon began a solo career in 2015 with her first extended play album, I. It peaked at number two on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart and its title tracksold over one million digital copies. Her second extended play, Why (2016), charted at number one and yielded two Gaon Digital Chart top-ten singles "Starlight" and "Why". Her debut studio album My Voice (2017) and its two singles "Fine" and "Make Me Love You" achieved similar success.
As a solo artist, Taeyeon has received several awards, including four Golden Disc Awards, two Mnet Asian Music Awards, two Seoul Music Awards, twoSeoul International Drama Awards, one Mnet 20's Choice Award, one Melon Music Award, one Cyworld Digital Music Award, and one Gaon Chart Music Award.
TAEYEON'S LIFE AND CAREER
1989-2008: Early life and career beginnings
See also: Girls' Generation
Taeyeon was born on March 9, 1989 in Jeonju, South Korea.[1][2] Her family consists of her parents, an older brother and a younger sister.[3] Having believed that she was "only talented" at singing, Taeyeon harbored the dream of becoming a singer at a young age.[4] During her second year in middle school, Taeyeon accompanied her father to SM Academy (a former music institution and auxiliary affiliation of SM Entertainment), to pursue vocal lessons. Although her father at the time did not encourage Taeyeon to become an entertainer, he was persuaded by the school's president to give his daughter a chance after she recognized Taeyeon's "clean" voice. During the next year, Taeyeon accompanied her father from their hometown to Seoul on every Sunday to receive her vocal lessons from The One.[5] She named BoA, Whitney Houston and Utada Hikaru as her pre-debut inspirations.[6][7]
Taeyeon was trained by her former vocal instructor, known professionally asThe One, for three years. In a 2011 interview, he described Taeyeon as a "smart" student, someone "unlike others who came to him with dreams of becoming a celebrity... [she] wanted to be a singer and reach the top with her own talents." In 2004, he "wanted to acknowledge Taeyeon's potential" by giving her the chance to be in his song "You Bring Me Joy".[8][9] That same year, she won first place at the SM Youth Best Competition and officially received a contract from SM Entertainment. The training process was so tough that it nearly made her quit at one point; she continued, however, and debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007.[10][11][12] The group gained significant popularity after the release of their hit single "Gee" in 2009.[13] Taeyeon graduated from Jeonju Art High School and was awarded the school's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.[14]
2008-2015: Original soundtracks, TTS and SM The Ballad
See also: Girls' Generation-TTS and SM the Ballad
Apart from Girls' Generation's activities, Taeyeon also appeared in several solo appearances. She first contributed her vocals to "7989" (featuring Kangta), a track taken from both Girls' Generation's eponymous debut album (2007) and Kangta's fourth studio album, Eternity (2008).[15] Thereafter, Taeyeon started gaining popularity through her various television soundtracks, having recorded "If" for the KBS2's drama Hong Gil Dong (2008) and "Can You Hear Me" forMBC's drama Beethoven Virus (2009).[16] Between the two songs, the former was perceived to have become more popular than its respective drama,[17] while the latter won a Popularity Award at the 2008 Golden Disk Awards.[18] Both tracks remain as some of Taeyeon's most well-known hits to date.[16] During this period, she also recorded "It's Love", a duet with Girls' Generation memberSunny, for the MBC drama Heading to the Ground (2009).[19]
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RandomKim Tae-yeon, referred to as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She had been a trainee at SM Entertainment's Starlight Academy during her middle school years before debuting as a member of the agency's girl group, Girls' Generation, in 2007. Wikiped...
