Moon Tae-il (, born June 14, 1994), known
mononymously as Taeil, is a South Korean singer. He is the main vocalist of the South Korean boy group
NCT and its sub-units NCT U and
NCT 127 under the label
SM Entertainment. Taeil made his debut in April 2016 in the rotational unit NCT U and became a member of the Seoul-based unit
NCT 127 in July 2016.
Early life
Moon Tae-il was born on June 14, 1994, in Seoul, South Korea. He was accepted to the Applied Music program of
Hanyang University,
Gyeonggi; in 2013, the program was considered the most competitive early-admissions program in the country, topping law and medicine at other prestigious schools.
Career
2015–2018: Pre-debut and debut with NCT
On October 13, 2015, Taeil was introduced as a member of SM Entertainment's pre-debut training team,
SM Rookies. On January 27, 2016, Taeil released "Because of You" () as soundtrack for ''
The Merchant: Gaekju 2015''. On April 9, 2016, Taeil made his official debut as a member of NCT U, a subgroup of
NCT, with the release of "
Without You". Taeil later made his debut as a member of
NCT 127, the second sub-unit of NCT, with the release of EP ''
NCT #127'' on July 7, 2016.
On December 30, 2016, Taeil contributed vocals to "Sound of Your Heart" (), a collaboration song with other SM artists (
Yesung,
Sunny,
Luna,
Wendy,
Seulgi and
Doyoung as
SM Town) and pianist
Steve Barakatt. It was produced to commemorate the "SMTOWN GALA 2016, Sound of Magic" charity event, with sales of the songs donated to the ''Smile for U'' campaign and support music production for Vietnamese children. On August 7, 2016, Taeil released "Stay in My Life" with NCT U's Taeyong and Doyoung as a soundtrack for ''
School 2017
''School 2017'' () is a South Korean television series starring Kim Jung-hyun, Kim Se-jeong, Jang Dong-yoon, Han Sun-hwa, and Han Joo-wan. It aired on KBS2 from July 17 to September 5, 2017 every Monday and Tuesday at 22:00 ( KST) for 16 episode ...
''. Taeil and Doyoung later released "Radio Romance" as soundtrack for ''
Radio Romance'' on January 30, 2018.
On September 7, 2018, Taeil and NCT U's Jaehyun released "New Dream" as soundtrack for ''
Dokgo Rewind''. On March 30, 2019, Taeil was featured in Sohlhee's "Purple" (). Later in November, he appeared on ''
King of Mask Singer'' under the nickname ''King Card''.
2020–present: Solo activities and world record
On April 11, 2021, Taeil featured in Moon Su-jin's "The Moon" (). In May 2021, it was announced that Taeil would participate in
Kim Min-ki
Kim Min-ki (; born March 31, 1951) is a South Korean singer, composer, and playwright. He is best known for his 1970 song, "Morning Dew," and for his 1994 Korean adaptation of the German musical, ''Linie 1''.
Early life and education
Kim was ...
's tribute album, titled ''Morning Dew 50th Anniversary Tribute Album''. On June 6 the first part of the album, featuring "A Beautiful Human Being" () sang by Taeil, was released. On June 28, the fourth part of the album, featuring "Morning Dew" sung by various artists including Taeil, was released. On July 6, 2021, Taeil opened an Instagram account and broke the
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for "Fastest time to reach 1 million followers on Instagram", previously held by
Rupert Grint since November 2020. On October 11, 2021, Taeil, along with Korean rapper
Lil Boi
Oh Seung-taek (born June 7, 1991), better known by the stage name Lil Boi (stylised as lIlBOI), is a South Korean rapper. He is member of hip-hop duo Geeks. In 2020, he won Show Me the Money 9
The ninth season of the series ''Show Me the Mone ...
, participated in labelmate Raiden's debut EP ''Love Right Back'', with the title track of the same name. They promoted the release together on ''
M Countdown
''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul.
Bro ...
'' and ''
Inkigayo
''Inkigayo'' ( ko, 인기가요; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who p ...
''. On December 27, 2021, Taeil, alongside labelmates
Onew and
Kyuhyun, released the song "Ordinary Day" for SM Entertainment's winter album ''
2021 Winter SMTOWN: SMCU Express''.
On February 13, 2022, Taeil released "Starlight" for the first part of the soundtrack for the South Korean television series
''Twenty-Five, Twenty-One''.
Discography
Singles
Soundtrack appearances
Filmography
Television shows
Awards and nominations
World records
Notes
References
External links
Moon Tae-ilat
SM Town
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon, Tae-il
K-pop singers
21st-century South Korean singers
Living people
1994 births
NCT (band) members
SM Rookies members
Singers from Seoul