Nell (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 넬) is a South Korean

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist Kim Jong-wan, lead guitarist Lee Jae-kyung, bass guitarist Lee Jung-hoon and drummer Jung Jae-won. The group was named after the film, ''

Nell Nell is a traditional nickname for Eleanor. Nell is the name of: People Given name * Nell (artist) (born 1975), Australian artist * Nell Blaine (1922–1996), American painter * Nell Bryden (born 1977), American singer * Nell Carter (1948–2003), ...

'', that starred

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...

. The band is known for their gloomy and psychedelic sound, and has achieved fame with hits such as "Stay" from ', "Thank You" from ', "Good Night" and "마음을 잃다" (Losing Heart) from ' and "기억을 걷는 시간" (Time Walking On Memory) from '. Their third studio album ''Healing Process'' was chosen as one of five best recordings of the year by South Korean critics. Nell's fourth studio album ''Separation Anxiety'' was a hit in South Korea, ranking number one in various album charts.

Musical career

Early years and turning point

The group performed at clubs around the Sinchon-dong area and released two

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

albums, ' and ', in 2001. While performing at live clubs in Hongdae, they were picked up by

Seo Taiji Jeong Hyeon-cheol (Korean: 정현철; born February 21, 1972), better known as Seo Taiji or Seo Tae-ji (서태지), is a South Korean singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, ...

, and soon became the first band to promote under the

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Goesoo Indigene, a subsidiary of Seo Taiji Company in 2002. In 2006, the band decided to finish their contract with Goesoo Indigene. They signed with

Woollim Entertainment Woollim Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2003 by Lee Jung-yeop. The label is home to artists such as Golden Child, Rocket Punch, Drippin, and Kwon Eun-bi. It has previously handled artists Epik High, Infinit ...

. The band is heavily influenced by numerous British bands such as

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

Placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

, Travis, and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

. They also performed a number of covers of Muse,

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

during their gigs. Nell has participated in both the 2006 and 2007

Pentaport Rock Festival Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival () is a rock festival which is held annually in Incheon, South Korea for three days in August. Launched in 2006, it is considered one of the biggest live music events in South Korea. The festival covers various genr ...

of South Korea, where

and

also performed each year.

Hiatus and comeback

After a long hiatus due to

compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, they released their fifth studio album titled ' on April 10, 2012, with the title track, "그리고 남겨진 것들" (The Day Before). Its music video starred

Lee Min-ki Lee Min-ki (born January 16, 1985) is a South Korean actor, singer and model. Lee played his first TV leading role in the 2005 sports drama ''Taereung National Village'', followed by the television series ''Love Truly'' (2006), ''Dal-ja's Spri ...

and

Song Jae-rim Song Jae-rim (; born February 18, 1985) is a South Korean actor and model. He began his career as a runway model for the Seoul collections of Juun. J, Herin Homme and Ha Sang Beg. He has also appeared in the magazines Bazaar Korea, Vogue Girl ...

, but none of the Nell members appeared. ''Slip Away'' was a hit in South Korea, placed top rank in various album charts, such as

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

, Bugs, and Olleh Music. Kim Jong-wan featured in

G-Dragon Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), also known by his stage name G-Dragon (지드래곤), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer, known as the " King of K-pop". G-Dragon is the recipi ...

's song "Today" in his 2012 album '' One of a Kind''.

'Gravity' mini-album series & Japanese debut

On November 22, 2012, Nell's official homepage included a new picture signaling Nell's comeback. The picture showed a large moon that had a kind of explosion going on. Nell's new album, ''Holding onto Gravity'' was released on December 3. On December 2, 2012, Woollim's YouTube official channel released the music video for "White Night" starring

Im Soo-jung Im Soo-jung (born July 11, 1979) is a South Korean actress. After modeling for teen magazines, Im made her acting breakthrough in Kim Jee-woon's horror film ''A Tale of Two Sisters'' (2003), followed by the popular television drama ''I'm Sorry, ...

. In January 2013, Nell made their Japanese debut with the Japanese edition of ''Slip Away'', released by Home Game Records, a

Watanabe Music Publishing Watanabe ( and other variantsSee #Miscellaneous) is a Japanese surname derived from the noble and samurai Watanabe clan, a branch of the Minamoto clan, descending from the Emperor Saga (786-842), the 52nd Emperor of Japan, and refers to a locat ...

label dedicated to Korean rock. In May 2013, the official Woollim YouTube channel uploaded a teaser for the upcoming mini-album which was scheduled for release in June. Nell's official homepage was updated on June 3 confirming the release date for the second part of their three-part mini-album series of 'Gravity', '. The music video for the mini-album's title track, "Ocean of Light", was released June 9. 2014 K-Pop Night Out at SXSW, Nell

2014 participation in U.S. concert and Billboard recognition

On March 11, 2014, the band performed at the second K-Pop Night Out at SXSW in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

along with

Hyuna Kim Hyun-ah (born June 6, 1992), better known by the mononym Hyuna (stylized HyunA), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and model. She debuted as a member of the girl group Wonder Girls in February 2007. After leaving the ensemble sho ...

and

Jay Park Jay Park ( Korean name: Park Jae-beom (Hangul: 박재범; Hanja: 朴載範); born April 25, 1987) is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and entrepreneur of based in South Korea. He is a member of the Seattle-based ...

and others. And on December 11, their album was selected as number two on "Billboard's 10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2014" by

Billboard K-Town ''Billboard'' K-Town is an online magazine column presented weekly, on various days, by ''Billboard'' on its ''Billboard.com'' site. The column, launched on January 29, 2013, reports on K-pop music; artists, concerts, chart information and new ...

with the write-up, "The strongest rock album of the year, Newton's Apple highlights Nell's vocalist/chief composer Kim Jong Wan's clever and honest songwriting skills, best heard on the single "Four Times Around the Sun" and "Grey Zone"....All the lyrics are wrapped in warm, lush arrangements and instrumentals that enchant the listener simply by themselves."

2016: Space Bohemian

On March 22, 2016, it was announced that Nell ended their contract with Woolim Entertainment and set up an independent record label named Space Bohemian. On August 18, 2016, they released their first album with their new label, "C" with the title song Dream Catcher.

Members

*Kim Jong-wan (김종완) –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Lee Jae-kyung (이재경) –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

*Lee Jung-hoon (이정훈) –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

*Jung Jae-won (정재원) –

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Single albums

Singles

Other charted songs

Soundtrack appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nell (Band) South Korean indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups from Seoul MAMA Award winners Korean Music Award winners Melon Music Award winners 1999 establishments in South Korea