Tony Ahn (; born June 7, 1978) is a South Korean singer, best known as a member of boy band H.O.T. After H.O.T. disbanded in 2001, its ex-members Tony Ahn,

Jang Woo-hyuk Jang Woo-hyuk (Hangul: 장우혁; Hanja: 張佑赫; born May 8, 1978) is a South Korean singer and rapper. He debuted in 1996 as a member of the best-selling K-pop boy band H.O.T. After the band broke up due to a contract dispute, Jang and two ...

and Lee Jae-won formed the dance music trio

jtL JTL (제이티엘) were a South Korean dance music group, consisting of the former H.O.T. members who left SM Entertainment – Jang Woo-hyuk, Tony Ahn and Lee Jae-won. The group was named after the initials of the members' stage name. After ...

. Eventually, JTL unofficially disbanded as each member, including Tony, released their solo material.

Biography

He is the CEO of TN Nation Entertainment, a music entertainment company; Skoolooks, a school uniform company; and Shinenihs, an undergarment company. Popular comedians

Jung Hyung-don Jung Hyung-don (; born February 7, 1978) is a South Korean comedian and television host. He is best known for his roles on the variety shows '' Infinite Challenge'' and '' Weekly Idol''. Early life and education Jung was born in Gimcheon in No ...

and Jo Hye-ryun were both part of TN Nation Entertainment. In 1997, Tony was admitted to

Dongguk University Dongguk University (Korean: 동국대학교, Hanja: 東國大學校) is a private, coeducational university in South Korea, fundamentally based on Buddhism. Established in 1906 as Myeongjin School (명진학교; 明進學校) by Buddhist pioneers ...

. He majored in stage performance and graduated in 2003.

Career

Solo

Tony changed his genre to fast-paced soft rock songs and gave a speech, telling about his views on his former H.O.T. members, and how he tried to contact them. He also released a music video title "Melody" featuring

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

from his special album, "Untold Story". On April 28, 2008, Tony came back with a new special album entitled "Look Blank", with its principal song "Wallet". In September 2010, Tony completed his 2-year army duty and released a new song, "Going To Meet You Now". He released an EP titled 'Top Star' in February 2011, and after leaving as MC for the popular No. 1 Kpop chart show Mcountdown! in 2012 he released a single called "Beautiful girl" which also features Hyun Jun of SMASH.

jtL

When JTL was created, Tony was the lead vocal for the group and not just a back-up vocal and English rapper. H.O.T. fans had mixed feelings for jtL. Many of jtL's music videos were boycotted. However, things changed around when jtL held a 'Guerilla Concert' in front of 12,133 fans.

TN Nation Entertainment

After Tony wanted to pursue a solo career during his

days, he created his own label, TN Nation Entertainment. Artists under this label are Tony and former

Click-B Click-B (클릭비) is a South Korean boy group and band formed in August 1999 under DSP Media. Click-B started out as a band combining rock and dance beats in their music. They became a four member group in 2002, with several member changes ove ...

member Yoo Ho-suk, going under the name "Evan", along with Jung Ju-ri,

Shin Bong-sun Shin Bong-sun (; born October 6, 1980) is a South Korean comedienne and entertainer. She took a five-year hiatus from comedy from 2010 to 2015, which ended when she joined '' Comedy Big League''. She is currently a member of the South Korean girl ...

, 어썸베이비 (Awe5omeBaby), and others. South Korean comedian and entertainer

was the member of this company. TN Nation Entertainment also debuted a boy band named SMASH, who released a music video for their debut song, "비상 mergency, on August 14, 2008. Tony collaborated with SMASH in February 2012 with 'Get Your Swag On'. They promoted the song together on various live music shows. SMASH later disbanded at the end of 2014. On June 19, 2015, the company debuted their first girl group, a five-member beatpella (beatbox + a cappella) group called 어썸베이비 (literally Awesome Baby, stylized as Awe5omeBaby). The members include June, Sumin, Yechan, Dahee, and Lina. Their debut single was '내가 왜?' or 'Why Should I?'.

Personal life

In November 2013, Tony was investigated for illegal online sports gambling alongside South Korean comedian

Lee Soo Geun Lee Soo-geun (; born February 10, 1975) is a South Korean comedian who has worked on a number of comedy shows on South Korean television. He began his career as a comedian on KBS ''Gag Concert'', and is under the management of SM Culture & Con ...

and South Korean entertainer

Tak Jae-hoon Bae Sung-woo (Korean: 탁재훈; born 24 July 1968), better known by his stage name Tak Jae-hoon, is a South Korean singer, actor and entertainer. He first became known for being part of K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is ...

. Reportedly, he gambled a total of 400,000,000 KRW (approximately $376,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

) between May 2009 and March 2012. He had his first hearing on December 6 and received a six-month prison sentence with one year probation on December 27. On February 13, 2014, in light of Tony's illegal gambling incident, KBS revealed they had imposed a ban on all of H.O.T.'s songs and prevented his show appearances on their media outlets while MBC simultaneously announced a temporary ban on Tony's show appearances on their channels as well. As of 2016, all the major stations lifted the ban on Tony. An is currently housemates with

Sechs Kies Sechs Kies (pronounced as ; ko, 젝스키스) is a first generation South Korean boy band. Making their debut on April 15, 1997, they are one of the first K-pop idol groups, credited with pioneering the idol scene and fandom culture. The grou ...

's member

Kim Jae-duck Kim Jae-duck (born August 7, 1979) is a South Korean singer, rapper, and choreographer. He is known as a member of Sechs Kies, which was a rival band to the top boy group in the 90's, H.O.T. and reunited in 2016. When Sechs Kies disbanded in 2000, ...

. The arrangement had caused a stir amongst their contemporaries as both groups were regarded as one another's fiercest industry rivals during the late 1990s and largely avoided any contact with one another despite crossing paths many times. They had met and befriended one another during their mandatory military service.

Filmography

Television series

Variety show

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahn, Tony 1978 births H.O.T. (band) members Living people South Korean male idols Dongguk University alumni South Korean male singers South Korean pop singers Singers from Seoul