Shon Seung-wan
(; born February 21, 1994), known professionally as Wendy, is a South Korean singer, voice actress, and radio host. She is a member of the South Korean girl group
Red Velvet. She made her solo debut in 2021 with the EP ''
Like Water''. She is also a member of South Korean supergroup
Got the Beat
Got the Beat (; stylized as GOT the beat) is a South Korean supergroup formed by SM Entertainment in 2022. It is the first sub-unit of project group Girls On Top, and consists of seven members: soloist BoA, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon from Girls' Gen ...
.
Life and career
1994–2014: Early life and career beginnings
Wendy was born on February 21, 1994, in
Seongbuk-dong
Seongbuk-dong is a '' dong'', neighbourhood of Seongbuk-gu in Seoul, South Korea.
Seongbuk-dong is a village located in the north of Seoul, nestled in the hills overlooking the city. A large proportion of the residences are owned by wealthy hous ...
, a neighborhood in
Seongbuk District
Seongbuk District (Seongbuk-gu) is one of the 25 '' gu'' which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. It is located in the mid-north part of the city. The current Mayor is Kim Young-bae (김영배), who has been mayor since July 1, 2010. Seongbuk ...
in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea.
Coming from a family of music lovers, Wendy showed interest in becoming a singer when she was only six years old.
Besides her passion for singing, she is also able to play several instruments, including the
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
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 ...
,
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
, and
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
.
She lived with her family in
Jecheon
Jecheon () is a city in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. The city is a major railway junction or a transportation mecca, served by the Jungang, Chungbuk and Taebaek Lines. Jecheon has scenic surroundings and several tourist spots like the ...
until her fifth year of elementary school, when she moved to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
with her older sister, Shon Seung-hee, to study abroad. She lived in
Brockville
Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Le ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
before moving to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to attend
Shattuck-Saint Mary's
Shattuck-St. Mary's (also known as Shattuck-St. Mary's School, Shattuck, or simply SSM) is a coeducational Episcopal-affiliated boarding school in Faribault, Minnesota, United States. Established in 1858 as an Episcopal mission school and se ...
in
Faribault, Minnesota
Faribault ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,352 at the 2010 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.
Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highways ...
, where she was an honor student and athlete, and earned various awards for academics and music-related activities. There, she started using her English name 'Wendy Shon'.
Returning to Canada, she later studied at
Richmond Hill High School in
Richmond Hill, Ontario, where she participated in the school's show choir called Vocal Fusion.
While living in both countries, she became fluent in English and also learned to speak some French and Spanish.
Her parents were initially against her pursuing a career in music and wanted her to focus on her studies, but while she was still in high school, they eventually allowed her to audition to become a singer in South Korea.
In 2010, she submitted an online audition for Koreaboo's Global Auditions in 2011 with
Cube Entertainment
Cube Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean entertainment company. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house. Cube are known for h ...
. Though she was not the final winner, she was one of fifteen finalists personally picked by Korean singer
G.NA
Gina Jane Choi (born September 13, 1987), better known by her stage name G.NA, is a Korean Canadian singer, songwriter and actress based in South Korea. She released her debut EP, ''Draw G's First Breath'', on July 14, 2010.
As a solo artis ...
and Koreaboo from over 5,000 videos to continue to the final round in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, British Columbia, Canada, and open for G.NA's first solo showcase. In 2018,
YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production compa ...
founder
Yang Hyun-suk
Yang Hyun-suk (born January 9, 1970) is a South Korean music executive, rapper, dancer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of Seo Taiji and Boys during the 1990s. After the group disbanded, he founded and became the Ex ...
revealed Wendy once auditioned for the company but was not accepted.
Wendy originally did not intend to audition for
SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...
, but was cast by the company when she accompanied a friend to the S.M. Global Audition in Canada in 2012. She recalled singing
Kim Gun-mo
Kim Gun-mo (; born January 13, 1968) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, who is considered the country's most successful musical artist of the 1990s. His 1995 album, '' Wrongful Meeting,'' previously held the Guinness World Record for the best ...
's "Moon of Seoul" and passed. She trained for less than two years before she was introduced as a member of S.M. Entertainment's predebut group
SM Rookies
SM Rookies (, stylized as SMROOKIES) is a pre-debut training team created by South Korean entertainment agency SM Entertainment in 2013, composed of trainees who have yet to join an idol group. From 2013 to 2018, the team officially introduced 30 ...
on March 14, 2014.
As part of SM Rookies, Wendy released the song "Because I Love You" for the soundtrack of the
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, ...
drama ''
Mimi'' and appeared in the song's music video.
On August 1, 2014, Wendy made her official debut as a member of Red Velvet.
2015–2020: Solo activities
Wendy collaborated with rapper Yuk Jidam
Yuk Ji-dam ((), sometimes known as Jidam () or Yukji (); born March 10, 1997) is a South Korean rapper from Daegu. She gained popularity with her participation on the Hip Hop TV competitions '' Show Me The Money'' and ''Unpretty Rapstar''. She ...
for the song "Return", which is part of the OST of KBS2
The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters.
KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...
's '' Who Are You: School 2015''. The song was released on June 8, 2015, and debuted at number 31 on the Gaon Digital Chart
The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...
. She released another song "Let You Know" for the soundtrack of the JTBC
JTBC (shortened from ''Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company'' (; stylized as jtbc) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on 1 December 2011. JTBC ...
drama ''D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
'' on October 16.
In January 2016, Wendy became a long-term panelist on ''We Got Married
''We Got Married'' () was a South Korean reality variety show that aired on MBC from 2008 to 2017. The show paired up celebrities who pretended to be married couples and completed various challenges together. The show ran for four seasons and ...
'' and participated in ''King of Mask Singer
''The King of Mask Singer'' () is a South Korean singing competition program presented by Kim Sung-joo, with introductions by voice actor . It airs on MBC on Sunday, starting from April 5, 2015 as a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' programming ...
'' as a contestant under the alias "Space Beauty Maetel".[Lee Seung-rok]
레드벨벳 웬디, '우결' MC 합류…초아는 하차
''My Daily'', January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.[Jang Young-hoon]
'복면가왕' 메텔의 정체는 레드벨벳 웬디였다
''Insight'', January 24, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016. In March 2016, she collaborated with Eric Nam
Eric Nam (; born November 17, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality based in South Korea. Since his debut in 2013, he was named ''GQ Koreas Man of the Year in 2016'','' included on ''Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia ...
on a duet titled "Spring Love
''Spring Love'' () is a 2013 Taiwanese idol television drama series. The show was produced and filmed by GTV and it stars Mike He as the main male lead with DaYuan Lin from Taiwanese girl group Popu Lady as the main female lead. The show starte ...
", as part of SM Entertainment's SM Station
SM Station is a digital music project by South Korean record label SM Entertainment. It undertook to release one digital single every Friday starting from February 3, 2016. The project's first season ended on February 3, 2017, with 52 songs. Its ...
project. The song peaked at number 7 on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart. In July 2016, Wendy and her Red Velvet bandmate Seulgi
Seul-ki, also spelled Seul-gi or Sul-ki, is a Korean unisex given name, predominantly feminine. It was the 8th-most popular name for baby girls born in South Korea in 1990. Unlike most Korean names, it does not have any Sino-Korean roots, but is ...
released an original soundtrack titled "Don't Push Me" for the TV drama series ''Uncontrollably Fond
''Uncontrollably Fond'' () is a South Korean television series starring Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy. It aired from July 6 to September 8, 2016 on KBS2's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 ( KST) time slot.
Synopsis
Shin Joon-young (Kim Woo-bin) and ...
''. In October 2016, she became a fixed panelist for the KBS show ''Trick & True
''Trick & True'' () was a South Korean variety show, which aired on KBS2, KBS' channel for entertainment shows. The show was hosted by television comedy show host Jun Hyun-moo, Kim Jun-hyun and Lee Eun-gyeol. The show replaced ''Talents for S ...
'' together with her bandmate Irene
Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace".
Irene, and related names, may refer to:
* Irene (given name)
Places
* Irene, Gauteng, South Africa
* Irene, South Dakota, United States
* Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
.[Kang Hee-jung]
레드벨벳 아이린·웬디, '트릭 앤 트루' 고정패널 합류
''News 1'', October 20, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016. In December 2016, Wendy participated in two other singles for the SM Station project, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", featuring pianist Moon Jung-jae and violinist Nile Lee, and "Sound of Your Heart", a collaboration with several SM Entertainment artists. In the same month, she was featured in the English version of Latin pop star Ricky Martin's single "Vente Pa' Ca
"Vente Pa' Ca" () is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, featuring a guest appearance from Colombian singer Maluma. It was written by Justin Stein, Martin, Maluma, Nermin Harambašić, Anne Judith Wik, Carl Ryden, CheifOne, Mau ...
".
Wendy released the song "I Can Only See You" with Seulgi
Seul-ki, also spelled Seul-gi or Sul-ki, is a Korean unisex given name, predominantly feminine. It was the 8th-most popular name for baby girls born in South Korea in 1990. Unlike most Korean names, it does not have any Sino-Korean roots, but is ...
in January 2017 for the OST of the KBS2
The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters.
KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...
TV series, ''Hwarang
Hwarang, also known as Hwarang Corps, and Flowering Knights, were an elite warrior group of male youth in Silla, an ancient kingdom of the Korean Peninsula that lasted until the 10th century. There were educational institutions as well as social ...
''. In February, she sang the Korean version of "My Time" which is part of Disney Channel's '' Elena of Avalor's'' official soundtrack and also appeared in its music video. In the same month, she became the host of the KBS World
KBS World is the Korean Broadcasting System's international broadcasting service. It consists of KBS World Radio, KBS World television channel and KBS Korea.
History
The foreign-language radio broadcast from KBS (before its restructure into a ...
show ''K-Rush''. On October 27, she, along with Kangta and Seulgi, released a remake of the 2001 song "인형 (Doll)" by Shinhwa
Shinhwa () is a South Korean six-member boy band based in Seoul, composed of Eric Mun, Lee Min-woo, Kim Dong-wan, Shin Hye-sung, Jun Jin, and Andy Lee. Launched by SM Entertainment on March 24, 1998, the group signed with Good Entertainment ...
's Shin Hye-sung
Jung Pil-kyo (; born November 27, 1979) is a South Korean singer-songwriter. He is best known as a member of the South Korean boy group Shinhwa. The main vocalist of Shinhwa, he debuted as a solo artist in 2005 and has since released multiple ...
and Lee Ji-hoon as part of the second season of the SM Station project. Its music video used footage from their live performance of the song at the ''SMTOWN LIVE TOUR V in JAPAN'' and was released on the same day. She released a duet with Baek A-yeon
Baek A-yeon (; born March 11, 1993) is a South Korean singer and songwriter signed under Eden Entertainment. She is best known as the second runner-up contestant of '' K-pop Star.''
As a soloist, she has released a total of five extended plays ...
on December 2, called "The Little Match Girl". In February 2018, Wendy was chosen as the interactive holographic
Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, i ...
avatar of SK Telecom
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. ...
's new AI voice assistant speaker, 'Holobox'.
In June 2018, Wendy was announced filming in Austria with Seulgi for ''Battle Trip
''Battle Trip'' () is a South Korean television entertainment program, distributed and syndicated by KBS.
Season 1 was aired starting 16 April 2016 and ended on 3 April 2020 with 177 episodes and 4 special episodes. The program starred Kim So ...
s special episode themed 'The Country I Want to Live in'.
In July 2018, Wendy collaborated with Yang Da-il
Yang Da-il (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 ...
for the single "One Summer" which was released on July 2. In October, it was announced that Wendy was set to release an English duet with American singer John Legend
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...
entitled "Written in the Stars" as part of the third season of ''SM Station'', ''Station x 0'' which would be Wendy's sixth time to participate in the project. The music video for the duet was released on October 19, 2018, on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
. In November 2018, Wendy released the song "Goodbye" for the soundtrack of JTBC
JTBC (shortened from ''Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company'' (; stylized as jtbc) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on 1 December 2011. JTBC ...
drama '' The Beauty Inside''.
On February 22, 2019, Wendy released the solo soundtrack, "What If Love", for tvN's drama ''Touch Your Heart
''Touch Your Heart'' () is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Yoo In-na and Lee Dong-wook. It is based on the web novel of the same name, which was first published in 2016 on KakaoPage. It aired on tvN from February 6 to March 28, ...
''. In October, Wendy participated once again in ''King of Mask Singer'', under the alias 'Green Witch'.
In March 2020, Wendy had her first public schedule since suffering an accident in December 2019, with an appearance on MBC Standard FM
MBC Standard FM (Hangul: MBC 표준FM) is a Full Service (News, Current affairs, Sports, Entertainment) radio station of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation.
Availability Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi Province
Affiliate Stations
* Chuncheo ...
's ''Listen To Books''. In the same month, Wendy was confirmed to take part as main voice actress for the Korean release of DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to:
* DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin
** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio
** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...
animated film '' Trolls: World Tour''. It was released in April. In May 2020, Wendy collaborated with Zico for the OST of '' The King: Eternal Monarch'' titled "My Day Is Full Of You". In November 2020, aside from Red Velvet's OST "Future" for the drama '' Start-Up'', Wendy also had a solo OST named "Two Words". In the same month, Wendy featured in labelmate Taemin
Lee Tae-min (born July 18, 1993), better known mononymously as Taemin, is a South Korean singer, actor and dancer. He debuted as a member of the boy band Shinee in May 2008 and the supergroup SuperM in 2019, both under SM Entertainment, and ...
's "Be Your Enemy", which was in included in his studio album '' Never Gonna Dance Again''.
2021–present: Return from hiatus and solo debut
In January 2021, Wendy made her official return to television as a co-host of ''Mysterious Record Shop''. In March 2021, it was announced that Wendy would be making her debut as a solo artist with an album releasing in April. This was later confirmed as her first EP '' Like Water'', which contains a total of five songs and was released on April 5.
On December 27, 2021, Wendy was revealed as a member of supergroup Got the Beat
Got the Beat (; stylized as GOT the beat) is a South Korean supergroup formed by SM Entertainment in 2022. It is the first sub-unit of project group Girls On Top, and consists of seven members: soloist BoA, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon from Girls' Gen ...
alongside Red Velvet groupmate Seulgi
Seul-ki, also spelled Seul-gi or Sul-ki, is a Korean unisex given name, predominantly feminine. It was the 8th-most popular name for baby girls born in South Korea in 1990. Unlike most Korean names, it does not have any Sino-Korean roots, but is ...
. The group debuted on January 3, 2022.
Other ventures
Endorsements
Aside from endorsements with Red Velvet as a group, Wendy, in November 2018, became an endorser of Dongwon Yangban Rice Porridge with Irene. On December 31, 2020, L'Occitane
L'Occitane en Provence, "the Occitania, Occitan woman (in Provence)," commonly known as L'Occitane, is a French luxury retailer of body, face, hair, fragrances, and home products based in Manosque, France. Founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan, wi ...
Korea launched their new campaign, 'Be Happy, Smile Again', with Wendy as a muse to commemorate the launch of their Happy Shea 2021 edition. Later in February 2021, they launched another campaign for the new Pink Essence product with Wendy. In March 2021, Wendy became the new presenter of Pond's
Pond's is an American brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever.
History
Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...
.
Personal life
Stage incident and health
On December 25, 2019, Wendy was involved in a stage accident during her solo stage rehearsal at the 2019 SBS Gayo Daejeon
''SBS Gayo Daejeon'' (, broadly ''SBS'' '' Battle of the Bands'') is an annual televised music festival that is broadcast by the Seoul Broadcasting System at the end of each year. The program first aired in 1997, and awards were given to musica ...
. Due to the alleged lack of common safety measures by the show's crew members in the stage design, in addition to the lift stairs not being in place for the performance, she fell approximately . Her injuries included a pelvic fracture
A pelvic fracture is a break of the bony structure of the pelvis. This includes any break of the sacrum, hip bones (ischium, pubis, ilium), or tailbone. Symptoms include pain, particularly with movement. Complications may include internal bl ...
, a broken wrist and several facial injuries including a cracked cheekbone, with all injuries on the right side of her body. The accident and subsequent hospitalisation led to cancellation of all her planned activities In February 2020, Wendy was discharged from hospital after spending two months recovering, and began outpatient treatment. She made her comeback on January 1, 2021, at SMTOWN Live Culture Humanity.
Discography
Extended plays
Singles
Soundtrack appearances
Other charted songs
Composition credits
Filmography
Film
Television drama
Television shows
Web shows
Radio shows
Music videos
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1994 births
Living people
Singers from Seoul
21st-century South Korean women singers
K-pop singers
Red Velvet (group) members
SM Rookies members
South Korean dance musicians
South Korean women pop singers
South Korean female idols
South Korean television personalities
South Korean emigrants to Canada
South Korean singer-songwriters
South Korean women singer-songwriters
Japanese-language singers of South Korea