Zhong Chenle (; born 22 November 2001), better known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as Chenle (

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 ...

: 천러), is a Chinese singer and actor based in South Korea. Zhong began his career as a child singer, having performed in various concerts and television shows in China and abroad. At age nine, he became the youngest singer to be invited to perform solo at the Golden Hall of Vienna. By age 14, Zhong released three solo albums and hosted one solo concert in China. Zhong moved to South Korea in 2016 to join South Korean boy band NCT, debuting as a part of the sub-unit

NCT Dream NCT Dream () is the third sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT, formed by SM Entertainment in 2016. They were initially intended to be the teenaged unit of NCT with an admission-and-graduation system, in which members would leave after rea ...

, which has since released three Korean EPs and held one Asian tour.

Early life

Zhong was born in

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

on 22 November 2001. He studied at the Beijing Contemporary Music School, graduating alongside NCT bandmate Renjun in the class of 2020. In 2006, Chenle entered the Shanghai Ying Siu Sing School and attended dance classes. In 2008, he was admitted to the Shanghai Little Flute Art Troupe and studied vocal music with Huang Jing.

Career

2009–2015: Pre-debut and solo activities

In 2009, Zhong participated in the Hajj children's channel held by Yueyue Elf Vs Season Trial, where he was runner-up and won the Elf Genie Award. In 2010, he participated in the National Chinese Young Talent Selection and won a gold medal. In January 2011, at age nine, Zhong was invited to perform the song "

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" from

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's musical ''

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'' at the Golden Hall of Vienna; at the time, he was the youngest singer to have ever performed solo there. On 16 June, Zhong led the audience in singing the

Chinese national anthem The "March of the Volunteers" (), originally titled the "March of the Anti-Manchukuo Counter-Japan Volunteers", has been the official national anthem of the People's Republic of China since 1978. Unlike previous Chinese state anthems, it was ...

at the second Nie Er Music Week opening ceremony in the Shanghai Grand Theater. In July, Zhong released his twelve-track second solo album, ''My Wings''. At the end of the month and in August, Zhong participated in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Shanghai International Children's Art Festival on the Shanghai Grand Stage at the

Shanghai International Convention Center The Shanghai International Convention Center (SHICC, ) is a convention center in Lujiazui Financial District in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China, built in 1999. The building is adjacent to Shanghai's skyline of spectacular skyscrapers, includin ...

. Zhong began his professional career as a singer after participating in singing competitions such as ''

China's Got Talent ''China's Got Talent ''() was a Chinese reality television series on Dragon TV and a part of the ''Got Talent'' franchise, hosted by Cheng Lei. It is a talent show that features all different kinds of performances of all ages competing for perfor ...

''. He has released three albums. He used to perform

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or Sound recording and reproduction, recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referr ...

, many of which were of former child star

Declan Galbraith Declan John Galbraith (born 19 December 1991) is a British musician. He is best known for his 2002 hit single, " Tell Me Why", which peaked at #29 in the UK Singles Chart. Early life Galbraith was born on 19 December 1991, in Hoo St Werburg ...

, and upload them to

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. Zhong joined the World Organization of Child Ambassadors of Peace, headquartered in

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. and founded and presided over by pianist, songwriter, and producer Ezekiel Elkin, representing China as a young cultural diplomat. Zhong served as Chinese Ambassador at an international multicultural show created by Elkin in

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in August 2014; he performed "The Dragon's Romance", a song Elkin wrote specifically for him. In December 2012, Zhong participated in the First Plenary Session of the Huangpu District of Shanghai and elected the district chief with the highest votes. His first known minor acting roles were in 2013, when he featured in Chinese drama '' The Queen of SOP 2'' at age 11. In 2014, Zhong held a solo concert at the

Shanghai Concert Hall Cadillac·Shanghai Concert Hall is located on the intersection of Yan'an Road and South Tibet Road of Huangpu District, Shanghai. It was founded in 1930 as Nanking Theatre. In 1949, its name was changed to Beijing Cinema. In 1959, it was renam ...

2016–present: Debut with NCT and NCT Dream

In August 2016, at age 14, Zhong began his career as an idol in South Korea by debuting as a member of

, a sub-unit of NCT. Zhong became the main DJ of the radio show ''Yuedong Seoul'' on 12 October 2020, which aired from 9 pm to 10 pm KST and was live-streamed on the official TBS eFM 101.3 MHz YouTube channel. Zhong departed ''Yuedong Seoul'' on 12 September 2021. In February 2021, Zhong featured on the song "Too Good" from IMLAY's fourth EP ''Utopia''.

Discography

Albums

* ''Tomorrow'' (2010) * ''My Wings'' (2011) * ''You Are There'' (2014)

Singles

Filmography

Film

Television

Variety show

Radio show

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhong, Chenle NCT (band) members 2001 births Living people Singers from Shanghai Chinese expatriates in South Korea 21st-century Chinese male singers Chinese child singers Chinese male child actors Chinese dance musicians Chinese idols Chinese pop singers Chinese K-pop singers Korean-language singers of China