Cho Yong-pil

Biography

Cho Yong-pil (Korean: 조용필; born March 21, 1950) is a South Korean singer-songwriter. Dubbed the "King of Pop" of South Korea, he is considered one of the most influential figures in the country popular music genre, K-pop. Over a five-decade career, his songs have ranked number one on local music charts in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s.
Born in Hwaseong, Cho debuted as a member of the rock band Atkins in 1968 and made his solo debut with the hit single "Come Back to Busan Port" in 1976. Cho has released 19 solo albums and has remained consistently popular during his 50-year career. He was recognized with the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit for his enormous impact on the country pop music scene. He was selected as Singer of the Year and his song "Bounce" was selected as Song of the Year in the surveys conducted by Gallup Korea in 2013.

1950–1967: Early years

Cho Yong-pil was born in Songsan-myeon, Hwaseong, South Korea, on March 21, 1950 and spent part of his childhood in Seoul. He and actor Ahn Sung-ki were schoolmates at the now-defunct Kyungdong Middle School in Seoul and remained friends even though they attended different high schools. When Cho was seven, he happened to listen to Ray Charles playing the harmonica, and this inspired the young Cho to become a musician.

1968–1975: Atkins, Five Fingers and Kim Trio period

Cho began his music career as a guitarist in various bands. In 1968, he formed a rock band called Atkins and played for the United States Army. Later, he joined Five Fingers, which played music by black artists. In 1971, Cho joined the band Kim Trio, which motivated him to perform rock music. Members of Kim Trio included Kim Dae Hwan (drum), Lee Nam Yee (bass) and Choi Yee Chul (guitar). This Kim Trio is different from the band of the same name from the 1980s.

1976–1992: Solo debut and commercial success

Cho's debut single as a soloist, "Come Back to Busan Port", brought him national attention when it was released in 1976, later becoming a hit in Japan. Cho then made a Japanese-language version of the song, and sang live in Japan. The combined sales of the "Come Back to Busan Port" single and the LP featuring the song exceeded 3 million copies. He was accused of smoking marijuana in 1977 and was banned from performing until 1979. His first album, Woman Outside the Window (창 밖의 여자), was released in 1980 and has been followed by many others. In 1980, he held a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, the first Korean singer to perform there. In 1988, he became the first South Korean singer to perform in China, before the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

1992–2012: Commercial decline and concerts

His commercial success declined after the rise of the group Seo Taiji and Boys and many other young musicians. His studio albums released after 1992 were not so successful. Noticing this, he announced that he would stop appearing on television, concluding that he would hardly make any hits. Subsequently, he focused more on concerts and music performance. In 1993, his Busan concert attracted an audience of 1 million, a record for South Korea. The following year, he became the first South Korean singer to surpass 1 million record sales. In 2005, Cho performed a concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, a rare occurrence for a South Korean singer.

2013–2021: Hello and 50th anniversary

In April 2013, Cho released his 19th album titled Hello×Hello23 April 2013 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Bounce3:032Hello3:253걷고 싶다4:414충전이 필요해3:225서툰 바람4:146말해볼까4:027널 만나면3:238어느 날 귀로에서4:229설렘3:4410그리운 것은3:48, which debuted at number one on the South Korean charts, eclipsing Psy's "Gentleman".
On April 25, 2013, he returned to television with the showcase "Hello". This show was also broadcast live on YouTube.
The album ranked number one on the Gaon Album Chart for the week of April 28 – May 4, 2013. Two songs from the album won first place on South Korean music shows: "Hello" and "Bounce". Following the success of Hello, Cho reissued 14 of his old albums. He later released a Japanese version of the album.
In 2018, Cho held a series of concerts to mark his 50th anniversary as a singer.

2022: Road to 20-Prelude 1

Cho released the single album Road to 20-Prelude 1 on November 18, 2022. To promote the album, he released a 30-second teaser video on his official YouTube channel on November 15. The video contains the titles of the new songs "Moment" and "Like Serengeti". He held a solo concert, 2022 Cho Yong-pil and the Great Birth, at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul from November 26 to 27 and December 3 to 4.

2024: 20

Cho released his 20th album 20 on October 22, 2024, 11 years after the release of his previous album.

Personal life

Cho married An Jin-hyeon in their 40s, but in early 2003, Ahn died of heart disease at the age of 54.