Wendy

Biography

Shon Seung-wan (Korean: 손승완; born February 21, 1994), known professionally as Wendy (웬디), is a South Korean singer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet. In 2021, she made her solo debut with the EP Like Water×Like Water5 April 2021 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1When This Rain Stops4:042Like Water4:213Why Can’t You Love Me?2:484초행길 (The Road)4:155Best Friend3:30. In 2022, she became a member of SM Entertainment's supergroup Got the Beat.
Apart from her music career, Wendy has made various television appearances, including as a panelist on the reality show We Got Married (2015–2016), Trick & True (2016–2017), being cast on comedy show Saturday Night Live Korea (2021), and hosting Mysterious Record Shop (2021). From 2021 to 2023, Wendy hosted the radio program Wendy's Youngstreet. She made her theatrical debut in the musical Rebecca in 2023 and in 2025, started the web show Today is Wendy.

Early life and education

Wendy was born on February 21, 1994, in Seongbuk-dong, a neighborhood in Seongbuk District in Seoul, 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, guitar, flute, and saxophone.
She lived with her family in Jecheon until her fifth year of elementary school, when she moved to Canada with her older sister, Shon Seung-hee, to study abroad. She lived in Brockville, Ontario before moving to the United States to attend Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, 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.
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.

2010–2014: Pre-debut

In 2010, she submitted an online audition for Koreaboo's Global Auditions in 2011 with Cube Entertainment. Though she was not the final winner, she was one of fifteen finalists personally picked by Korean singer G.NA and Koreaboo from over 5,000 videos to continue to the final round in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and open for G.NA's first solo showcase. In 2018, YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun-suk revealed Wendy once auditioned for the company but was not accepted.
Wendy originally did not intend to audition for SM Entertainment, but was cast by the company when she accompanied a friend to the SM Global Audition in Canada in 2012. She recalled singing Kim Gun-mo'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 on March 14, 2014. As part of SM Rookies, Wendy released the song "Because I Love You" for the soundtrack of the Mnet drama Mimi and appeared in the song's music video.

2014–2019: Debut with Red Velvet and solo activities

On August 1, 2014, Wendy made her official debut as a member of Red Velvet.
Wendy collaborated with rapper Yuk Jidam for the song "Return", part of the OST of KBS2's Who Are You: School 2015. The song was released on June 8, 2015, and debuted at number 31 on the Gaon Digital Chart. She released another song "Let You Know" for the soundtrack of the JTBC drama D-Day on October 16.
In January 2016, Wendy became a long-term panelist on We Got Married and participated in King of Mask Singer as a contestant under the alias "Space Beauty Maetel". In March 2016, she collaborated with Eric Nam on a duet titled "Spring Love", as part of SM Entertainment's SM Station project. The song peaked at number 7 on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart. In July 2016, Wendy and her Red Velvet bandmate Seulgi released an original soundtrack titled "Don't Push Me" for the TV drama series Uncontrollably Fond. In October 2016, she became a fixed panelist for the KBS show Trick & True together with her bandmate Irene. In December 2016, Wendy participated in two other singles for the SM Station project, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas×Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas23 December 2016 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas4:512Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (inst.)4:51", 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".

Wendy released the song "I Can Only See You" with Seulgi in January 2017 for the OST of the KBS2 TV series, Hwarang. In February, she sang the Korean version of "My Time", part of Disney Channel's Elena of Avalor's official soundtrack. In the same month, she became the host of the KBS World show K-Rush. On October 27, she, along with Kangta and Seulgi, released a remake of the 2001 song "인형 (Doll)" by Shinhwa's Shin Hye-sung 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 SM Town Live Tour V in Japan and was released on the same day. She released a duet with Baek A-yeon on December 2, called "The Little Match Girl×The Little Match Girl1 December 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1성냥팔이 소녀 (The Little Match Girl)3:472성냥팔이 소녀 (The Little Match Girl) (inst.)3:45". In February 2018, Wendy was chosen as the interactive holographic avatar of SK Telecom's new voice assistant speaker, 'Holobox'.
In June 2018, Wendy was featured with Seulgi for Battle Trip's special episode themed 'The Country I Want to Live in', in which the pair visited Austria.
In July 2018, Wendy collaborated with Yang Da-il 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 entitled "Written in the Stars" as part of the third season of SM Station, Station x 0. The music video for the duet was released on October 19, 2018, on YouTube. In November 2018, Wendy released the song "Goodbye" for the soundtrack of JTBC drama The Beauty Inside.
On February 22, 2019, Wendy released the solo soundtrack, "What If Love", for tvN's drama Touch Your Heart. In October, Wendy participated once again in King of Mask Singer, under the alias "Green Witch".

2019–2020: Stage incident and hiatus

On December 25, 2019, Wendy was involved in a stage accident during her solo rehearsal at the 2019 SBS Gayo Daejeon. Due to an 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 2.5 metres (8.2 ft). Her injuries included a pelvic fracture, 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 hospitalization led to cancellation of all her planned activities. In February 2020, Wendy was discharged from the hospital after spending two months recovering, and began outpatient treatment.

2020–2023: Solo debut with Like Water, Wendy's Youngstreet, and Got the Beat

In March 2020, Wendy had her first public appearance since her accident, with an appearance on MBC Standard FM's Listen To Books. In the same month, Wendy was confirmed to take part as main voice actress for the Korean release of DreamWorks animated film Trolls: World Tour. It was released in April. In May, she 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's "Be Your Enemy", which was in included in his studio album Never Gonna Dance Again.
Wendy made her return to live performances on January 1, 2021, at SM Town Live Culture Humanity. She then 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. Her first EP Like Water×Like Water5 April 2021 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1When This Rain Stops4:042Like Water4:213Why Can’t You Love Me?2:484초행길 (The Road)4:155Best Friend3:30 was released on April 5, containing a total of five songs including its lead single of the same name.
On July 12, 2021, Wendy became the permanent nightly DJ host for SBS Power FM's radio show Wendy's Youngstreet, where she had been a special DJ for in 2018. On December 27, 2021, Wendy was revealed as a member of supergroup Got the Beat alongside Red Velvet groupmate Seulgi. The group debuted on January 3, 2022.
In June 2023, it was announced that Wendy would step down as the host of Wendy's Youngstreet. In the same month, Wendy was cast as 'I' in the 10th Anniversary production of the musical Rebecca, marking her official theatre debut.

2024–present: Wish You Hell and departure from SM Entertainment

On March 12, 2024, Wendy released her second EP Wish You Hell×Wish You Hell12 March 2024 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Wish You Hell2:502His Car Isn’t Yours3:043Best Ever3:094Better Judgement2:505Queen of the Party3:076Vermilion3:11 and its lead single of the same name. In November 2024, she featured on BTS Jin's song "Heart on the Window" from his EP Happy.
On April 4, 2025, SM Entertainment announced that its exclusive contract with Wendy had ended, but she will remain in Red Velvet and be involved in all future group activities. On April 25, 2025, it was announced that Wendy signed an exclusive contract with Asnd. On August 25, it was announced that Wendy would be releasing her third extended play Cerulean Verge on September 10.
On September 20, Wendy held her first stop of her world tour 'W:ealive' at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul, the tour is set to have 17 shows and conclude in Manila on January 17.

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 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.

Philanthropy

In February 2020, Wendy donated ₩100 million through the Community Chest of Korea to help those affected by COVID-19 and became a member of its Honor Society in 2021.
In March 2025, Wendy donated ₩50 million through the Community Chest of Korea to help with recovery efforts from wildfires that have occurred in the Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam regions.

Composition credits

All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise.