Jang Han-byul

Jang Han-byul (; born 4 July 1990) is a South Korean singer, actor, producer and television personality based in South Korea. He was the host of After School Club along with co-host, Eric Nam and has appeared on the Code: Secret Room and Society Game. He is the former lead vocalist of Led Apple and made his official debut with mini-album CODA in November 2011. His YouTube channel reached almost 1 million subscribers but was deleted in 2015 following a legal dispute with his previous label.

Early life and education

Jang was born in Brisbane, Queensland, to South Korean parents. Since he was five years old, Jang had a passion for musical instruments and took private piano, violin, and saxophone lessons during his childhood before growing an interest for singing.Despite his musical talent, Jang's dream was to become a professional football or basketball player at a young age. As a teenager, his parents aspired for Jang to become a golf player because of his athletic abilities but lost his passion for the game after a few years.

Jang attended Brisbane Grammar School. He was a regular of both the football and basketball first teams during his time at Brisbane Grammar. Jang was an all-round A student but particularly excelled in mathematics where he was a regular member of the school Olympiad team as well as dux of Mathematics during his graduating years. He graduated with an OP1, the highest possible academic rank achievable, which made Jang eligible to study any course he wished in university.

Jang was accepted into the School of Dentistry at Monash University, the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney but chose to study Dental Science at the University of Queensland, in order to stay closer to his parents. Jang admitted in an interview with eNEWS24 that he studied dentistry after being given an ultimatum by his parents that they would allow him to go to Korea to audition to become a singer, only if he had a financially secure option aligned for his future. He deferred after his second year of dentistry to pursue music in Korea after receiving overwhelming interest for his talent from major music labels.

Jang is multilingual, having studied languages during high school and throughout his career. He is fluent in Korean, English, Japanese, French, Latin, Chinese and Malay.

Career Jang started his musical career as a trainee at various major Korean music labels for 2 years, including the same agency as IU at LOEN Entertainment, before making his debut as the frontman of the K-pop band, Led Apple. While he was with the band, Jang found international success with his Music Note song covers on his YouTube channel, most of his covers reaching millions of views. His channel reached almost 1 million subscribers but was deleted in 2015 following a legal dispute with his previous label.

He was a prominent host of many Korean television talk-shows and music programs and rose to worldwide fame among K-pop fans as the host of After School Club alongside co-host, Eric Nam, interviewing global K-pop groups such as BTS, EXO and Miss A. Largely due to Jang's global popularity, Led Apple embarked on several international and European tours. In Japan, Led Apple found huge success selling out concerts in Tokyo and Osaka for several years. Their Japanese debut album, Kiss Tour, debuted at number 12 on the Oricon Album Charts. Their second Japanese album charted in at number 9 on the Top 10 Oricon Album Charts and the album's single, "Greatest World", reached number 10 on the Oricon Singles Charts.

In 2011, Jang's band Led Apple was named one of the most anticipated K-pop acts of 2011 by WaveK. In 2012, Jang was named one of the best vocalists in K-pop as well as one of the most beautiful faces in K-pop in the same year. Led Apple was also awarded best new artist at the 20th Korean Culture Entertainment Awards in this year.

He appeared on several episodes of Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend from 2012 to 2013, receiving standing ovations for his unique renditions of original songs and became well known as a powerful and versatile vocalist often being compared to Lee Hong-gi of F.T. Island. His rendition of "Invisible Love" by Shin Seung-hun was particularly praised.

In 2015, Jang left the band due to mistreatment from his previous label and went on to pursue a solo career. In addition to his singing and acting career, he has also worked as a songwriter and vocal trainer for other K-pop artists.

His solo soundtrack "Winter Wind" for the South Korean drama, Remember, reached the Top 10 QQ Music Charts in China in 2016.

in 2019, Jang participated in a popular Malaysian singing reality competition television series, Big Stage Season 2 and made history by becoming the first and only champion from a foreign country in Malaysian reality television to date.

He was awarded "Best New Artist" at the 2020 MeleTOP Era Awards in his first year in Malaysia but could not attend the award ceremony because he was residing in South Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jang was a contestant on The Masked Singer Malaysia Season 3 as Piza Panas where he finished in third place overall. There was much controversy surrounding the results of the show with many netizens and audience disputing that Jang should have rightfully been the champion of the show. He placed first in six of the 11 weeks of the show including the semi-final, making Jang the only contestant to have won in 6 weeks of competition in the history of The Masked Singer Malaysia.

Jang has been the face and brand ambassador of major brands and products during his career including skin care brand IOPE, hair care house Foresta, fashion house Greedilous, Coway, beverage company Power Root and McDonald's.

Currently, he is active between South Korea and Malaysia.

Discography

Led Apple

Singles Title Year Peak chart positions SalesAlbum KOR "With Coffee" 201333 KOR: 134,529 Non-album singles"It's Spring" 2017—"Dumb Love" (뭣 같은 LOVE)—"One A.M." 201865"Luka Dan Bahagia" 20191Big Stage 2019"Used to This"2021—Non-album singles"Pesona Kamu" 2022—"Bukan Milikmu" 7th Grade Civil Servant OST"Call My Name"2014—Marriage Not Dating OST"Shooting Star"2015—Cheer Up! OST"Winter Wind" —Dendam Cinta Arissa OST "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Filmography

Music Videos

Year Title Length Publisher Ref. 2018 "One A.M" 3:54 1theK 2021 "Used To This" 3:27 Sony Music Korea

Film Year Title Role Notes 2021 Mat Bond Malaya Agent 5 First Malay movie

Television

Big Stage Season 2

Jang Han-Byul participated in a Malaysian singing reality competition television series, Big Stage Season 2, in 2019 which aired on Astro Ria. In this reality show, Jang Han-Byul used the name Han-Byul.

+ Performance:WeekThemeSongOriginal ArtistResult Week 1 N/A Shooting Star Jang Han-byulSAFE Week 2 Hype Beat Vroom Vroom Nabila RazaliSAFE Week 3 Glocal Hits I'll Never Love Again Lady GagaSAFE Week 4 Duominasi Just Give Me A Reason (ft Sarah Suhairi) Pink & Nate RuessSAFE Week 5 Cannot Brain Yang Sedang Sedang saja IwanSAFE Week 6 Judge Choice Love Someone Lukas GrahamSAFE Battle Song Bang Bang (Battle With Neeta)Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj Week 7 Road To Final Boy With Luv BTS Ft HalseySAFE Duet Dirgahayu (Duet with Siti Sarah) Dato' Sri Siti Nurhaliza Ft Faizal Tahir Week 8 Cover Final Lose Yourself EminemWINNER New Single Luka Dan Bahagia Jang Han-byul

Han-Byul placed first in all weeks of competition except for the first week. He was number 1 on fan voting in all weeks throughout the whole competition with almost 50% of all audience votes going to Han-Byul. The video of his second week performance, "Vroom Vroom" went viral in Malaysia and made Han-Byul a household name. His challenging and daring song choices was notable throughout the competition where judges such as Siti Nurhaliza gave standing ovations and praised him for his courageous and hard-working artistry.

In the final concert of Big Stage Season 2, Han-Byul made history by becoming the first and only champion from a foreign country in Malaysian reality television. His debut Malaysian single "Luka Dan Bahagia" reached number 1 on the Malaysian radio station Era as well as on several other local radio stations.

The Masked Singer Malaysia Season 3 Jang appeared on The Masked Singer Malaysia Season 3 as the disguised mascot, Piza Panas. He placed first in six of the 11 weeks of competition becoming the only contestant in the history of The Masked Singer Malaysia to accomplish such an achievement. In the final week, he finished in third place overall. There was much controversy surrounding the results of the final week with many of the audience voicing their opinion that Jang should have been the champion of the show. Jang as Piza Panas was number 1 in audience voting in all weeks of competition, making him a fan favourite among netizens for his energetic stage persona and choreographed performances.

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.201220th Korean Culture Entertainment AwardsBest New K-pop ArtistLed appleWON 2020 2020 MeleTOP Era Awards Best New Artist HimselfWON