Moon Hee-joon

Moon Hee-joon (; born March 14, 1978), also spelled Moon Hee-jun, is a South Korean pop rock singer-songwriter and dancer signed under SidusHQ. He initially rose to fame as the leader of former boy band H.O.T. under SM Entertainment.

Biography 1996–2001: H.O.T.

Being the second member to join H.O.T. after auditioning, Moon made his debut as a singer as the leader of the boy group. The group debuted with their first album, We Hate All Kinds of Violence in September 1996, which was accused of being plagiarized and lawsuits were placed against them. Despite their controversial debut, the group eventually rose to fame with their first hit, Candy and We Are the Future, which the latter won them a MTV award for Best International Video. During his time as part of the group, Moon composed and wrote music for the group and with fellow member, Jang Woo-hyuk, he often choreographed the group's dance routine. Despite H.O.T.'s success, after releasing their last album, Outside Castle in September 2000, the group disbanded in May 2001.

2001–2005: Solo artist and leaving S.M. Entertainment After the disbandment of the group, Moon stayed on in SM Entertainment with Kangta, who was also part of H.O.T., and debuted as a solo artist. Moon attempted to establish a rock music career with his first album, Alone, but received criticism from the public. His second album, Messiah, was tinted with controversy as one of the songs, Media, was banned from all 3 major broadcasting stations in South Korea, for attacking mass media. After the release of his third album, Legend, in 2003, Moon released The Best: Soaring for a Dream, his last album under S.M. Entertainment and created his own company, PS Entertainment. After Moon released his fourth album, Triple X, he enlisted in the army in 2005.

2006–2009: Military service, SidusHQ and comeback Before entering the army, Moon had signed a contract with SidusHQ and during his time in the army, he hosted the KFN Korean Army Broadcast "Music Talk Show", which received recognition from various Korean artistes. In 2008, Moon released his fifth album, Special Album, which included songs from H.O.T. previous albums. Moon released his first mini album, Last Cry, in 2009. In the same year, Moon appeared in sitcom Taehee, Hyegyo, Jihyun and took a break from the music scene. In 2013, Moon released his second mini album, Begins, after being away from the music scene from 3 years. It was released on January 18, 2013.

Moon, his H.O.T. bandmate Tony An and three members of disbanded or inactive fellow first-generation idol groups Eun Ji-won of Sechs Kies, Danny Ahn of g.o.d and Chun Myung-hoon of NRG starred in their own variety-reality television show Handsome Boys of the 20th Century. He had conceived the idea following the success of Reply 1997 and invited the four other entertainers, all of whom were born in the same year (1978), to star in a reality version of the show. They called their "group" HOTSechgodRG, which is made up of each of their idol group names. They have since appeared on shows such as KBS's Happy Together SBS's Running Man. Due to the reuniting of Eun's group Sechs Kies and Danny Ahn's group g.o.d, they have not appeared as a five-some since the 2014 show Where is My Superhero?, which aired on OnStyle, due to busy schedules but remain close friends. The group, except Eun, most recently met at Moon's bachelor party which was shown on My Little Old Boy, the reality show that Tony An was participating in.

In 2015, Moon signed an exclusive contract with KOEN Stars.

Personal life

On November 25, 2016, Moon announced that he would be marrying fellow entertainer Park Hye-Kyeong, also known as Soyul of Crayon Pop, who is 13 years his junior. The wedding was held on February 12, 2017, in Seoul. The pair then welcomed their first child, daughter Moon Hee-yul, on May 12, 2017. On February 5, 2022 the couple announced of their second pregnancy. Their second child, son Moon Heewoo was born on September 7, 2022.

Discography

Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales KORRIAK Alone Released: October 5, 2001 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD, cassette 1 KOR: 317,237 Messiah Released: July 18, 2002 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD, cassette 3 KOR: 171,652 Legend Released: July 28, 2003 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD, cassette 3 KOR: 58,835 Triple X Released: September 20, 2005 Label: PS Entertainment Formats: CD, cassette 10 KOR: 27,656

Other albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales KORRIAK Live Revolution Released: December 9, 2002 Label: SM Entertainment

Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD 21 KOR:13,316 Special Album Released: March 18, 2008 Label: IHQ Formats: CD 7 KOR: 8,790 20th Anniversary Released: November 12, 2016 Label: Interpark Formats: CD, digital download 15 KOR: 2,331

Extended plays Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales KORRIAK

Singles TitleYearPeak chart positionsSalesAlbum KORGaon "Alone" 2001 — Alone"Generous" 2002 — Messiah"Silent Conflict" (G.선상의 아리아) 2003 — Legend "Love Letter" 2004 — KOR : 8,037 Winter Letter (single) "A Small Village Called Memory" 2005 — Triple X "Obsession" 2008 —Special Album "Toy" 2009 —Last Cry "Scandal" 2013 —Begins "I'm Not OK" 68 KOR : 32,302

Filmography Television series

Variety Shows

Awards and nominations + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominated work Result KBS Entertainment Awards 2018 Top Excellence Award – Talk/Show Category Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend 2019 Grand Prize (Daesang) The Return of Superman KMTV Korean Music Awards 2001 Bonsang Moon Hee-joon IF Award 2002 Bonsang Nate Award 2003 Bonsang Audience Popularity Award Mnet Asian Music Awards 2001Best Male Artist "Alone" 2002 "Generous" Netizen Popularity Award 2003 Best Rock Performance "My Silent Conflict" (G 선상의 아리아) 2004 Best Rock Video "Paper Airplane" Blue Award 2005 Best Rock Performance "A Small Village Called Memories" Gmarket Netizen Popularity Award 2008 Best Rock Performance "Obsession"