A member of one of Korea’s most popular boy bands has died at age 27. Kim Jong-hyun (better known as Jonghyun), who performed as the de facto lead singer of the hit K-pop group Shinee, was reportedly found unconscious in his Cheongdam-dong apartment in the Gangnam District after his sister filed a report with concern for his welfare. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police told the BBC Korean Service that suicide will be investigated as a possibility.
Shinee was founded in 2008 and soon came to be called “the princes of K-pop” for their chart-topping prowess and reputation as one of the biggest groups in both Japan and Korea, recording a string of Japanese-language albums and selling out the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome. They staged their first U.S. tour with full-length concerts in 2017.
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Jonghyun had also branched out with a successful solo career in 2015, performing two concerts in Seoul just this month, but he was the only original member of Shinee to participate in the band’s reformation earlier this year, which coincided with their fifth Korean album release. In addition, Jonghyun made headlines for his outspoken views in favor of LGBT rights, writing personal messages of support to fans questioning their sexuality, in a demonstration that reportedly made him the target of extremist Internet trolls.
The Yonhap news agency reported that the singer had texted his sister shortly before his death: “Please let me go. Tell me I did well. Final farewell.”
