Rain biography

Birth name Hangul: 정지훈
Hanja: 鄭智薰
Revised Romanization: Jeong Ji-hun
Also known as Bi (비), Pi (ピ), Yu (雨), Vu
Born June 25, 1982 (1982-06-25) (age 26)
Origin Seoul, South Korea
Genre(s) K-pop, R&B, Hip-Hop
Occupation(s) Singer, Actor, Dancer, Model , Designer
Years active 2002-present
Label(s) JYP Entertainment(2002-2007),J. Tune Entertainment(since 2007),FA


Early life

Rain spent most of his childhood living with his parents and younger sister near Hongik University. Despite being an introverted and shy child, he discovered he had a passion for dance when he performed in a talent show for Sungmoon Junior High School. Rain initially had a difficult time balancing dance and academics and received low grades during the beginning of junior high because of his frequent dance practices. He decided to follow his passion and attended Anyang High School of Arts, where he received his first formal instruction in acting and was able to continue dancing as well. Rain again found he could not focus on both dance and his studies in acting; he was truant on several occasions.

Rain lost his mother as she struggled with diabetes and died in 2000. Within that same year, Rain was recruited as a trainee for JYP Entertainment, led by successful recording artist and producer Park Jin-Young in 2000. In a CNN interview, however, he recalled being repeatedly rejected because of his looks: "In fact, I was told after one audition that my singing and dancing was great but I didn't make it because I didn't have double eyelids." During the early years of training, Rain was a backup dancer.


International recognition
In 2002, he debuted with the album Bad Guy where he was introduced to the media through his stage name, Rain. The album's title single Bad Guy was a hit. After his first album, he took time off from his career as a singer to star in the drama series, Sang Doo! Let's Go To School. Following the success of his debut as singer and actor, Rain released his second album, How to Avoid The Sun, and had another hit with the title song "Ways to Avoid the Sun."


Rain during a performance.In 2004, he starred in another successful drama called "Full House", which was one of the highest-rated Korean dramas of all time with ratings of over 30% for every episode. It was broadcast in many other countries including the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States Through Full House, Rain was recognized across Asia.His performance in the drama also won him the Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting Awards.

His third album, It's Raining, sold over 1 million copies in Asia. According to a report by Rain's previous agency JYP Entertainment to the Korea Culture & Content Agency, It's Raining topped the charts in all of the following countries as of December 29, 2005: Japan (100,000 copies), China (500,000 copies), Taiwan (70,000 copies), Thailand (150,000 copies), Indonesia (50,000 copies), and South Korea (154,000 copies), for a combined total of 1,074,000 units sold, making it Rain's most successful album to date both domestically and internationally. His first concert, Rainy Day, held in Korea and Japan, was sold out on the first day when the tickets became available.

In 2004, Rain earned greater recognition by winning the MTV Asia Grand Slam, securing top honors in all the Asian countries which broadcast MTV Asia. Rain won the Favorite Korean Artist at the 2005 MTV Asia Aid held in Bangkok, the Most Popular Asian Artist Award from Channel [V] Thailand, the Best Buzz Asia Award during the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2005, and the Best Korean Singer award in the MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Honors in Beijing. Rain was also the first Asian performing artist ever[citation needed] to be invited to the 2005 American MTV Video Music Awards in Miami, as well as the 2005 MTV Latin Video Music Awards in Mexico. These accomplishments earned Rain a lot of media attention, including interviews with Time Asian Edition and CNN Talk Asia. Rain also won the Best Korean Singer Award 2005 at the Mandarin Music Honors in Taiwan.

Rain then went on his RAINY DAY 2005 Tour, starting in Seoul and followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong. Due to his fame and his extravagant performances, tickets sold out quickly.His first solo concert in Japan last summer, entitled Rainy Day Japan held at the Tokyo International Forum, was so popular that all the tickets were sold out 30 seconds after going on sale. The tickets for another of his concerts in Taiwan were sold out the moment they became available. His performances in Hong Kong also sold out in a couple of hours.

In April 2006, he was mentioned in the Time magazine website article that named the "100 Most Influential People Who Shape Our World."In 2007, Rain topped Time Magazine's online user poll although he was not in the magazine's actual list. He also made it into People's 2007 list of the "Most Beautiful People" in the world. Rain also made an appearance in the Korean variety show Family Outing with close co-singer Lee Hyori ,singer Kim Jong-kuk and Big Bang (band) member Dae Sung.

World tour and beyond

Rain's fourth album, Rain's World, was released in Korea on October 14, 2006.

His Rain's Coming Tour began on December 15, 2006 at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul and was scheduled to continue through 2007 to the following countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, United States, and Canada.His tour incorporated the talents of producers and stage designers (such as Jamie King and Roy Bennett) who have been involved with the concert tours of famous artists such as U2, Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin, Madonna, Britney Spears, and The Rolling Stones. Ticket sales were expected to be over US$100 million.

His latest concert was at the Tokyo Dome on May 25, 2007which attracted nearly 40,000 people.Rain was the first Korean artist to perform at the Tokyo Dome, the largest auditorium in Japan.


Fame in the United States

Rain's success in the United States is limited. His two day concert, Rainy Day New York was marketed and promoted by the Asian concert production company Rainstone Live. Tickets were sold out within a matter of days.Time magazine noted that Rain may collaborate in the future with Diddy. This came after reviewing Rain's performances in Madison Square Garden in February 2006. In 2007, several of Rain's U.S. concerts were cancelled due to safety reasons and possible low ticket sales and legal issues.

Special guests who made stage appearances at the concert included American pop singer JoJo, R&B singer Omarion, and hip-hop mogul Diddy.

Rain was featured in a song by Omarion, who used to be the vocalist of the popular hip-hop group, B2K, and had starred in the movie, You Got Served. When Rain's first movie, I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, finished filming in early July 2006, he departed for the U.S. to discuss the possibility of singing the duet with Omarion, and to meet with the organizers of his Asian Tour. Rain apparently met Omarion through his producer, who had written a song for Omarion's recent album. Also, after Rain's concert in February in New York - where Omarion danced to Rain's song "Bad Guy" - Omarion and Rain became friends, says JYP Entertainment. They also noted that the two may star in a movie together one day.

Omarion and Rain recorded a duet song, "Man Up," and that was released on the European version of Omarion's album 21 as a bonus track. The song has yet to be released in the U.S. due to contractual issues between several record labels.

In 2007, Rain made it to People's Most Beautiful People list for the first time, in its "First-Time Beauties 2007" section.In a press release, Rain stated that he was honored to be on the list, and also noted that it will be a great boost to his efforts to raise his public awareness in the United States. Also in 2007, Rain topped Time's open online poll. He beat Stephen Colbert by 100,000 votes; Colbert jokingly retaliated by producing a parody of Rain's music video for "Ways to Avoid the Sun" called "He's Singin' In Korean". Stephen Colbert has since challenged Rain to a dance-off "or a cuddle-off, or a spoon-off". On May 5, 2008, Rain appeared in a "surprise" guest segment at the end of The Colbert Report, and proceeded to engage Stephen in a dance-off. In the end, Rain won by causing the Dance Dance Revolution machine on which they were competing to overload and explode.

Rain performed in two concert dates in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 23-24, 2006; the tickets to these concerts sold out within the first week of sales. The concerts were held at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. At the Las Vegas concert, Rain’s producer, JYP attended the concert with the King of Crunk, Lil’ Jon.


Legal troubles and cancelled concerts

In February 2007, Rain and his former management agency JYP Entertainment as well as concert organizer, Star M Corporation, were sued over copyright infringement of the stage name "Rain," by the U.S. recording firm Rain Corporation. The company, which works with an American band also called "Rain," demanded that Rain drop the English name in the United States. In June 2007, the lawsuit ended because the Nevada court provided no evidence indicating that Rain Corporation would suffer any actual harm. Since the filing of the lawsuit, Rain's U.S. concert promotional posters had been changed to "Ji-hoon's World Tour 2007"; however, Rain may continue using "Rain's Coming World Tour."

On his latest World 2007 tour, his scheduled concerts in Shanghai, Toronto, San Francisco, and Hawaii were cancelled, followed by the last concert in Los Angeles. The last event at the Staples Center was canceled only two hours prior to opening: Rain's producer blamed the situation on financial problems with the local producer while the local promoter blamed Star M calling them "incompetent to handle the situation."

On March 19, 2009, a federal jury in Honolulu found that Rain, his former management agency JYP Entertainment, and two other promotion companies were guilty of breaching a contract and defrauding Honolulu promoter Click Entertainment for $2 million (originally just over $1 million) after the Hawaii concert was cancelled and the promoters were not refunded the $500,000 licensing fee.Rain and JYP were ordered to pay $2.4 million each in punitive damages, $1 million for damages related to the fraud, and $2.3 million for breach of contract.

Six to Five

Six to Five is Rain's new and first own clothing line ,since it also was his dream to become a fashion designer.It was launched on December 23rd 2008 and was followed with a "fashion show–launch party–mini-concert" to introduce 'Six to Five'.Many Co-Stars came to support him,such as Lee Hyori ,Kim Sun-A and Chae-Rim.He didn't only design his clothes ,but is also the model.It says that the name 'Six to Five' came from Rain's birthdate; June 25-625.

Rain's Official site
http://www.rain-jihoon.com/main.html