Celebrities Within: 11/26/09

Screen Name:
Rain

Birth Name:
Jeong Ji-Hoon

Birth Date:
25 June 1982
Birth Place:
Seoul, Korea

Nick Name:
Puppy

Height:
6' 0½" (1.84 m.)

Rain ( Entertainer )

Rain is a South Korean pop singer, dancer, model, actor, businessperson, and designer. He is known by his stage name Bi (pronounce: “Bee” which means Rain in English). He discovered his passion for dancing ever since he was in the 6th grade. As a teenager, he was part of the boyband group called “fanclub” and years after the group ended, Park Jin Young (Korean producer/singer who worked with American singers Will Smith, Mase, Lil’ Kim, 3LW, Tyrese) took Bi under his wings after he auditioned for JYP entertainment and trained him for years in dancing and singing. Bi was a back-dancer for a famous Korean singer named Park Ji Yoon and Park Jin Young himself. During those training years, Bi was not at home much and would lie to his parents telling them he was gonna study in the library while in fact he went to the dance studio. He struggled financially and at times had to go without meals. Nevertheless, he continued to focus on his dance and singing even though he was anxiously waiting for his debut.

Early Beginnings

Rain was born in Seoul, South Korea, on June 25, 1982 with the birth name Jeong Ji-Hoon (Surname is Jeong and his given name is Ji-Hoon). He spent most of his childhood living with his parents and younger sister, Jeong Hanna, near Hongik University. He was extremely a shy and an introvert child when he was still a kid, but in spite of this, Rain discovered he had a passion for dancing when he performed in a talent show for Sungmoon Junior High School. He 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. Yet again, Rain found he could not focus on both dance and his studies in acting; he was truant by the school on many 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 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.

2002 - 2003: Debut

In 2002 he debuted with the song “nappun namja (bad guy)” charming fans with his singing and powerful choreography. After the 1st album, he starred in the drama “Sangdoo Hakyo Gajahow to avoid the sun”. “how to avoid the sun”. (sangdoo let’s go to school)”; many people were impressed by his acting skills regardless that it was his first time acting in a drama. Following the success of his debut, he came back with a new set of style in his 2nd album and hit song

2004 - 2005: Full House

In 2004, he starred in another successful drama called “Full House” which has aired in other Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and was one of the highest rating Korean drama which has won the hearts of many fans across Asia. His performance in Full House has won him the Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting Awards.

His third album, It's Raining (2004), 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.

Rainy Day 2005 Tour - Rain then went on his Rainy Day 2005 Tour, starting in Seoul and followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong. The tickets sold out quickly. His first solo concert in Japan, entitled Rainy Day Japan held at the Tokyo International Forum had all the tickets sell out 30 seconds after going on sale.

2006: Rain Bi's personality and charm sweeping Asia

The Japanese pronounce Bi as "Pi," and they also describe the singer with another term as well. During one of his concerts in Japan, Bi enthralled his fans with a powerful and masculine performance on stage. But when he chatted with fans after the concert, he surprised his fans by displaying a boyish and playful demeanor, earning him the label "Kawai," which means "cute" in Japanese. He is known as a powerful man on stage and a "cute" persona offstage. It is this characteristic that makes his fans crazy about him.Rain is famous for trying his best in whatever he does. He is arguably the best dancer in the nation, because he learned to dance on stage as a backup dancer for an already-established singer before his own debut. It is hard to define his dancing with simple words because it is a mixture of so many diverse elements. He has created a whole new style of his own by integrating diverse genres of dance over the course of his long dancing career.

2007- 2009: Films

In April 2006, Rain was mentioned in the Time magazine website article that named the "100 Most Influential People Who Shape Our World." 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. 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.

In 2008, he acted in his first American film, Speed Racer, where he played Racer Taejo Togokahn in The Wachowski Brothers film. And now in 2009, he is making his starring role Ninja Assassin as the main character Raizo. Ninja Assassin was directed by James McTeigue, and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers.The project was inspired by the ninja scenes featured from Speed Racer, in which Rain had impressed the Wachowskis with his portrayal as a fighter.

Rain Pictures