H.O.T.

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H.O.T.
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genre(s)	K-pop, dance, bubblegum, hip hop,Pop, A cappella
Occupation(s)	Musicians
Years active	1996 - 2001
Label(s)	SM Entertainment
Associated acts	SMTown, JTL
Website	Official Site
Members
Moon Hee Jun Jang Woo Hyuk Tony An Kangta Lee Jae Won

H.O.T. was a popular five-member South Korean boy band of the late 1990s. The five-member boy band enjoyed massive success alongside the likes of Sechs Kies, Baby Vox, Fin.K.L., S.E.S. and Shinhwa. Like many Korean bands, their name is an acronym - H.O.T. standing for "High-five Of Teenagers". Before their disbandment they dominated the charts, setting the standard for other Kpop boybands. They were formed by SM Entertainment in 1996 and disbanded in 2001.

Contents 1 History 2 Disbandment and post-H.O.T. 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Joint discography 4 Companies and studios owned by H.O.T. members 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

The first member to join was KangTa. Second to join was Moon Hee Jun, after auditioning, he got in. Hee Jun then offered his friend, JaeWon to audition, and Jae Won also made it. The fourth to join was Woo Hyuk, after winning first place in a dancing contest. He was asked to try out and became the fourth member to join. Lastly, Tony An and his close friend Andy Lee were discovered by Brothers Entertainment and placed with SM Entertainment. Andy's parents suddenly withdrew support, and Andy was dropped out of H.O.T. In 1998, he was put in a six-member group, Shinhwa.

While they were remembered simply as a boy band aimed at teenage girls, the members made a fair amount of contribution to their albums by writing and composing their own songs. By the release of their third and fourth album, "Resurrection" and "Iyah!" respectively, they had written most of their own songs. They composed all of the music and lyrics to the songs of their last album, "Outside Castle". The members, Moon Hee Jun and Jang Woo Hyuk in particular, also choreographed all their dance moves to their songs, adding an exciting dimension to the band's music videos. H.O.T also got the image of being angels after the release of their anime music video for their song "Promise of H.O.T.".

They were the first k-pop group to ever hold a concert in the Seoul Olympic Stadium because of the magnitude of their fanbase. Because of their popularity, they were seen frequently in advertisements. At one point, they even had their own soda brand with a catch phrase "I only drink H.O.T.".

Right before they have released their fifth album, they starred in a "Space Jam"-like movie "Age of Eunbee", to which they also released a soundtrack consisting of trance & two vocal songs. "Age of Alice" was showcased in Mexico while they were promoting their fourth album. Everything in the film except for the five members were computerized. They produced a soundtrack for this film as well. They won numerous awards from MTV, and various popular music shows in Korea.

As expected from teen idols, H.O.T. maintained a squeaky-clean image, avoiding things South Korea wouldn't tolerate from singers such as avoiding military time (or skipping the country to do so), dropouts, battery, obscenity, arrest, drugs, and etc.

In 1998, "We Are The Future"'s promo video song earned an American MTV Video Award for Best International Video.

They maintained a friendly rivalry with other K-pop bands such as Young Turks Club ^[1], Maddie and Sechs Kies, and were close friends with Kim Hwan Sung of N.R.G., who died tragically from pneumonia a week or two prior to his 20th birthday. Kangta, especially was heartbroken by his friend's death. When N.R.G. released their album after Kim Hwan Sung's death, Kangta wrote the main track of their album.

H.O.T. released their last hit song, "A Song for Lady", which was used in the Korean drama "Autumn in my Heart". Clips from the drama can be seen in the song's music video.

[edit] Disbandment and post-H.O.T.

H.O.T. disbanded in May of 2001. As H.O.T.'s neared the end of their contracts with SM Entertainment, it was rumored that financial issues caused the group to split. Each member received royalties equivalent of 1 cent for each copy of their album sold, meaning that each of them would earn roughly $10,000 for selling million copies of their album. When An once complained that they were being underpaid, Lee Soo Man said "I even pay for your gas, what are you complaining about?" in response. ^[2]

After the split, Kangta and Moon Hee Jun were offered lucrative contracts to SM Entertainment as solo artists and released moderately successful albums. While Kangta's music was usually mainstream pop, Moon Hee Jun in the beginning, like Kangta, started with the mainstream pop, but later attempted to establish a rock music career. However, Hee Jun was overshadowed by his teen idol image and was met with harsh criticism.

The remaining members, Jang Woo Hyuk, Tony An, and Lee Jae Won, formed a three-member group called JTL under another label, and sold moderately successful albums.

Later, Jang Woo Hyuk and a partner created their own dance company with Woo Hyuk leading his own team and school named "Newest".

A few years after forming JTL, Tony An released a solo album, created his own entertainment company, Tn Entertainment, and a successful school uniform company, Skoolooks (Big Bang was in one of his commercials).

In 2005, Moon Hee Jun left SM Entertainment, creating his own company, PS Entertainment, and releasing one album. Later that year, Hee Jun headed off to military service, a duty required for every male Korean citizen.

Lee Jae Won also left SM Entertainment, and on April 4, 2005, he released his first post-H.O.T. album, "No Pain, No Gain".

On September 12, 2005, Jang Woo Hyuk released his first solo album No More Drama, performing with the renowned American hip-hop group Elite Force, who was also a former dance team for Will Smith. Woo Hyuk was the last member to release a solo album, and earned a reputation as "The Prince of Dance Music" or "The King of Dancers' world."

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Joint discography

• Christmas In SMTOWN (December 15, 1999)
• Christmas Winter Vacation In SMTOWN.com (December 8, 2000)
• Christmas Winter Vacation in SMtown.com - Angel Eyes (December 4, 2001)

[edit] Companies and studios owned by H.O.T. members

This section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Moon Hee Jun

• PS Studio
• PS Entertainment

Jang Woo Hyuk

• Newest Academy

Tony An

• Tn Entertainment
• Skoolooks
• Shinenihs

Kangta

• Kt Studio
• SM Entertainment (Shareholder)

Lee Jae Won

• T.I. Story

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• (English) Beginning of My Inferiority Complex
• (Korean) H.O.T.'s Official Site
• (Korean) SM Entertainment's Official Site

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