Wendy (singer)

Wendy
Wendy at Dream Concert on May 12, 2018
Native name 손승완[1]
Born Son Seung-wan[2]
(1994-02-21) February 21, 1994
Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, South Korea
Other names Wendy Shon[2]
Occupation Singer
Musical career
Genres K-pop
Instruments
Years active 2014–present
Labels SM Entertainment
Associated acts
Korean name
Hangul 손승완
Hanja 孫勝完
Revised Romanization Son Seung-wan
McCune–Reischauer Son Sŭngwan
Stage name
Hangul 웬디
Revised Romanization Wen-di
McCune–Reischauer Wenti

Son Seung-wan (born February 21, 1994), known professionally as Wendy, is a South Korean singer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet.

Life and career

1994–2014: Early life and career beginnings

Wendy was born on February 21, 1994 in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, South Korea.[1][4] Coming from a family of music lovers, Wendy showed interest in becoming a singer when she was only six years old.[5] Besides her passion for singing, she is also able to play several instruments, including the piano, guitar, flute, and saxophone.[3]

She lived with her family in Jecheon until her fifth year of elementary school, when she moved to Canada with her older sister, Son Seung-hee, to study abroad.[6][7][8] She lived in Brockville, Ontario[9] before moving to the United States to attend Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, where she was an honor student and athlete, and earned various awards for academics and music-related activities. There, she started using her English name 'Wendy Shon'.[2][10] She later studied at Richmond Hill High School in Richmond Hill, Ontario, where she participated in the school's show choir called Vocal Fusion.[11] While living in both countries, she became fluent in English and also learned to speak French and Spanish.[12]

Her parents were initially against her pursuing a career in music and wanted her to focus on her studies, but while she was still in high school, they eventually allowed her to audition to become a singer in South Korea.[5]

In 2010, she submitted an online audition for Koreaboo's Global Auditions in 2011 with Cube Entertainment. Though she was not the final winner, she was one of fifteen finalists personally picked by Korean singer G.NA and Koreaboo from over 5,000 videos to continue to the final round in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and open for G.NA's first solo showcase.[13][14]

Wendy was cast by SM Entertainment after auditioning at the S.M. Global Audition in Canada in 2012 and was introduced as a member of S.M. Entertainment's predebut group SM Rookies on March 14, 2014.[15] As part of SM Rookies, Wendy released the song "Because I Love You" for the soundtrack of the Mnet drama Mimi and appeared in the song's music video.[15][16][17]

On August 1, 2014, Wendy made her official debut as a member of Red Velvet.[18]

2015–present: Solo activities

Wendy collaborated with rapper Yuk Jidam for the song "Return", which is part of the OST of KBS2's Who Are You: School 2015. The song was released on June 8, 2015 and debuted at number 31 on the Gaon Singles Chart.[19][20][21] She released another song "Let You Know" for the soundtrack of the JTBC drama D-Day on October 16.[22]

In January 2016, Wendy became a long-term panelist on We Got Married and participated in King of Mask Singer as a contestant under the alias "Space Beauty Maetel".[23][24] In March 2016, she collaborated with Eric Nam on a duet titled "Spring Love", as part of S.M. Entertainment's SM Station project.[25] The song peaked at number 7 on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart. In July 2016, Wendy and her Red Velvet bandmate Seulgi released an original soundtrack titled "Don't Push Me" for the TV drama series Uncontrollably Fond. In October 2016, she became a fixed panelist for the KBS show Trick & True together with her bandmate Irene.[26] In December 2016, Wendy participated in two other singles for the SM Station project, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", featuring pianist Moon Jung-jae and violinist Nile Lee, and "Sound of Your Heart", a collaboration with several SM Entertainment artists.[27][28] In the same month, she was featured in the English version of Latin pop star Ricky Martin's single "Vente Pa' Ca".[29]

Wendy released the song "I Can Only See You" with Seulgi in January 2017 for the OST of the KBS2 TV series, Hwarang.[30] In February, she sang the Korean version of "My Time" which is part of Disney Channel's Elena of Avalor's official soundtrack and also appeared in its music video.[31] In the same month, she became the host of the KBS World show K-Rush. On October 27, she, along with Kangta and Seulgi, released a remake of the 2001 song "인형 (Doll)" by Shinhwa's Shin Hye-sung and Lee Ji-hoon as part of the second season of the SM Station project. Its music video used footage from their live performance of the song at the SMTOWN LIVE TOUR V in JAPAN and was released on the same day.[32] She released a duet with Baek A-yeon on December 2, called "The Little Match Girl".[33] In February 2018, Wendy was chosen as the interactive holographic avatar of SK Telecom's new AI voice assistant speaker, 'Holobox'.[34]

In July 2018, Wendy collaborated with Yang Da-il for the single "One Summer" which was released on July 2.[35] In October, it was announced that Wendy is set to release an English duet with American singer John Legend entitled "Written in the Stars" as part of the third season of SM Station, Station x 0 which will be Wendy's sixth time to participate in the project.[36][37]

Discography

Title Year Peak chart
positions		 Sales Album
KOR
[38]
Collaborations
"One Dream One Korea"
(with various artists)		 2015 — N/A Charity single
"Spring Love" (봄인가 봐)
(with Eric Nam)		 2016 7 SM Station Season 1
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
(with Moon Jung-jae and Nile Lee)		 — N/A
"Sound of Your Heart"
(with Seulgi, Sunny, Luna, Yesung, Taeil and Doyoung )		 —
"Doll"
(with Kangta and Seulgi)		 2017 — SM Station Season 2
"The Little Match Girl" (성냥팔이 소녀)
(with Baek A-yeon)		 55
"One Summer"
(with Yang Da-il)		 2018 40 N/A Non-album single
"Written In The Stars"
(with John Legend)		 TBA Station X 0
As featured artist
"Vente Pa' Ca" (English Version)
(Ricky Martin featuring Wendy)		 2016 — N/A Non-album single
Soundtrack appearances
"Because I Love You" (슬픔 속에 그댈 지워야만 해) 2014 230 Mimi OST
"Return"
(with Yuk Jidam)		 2015 31 Who Are You: School 2015 OST
"Let You Know" (아나요) 139 D-Day OST
"Don't Push Me" (밀지마)
(with Seulgi)		 2016 25 Uncontrollably Fond OST
"I Can Only See You"
(with Seulgi)		 2017 80 Hwarang OST
"My Time" (Korean Version) Not released Elena of Avalor OST
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2015SMTown: The StageHerselfDocumentary film of SM Town [46]

Television drama

Year Title Network Role Note Ref.
2016 Descendants of the Sun KBS2 Herself Cameo, Episode 16 [47]

Variety shows

Year Title Network Role Notes Ref.
2015–2016 We Got Married MBC Panelist [23]
2016King of Masked SingerContestantas "Space Beauty Maetel" (Episode 43)
2016–2017 Trick & True KBS Fixed panelist Since Episode 1 [26][48]
2017 Raid the Convenience Store tvN Host Trial Programming [49]
2018Battle TripKBSWith Kang Seul-gi (Episodes 100–103)

Music videos

Year Title
2014 "Because I Love You"
2016 "Spring Love"
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
2017 "My Time"
"The Little Match Girl"

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2016 18th Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Collaboration (with Eric Nam) "Spring Love" Nominated [50]

References

  1. 1 2 Seong, Jin-hee (September 26, 2014). "[더★프로필] 레드벨벳 웬디 "밥 잘 먹는 사람이 이상형"". The Star. The Star. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Kang Ji-ae (August 30, 2015). "레드벨벳 웬디 "LA 유학시절, 오바마 대통령상 받은 적 있어" (섹션TV)". TV Daily (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Jo Hye-jin (April 25, 2015). "[Star Focus] f(x) Luna - SISTAR Hyorin - Apink Eunji - Red Velvet Wendy, 'Sexy' Competition?...'No, terminator of singing'". Top Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jung Chan-woo, Kim Tae-gyun (April 9, 2015). "(목) 컬투쇼 - 특선라이브 (레드벨벳, 커피소년)" [Thursday show - Special Live (Red Velvet, Coffee Boy)]. Cultwo Show (in Korean). 31:30 minutes in. SBS. SBS Power FM. Retrieved April 9, 2015. [I am from] Seongbuk-dong
  5. 1 2 Tablo (October 14, 2015). Tablo Dreaming Radio (in Korean). MBC. HLKV-FM. My parents were strongly against me becoming a singer, so I was going to focus on academics. But I really wanted to become a singer, so when I was a senior [in high school], I changed path and went to South Korea to become a trainee…[I started wanting to become a singer] around the age of 6.
  6. ↑ Kim, Bo-ra (September 4, 2016). "'문제적남자' 웬디, SM 뇌섹녀..'올A 성적+4개국어'". Chosun. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  7. ↑ Fate, Kay (February 17, 2010). "'Dolly' set to open at Shattuck". Faribault Daily News. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ Kim Sung-joo (April 10, 2015). Gayo Plaza (in Korean). KBS. KBS Cool FM. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ↑ Lee, Jin-wook (September 5, 2016). "웬디, 유학파다운 자연스러운 영어 대화 "발음 너무 좋아"". Chosun. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Shattuck-St. Mary's School Honor Roll". Faribault Daily News. December 22, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
    • "Shattuck-St. Mary's School Honor Roll". Faribault Daily News. April 12, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
    • "Awards Day at Shattuck St. Mary's". 2008 Summer Arch. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
    • "Awards Day at Shattucks St. Mary's". 2009 Summer Arch. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
    • "Awards Day at Shattucks St. Mary's". 2009 Summer Arch. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  11. ↑ Westwood, Rosemary (February 26, 2015). "Video: GTA stages a 'breeding ground' for K-Pop talent". Metro. Metro International. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  12. ↑ Kim Bo-ra (September 4, 2016). "레드벨벳 웬디, '문제적남자' 출연..뇌섹녀 매력 발산". Osen (in Korean). Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Cube Entertainment reveals finalists for 2011 Global Auditions". 'Koreaboo'. February 23, 2011. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014.
  14. ↑ Gupta, Saakshi (March 21, 2011). "First-year becomes K-pop singing sensation". The Tartan. Carnegie Mellon. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Hong, Grace Danbi. "'Mimi' Reveals Voice of SM Rookie Wendy in OST". Mwave. CJ E&M. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  16. ↑ Kim Dong-Joo. "SM Entertainment to debut a new girl group, 'Red Velvet'". StarN News. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  17. ↑ "드라마 '미미' (Original Soundtrack)". iTunes. August 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  18. ↑ Sohn Ji-young (July 28, 2014). "SM Entertainment debuts new girl group Red Velvet". The Korea Herald. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  19. ↑ Park Ah-reum (June 8, 2015). "레드벨벳 웬디 육지담 부른 '후아유' OST '리턴' 오늘(8일) 공개". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  20. ↑ Lee Eun-ho (June 8, 2015). "레드벨벳 웬디-육지담, '후아유-학교2015' OST 대열 합류". 10asia (in Korean). Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  21. ↑ South Korea's Gaon Singles Chart from June 7–13, 2015 (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (June 2015). Archived on June 19, 2015. Retrieved on June 19, 2015.
  22. ↑ Lee Eun-jin (October 15, 2015). "레드벨벳 웬디, 드라마 '디데이' OST 참여 '16일 낮 12시 음원 공개'". 10asia (in Korean). Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  23. 1 2 Lee Seung-rok. 레드벨벳 웬디, '우결' MC 합류…초아는 하차 My Daily, January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  24. ↑ Jang Young-hoon. '복면가왕' 메텔의 정체는 레드벨벳 웬디였다 Insight, January 24, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Red Velvet's Wendy duets with Eric Nam". Yonhap News. Yonhap News Agency. March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  26. 1 2 Kang Hee-jung. 레드벨벳 아이린·웬디, '트릭 앤 트루' 고정패널 합류 News 1, October 20, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  27. ↑ Hwang Ji-young (December 23, 2016). "레드벨벳 웬디, 재즈도 가능한 '음색깡패'" (in Korean). JTBC. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  28. ↑ "SM스테이션 신곡 '너의 목소리' MV, 희망 담은 애니메이션으로 제작". Xportnews. December 29, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Red Velvet's Wendy to feature on new single by Ricky Martin". Yonhap. December 23, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  30. ↑ "레드벨벳 웬디·슬기 '화랑' OST 합류…'너만 보여' 음원 공개". Nate. January 2, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  31. ↑ Choi, Gu-ri (February 24, 2017). "레드벨벳 웬디, 디즈니채널의 '아발로 왕국의 엘레나'테마곡 불러". Seoul Kyungje. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  32. ↑ Lee, So-dam (October 28, 2017). "[퇴근길 신곡] "16년만의 '인형'"..강타X웬디X슬기, 이것이 'SM감성'". Korea Daily. Osen. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  33. ↑ Kim, Young-rok (November 28, 2017). ""SM·JYP 음색여신"…백아연X레드벨벳 웬디, '성냥팔이소녀' 1일 공개". chosun. Chosun. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  34. ↑ Park, Sae-jin (February 22, 2018). "Red Velvet's Wendy becomes holographic avatar inside AI assistant speaker". ajudaily. Aju Business Daily. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  35. ↑ Jung, Ji-won (July 2, 2018). "'롱런' 양다일, 레드벨벳 웬디와 듀엣…워너원 박우진 MV출연". Osen (in Korean). Osen. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  36. ↑ Herman, Tamar (October 8, 2018). "John Legend and Red Velvet's Wendy Teaming Up For 'Written In The Stars' Duet". Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  37. ↑ Kim, Monica (October 9, 2018). "This K-Pop Star Is Teaming Up With John Legend—Get the First Look". Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  38. ↑ Peak positions on the Gaon Digital Chart:

    Collaborations:
    • "Spring Love". March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
    • "The Little Match Girl". December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
    • "One Summer". July 1, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.

    Soundtrack appearances:
    • "Because I Love You". March 15, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
    • "Return". June 13, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
    • "Let You Know". October 17, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
    • "Don't Push Me". July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
    • "I Can Only See You". January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  39. ↑ Cumulative sales for "Spring Love":
    • "Gaon Download Chart,Year 2016 (see #61)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  40. ↑ Cumulative sales for "The Little Match Girl":
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week#48 (see #34)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week#49 (see #52)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  41. ↑ Cumulative sales for "Because I Love You":
    • "Gaon Download Chart, March 2014 (see #325)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  42. ↑ Cumulative sales for "Return":
    • "Gaon Download Chart, June 2015 (see #58)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  43. ↑ Cumulative Sales for "Let You Know":
    • "Gaon Download Chart, October 2015 (see #334)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  44. ↑ Cumulative sales for "Don't Push Me":
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #30 (see #15)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #31 (see #11)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #32 (see #38)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #33 (see #64)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #34 (see #90)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #35 (see #113)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #36 (see #138)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  45. ↑ Cumulative sales for "I Can Only See You":
    • "Gaon Download Chart, Week #1 (see #60)". Gaon Music Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  46. ↑ Cho Jae-yong (July 9, 2015). "'SM타운' 공연실황 다큐, 8월13일 국내개봉 확정" (in Korean). entertain.naver.com. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  47. ↑ Lee Eun Jin (April 14, 2016). "'태양의 후예' 레드벨벳, 위문공연에 깜짝 등장…송중기-진구 '환호'". Ten Asia (in Korean). Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  48. ↑ Jeong Sang Ho (October 29, 2016). "'트릭 앤 트루' 전현무, 아이린·웬디 사이에서 '함박웃음'…해리포터로 변신한 이유는?". Newspim (in Korean). Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  49. ↑ Louise Bonquin. BEAST's Yoon Doo Joon, Red Velvet's Wendy and Lee Soo Geun to team up for 'Raid the Convenience Store' variety show; Wendy to Collaborate with Ricky Martin ASZ News, December 24, 2016.
  50. ↑ Yun Seong-yeol (October 28, 2016). "'2016MAMA' 후보 발표..엑소·방탄·트와이스까지" ['2016MAMA' Nominations announce...EXO, BTS, Twice]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved January 15, 2018.
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