C.N.BLUE is a three-piece rock band that has been in the business for over ten years and continues to regularly release new albums for their fans! This makes them one of the few idol bands that plays their own instruments and shows that rock is also very popular among K-pop fans.
The band's career began in 2009 with four members:
Lead singer Jung Yonghwa, drummer Kang Minhyuk, guitarist Lee Jonghyun and bassist Kwon Kwangjin. They initially performed on the street before making their official Japanese debut with the English album "Now or Never" on August 19th. Now or Never failed to chart and just a month after its release, bassist Kwon Kwangjin left the band for personal reasons. But the other three didn't let that discourage them. A short time later, Lee Jungshin joined as the new bassist and the second album “Voice” was released in November. This contains both English and Japanese songs and reached number 227 on the Oricon Album Charts.
The Korean series “You’re Beautiful” also aired from October to November, in which Yonghwa played the second male lead! The series was so popular that the actors who played the fictional band A.N.JELL, including Yonghwa, even gave several live concerts afterwards!
Yonghwa even won the “New Star Award” at the SBS Drama Awards and “Most Popular Actor” at the Korea Drama Awards. He had already made a name for himself just a few weeks after his debut in Japan and was no longer unknown to many Korean fans , when C.N.BLUE released their first Korean album shortly after.
On January 14, 2010, C.N.BLUE debuted in Korea with the album “Bluetory”.
This time the band was immediately rewarded with success: Bluetory topped the Gaon Album Charts for two weeks and the title song “I'm a Loner” not only reached number 2 in the Gaon Digital Charts, but also brought C.N.BLUE two wins in music shows ! They achieved their first victory just 15 days after their debut, setting a record for the band at the time.
These achievements were followed by the first reality show “CNBLUETORY” in March. In the same month, C.N.BLUE released their third Japanese album “Thank U”, which did not have the same success as the Korean albums, but still reached number 90 on the Oricon charts, far surpassing the first two Japanese albums!
The second Korean album “Bluelove” was able to keep up with Bluetory. It reached number 3 in the album charts and the title track “Love Light” reached number 2 in the singles charts, as did “I’m a Loner”.
As you can imagine, a lot happened in the next 11 years. Too much to fit into one blog article. So that you still have an overview at the end, we'll go into the band's most interesting and important milestones below.
C.N.BLUE
The name “C.N.BLUE” is the abbreviation for “Code Name BLUE”. In “BLUE,” each letter represents a quality that the members embody: Burning, Lovely, Untouchable and Emotional. As you know, the band was originally a four-piece.
In fact, the members snuck into the K-Pop scene and our hearts like spies before making their presence felt with Bluetory!
Discography
End of March 2011 C.N.BLUE released the studio album “First Step” with the title song “Intuition” and not only topped the Gaon Album and Gaon Single Charts, but also achieved a total of seven wins in music shows! The band has thus set a personal record that they have not yet broken.
Almost a year later, the four boys set a new record: With the Japanese single “Where You Are” they took third place in February 2012 reached number 1 in the Oricon Singles Charts for the first time! This was more than just a personal milestone, as C.N.BLUE became the first non-Japanese band to top the charts since January 1971 and only the fourth male Korean artist after TVXQ, JYJ and Jang Geunseuk.
On August 29th a Japanese album called “Code Name Blue” was released, which also topped the Oricon album charts! However, it would then take over three years before C.N.BLUE could repeat this success.
2013 began with the album “Re:Blue”, which was released on January 14th, the third anniversary of the Volume, was published. Jung Yonghwa has been composing songs since 2010 that have been featured on various albums.
The new track “ I'm Sorry ” is his first title song in Korea! The single reached the top of the real-time charts as well as the daily and weekly charts. A real all-kill!
On April 24th, the Japanese single “Blind Love” was released, selling more on its first day than any previous Japanese release in its first 24 hours: 35,773 copies.
At the end of February 2014, C.N.BLUE released the Korean album “Can't Stop” and topped the Gaon Album Charts . The title song of the same name reached number 3 in the digital charts. That's a good achievement, but it wasn't until later in the year that it became clear how well the song was really received! At the end of 2014, “Can’t Stop” was one of the 50 most tweeted songs of 2014. There were only two other Korean songs on the list: Girls Generation’s “Mr. Mr” (#18), Infinite’s “Last Romeo” (#48). “Can’t Stop” occupies the highest position of the three at number 17. They mingled with world stars like Ariana Grande, Beyonce and Coldplay!
On September 30, 2015, the time had come: With the new Japanese album "Colors", C.N.BLUE finally topped the Oricon album charts again three years after "Code Name Blue". The band always achieves high positions in the Oricon charts, but they don't reach the top very often, so every time is something special!
Military service
In October 2017, the Japanese album “Stay Gold” was released. After that, it was quiet for the four boys for a while as they all began their military service in 2018. Yonghwa began his service in March 2018, Minhyuk and Jungshin in July, and Jonghyun in August.
Burning Sun scandal: Jonghyun leaves C.N.BLUE
Before the members of the band ended their service in 2020, Jonghyun was caught up in the “Burning Sun” scandal. This shocked the K-pop scene as it was revealed that a number of famous idols were part of a group chat that illegally uploaded intimate videos with women who had been filmed unknowingly or against their will. At the beginning of 2019, Seungri (Big Bang), Yong Junhyung (Highlight), Choi Jonghoon (F.T. Island), Jung Joonyoung and C.N.BLUE's Jonghyun left the entertainment industry and their respective bands because of this.
Today
From then on, C.N.BLUE was only three. Yonghwa, Minhyuk and Jungshin finished their military service at the end of 2019/beginning of 2020. In October 2020 it was announced that they had extended their contract and would continue as a threesome! So the band will still be with us!
Shortly afterwards, on November 17, 2020, the new album “Re-Code” was released with the title song “Then, Now and Forever”. This was followed by the reality show “Secret Tour: Don't Call My Name”, the single “Zoom” in June 2021 and the current album “Wanted” in October of this year.
Solo
Over the years, the members have of course also built up a solo career. All of them are individually active, not only as singers, but above all as actors. If you would like more detailed information about this, you have come to the right place!
Jung Yong Hwa
C.N.BLUE's lead singer released his first digital solo single "For First Time Lovers" on January 14, 2011 as part of the variety show "We Got Married". In the show, in which idols simulate married life with each other, Yonghwa was seen together with Girls Generation's Seohyun. In 2014, a self-written single, “You, My Star,” was released for his fans.
In January 2015, Yonghwa finally made his official solo debut with the album “One Fine Day”, which even reached number one on the Billboard World Album Charts. This was followed in March by a Japanese version of the album: “Are Suteki na Hi: Japan Special Edition”.
In 2016, two collaboration singles were released with a singer named Sunwoo Jung-a. Two and a half years after “One Fine Day”, Yonghwa presented his second album “Do Disturb”. Just a month later he released his second Japanese album “Summer Calling”. This contains Japanese versions of some songs from “Do Disturb” as well as completely new tracks!
While Yonghwa was in the military, his fans had to be patient. For this they were rewarded with the third Japanese album “Feel The Y’s City” at the end of February 2020, just three months after his release!
As we have mentioned again and again, Yonghwa regularly writes and composes songs for C.N.BLUE and his solo activities. But he has also composed for other artists. For example “Fool” for agency colleague Juniel or “Love Is Only You” for AOA!
He has also contributed to soundtracks for the series in which he starred. He not only sang them, but also composed and even produced them!
He began his second acting role as “Lee Shin” in “Heartstrings” in 2011. For the series he composed the song “Because I Miss You” which, among other things, reached number one in the Japanese ringtone charts. XD In “Heartstrings” he starred again alongside Park Shin Hye.
As mentioned at the beginning, Yonghwa made his acting debut back in 2009 with the massively popular drama “You’re Beautiful”. Shin Hye played the female lead back then. That's why he turned down an offer for "Heirs" even though he was very interested in the character because Shin Hye was already confirmed for the series. He feared that fans would be bored if he was seen with her again.
Instead, he accepted a role in the romantic comedy “Marry Him If You Dare.” In the following years he starred in other dramas such as “The Three Musketeers”, “The Package” or recently “Sell Your Haunted House” and was also seen in the Chinese film “Cook Up a Storm”!
He was also active as a presenter. For example, for the music show “Inkigayo”, the talk show “Night after Night” and the reality show “K-Trot in Town”.
Kang Minhyuk
Minhyuk released his first and only solo singles in 2019; the two Japanese songs “Moontalk” and “On The Cheek”. In previous years he had sung three soundtracks for series in which he himself starred.
He made his acting debut in 2010 in the short film “Acoustic”, together with Lee Jonghyun. This was followed by supporting roles in several dramas. These included, among others, the series “Heartstrings” (2011), in which Yonghwa played the lead role, and the very popular series “Heirs” (2013), in which he played alongside Krystal from f(x) and received a lot of recognition for his role.
Three years later, in 2016, he landed his first leading role in the musical series “Entertainer”. For that, he was even honored with the “Excellence Award” at the SBS Drama Awards!
Of course, once he had proven that he had what it took for big roles, the offers didn't stop there! In 2017 he played the main role in “Hospital Ship” and after his military service he has already shone with his talent in two other series - “How to Be Thirty” and “Oh My Ladylord”. So we can definitely expect many more appearances in K-dramas in the future!
Two months ago, Minhyuk also opened his YouTube channel “만취민혁 Hobby Binger” where he follows his many hobbies and tries out new ones!
Lee Jungshin
Like Minhyuk, Jungshin hasn't released much of his own music. So far, only a soundtrack was released for the K-drama Cinderella with Four Knights in 2016 and a Japanese single called “Blue Orion” in July 2019.
He made his acting debut a little later than his bandmates, in 2012 in the series "Seoyoung, My Daughter". He received a lot of recognition for this first role and was nominated several times as “Best New Actor”.
After that, Jungshin continued to play supporting roles, but he won the “Best New Rising Star” award for his performance in “Temptation” (2014)!
In 2015, he finally landed his first leading role in the fantasy drama “Longing Heart,” in which he plays a math teacher who travels back in time and meets his younger self. In March 2021, he starred in the web drama “Summer Guys” and fans can already look forward to a new series, as in September 2021 it was announced that Jungshin will have a role in the upcoming drama “Shooting Star”!
So. Now that we have introduced you to the C.N.BLUE and the members in detail, all that remains is to provide you with a small overview:
| Surname | Instrument | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Jung Yong Hwa | Keyboard, guitar | 22.06.1989 |
| Kang Minhyuk | Drums | 28.06.1991 |
| Lee Jungshin | Bass | 15.09.1991 |
Former members
| Surname | Instrument | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Kwon Kwangjin | Bass | |
| Lee Jonghyun | guitar | 15.05.1990 |
