Isaac Hong
Isaac Hong is a South Korean singer-songwriter. He is best known for singing South Korean drama soundtracks, including "Fallin'" from Queen of Tears. Prior to that, Hong also won the third season of JTBC program Sing Again and appeared in the first season of Superband.
Early life and education
Hong was born on 12 May 1988. Both of his parents are Protestant missionaries, which led to him learning English while attending an international elementary school in Papua New Guinea for three and a half years. This period of Hong's life had an impact on the music he later produced: "Learning music at church from a young age has had a significant influence... This was during my time in Papua New Guinea".Hong attended Isabel Middle School in Busan, and went to Handong International School in Pohang for high school. In 2007, Hong entered Handong Global University to study Journalism and Information studies. He was a member of the university's song writing club, NEO. In 2009, he dropped out of Handong Global University and chose to attend Berklee College of Music, majoring in Music Education. He attended the university for three semesters starting in 2010, before taking a leave of absence due to "large enrolment fees and the burden of malocclusion surgery".
Career
2013–2018: career beginnings
Hong made his broadcast debut in 2013 by winning a bronze medal with his self-composed song "봄아" at the 24th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest.In 2014, following his participation in the 24th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest, Hong featured on the album released in celebration of the contest and joined various concerts promoting the album. The release of this album marked Hong's official debut in the music industry, as his song was published under the label Music&New as part of the commemorative album. Hong also participated in writing, composing, and arranging the album's group song, "One Step Behind". In 2015, Hong released his first 24-minute extended play titled As Time Passes By with the same title track. The release of this EP marks Hong's solo debut as a musician; it is the first musical work published solely under his name.
In 2016, Hong appeared on Mnet show I Can See Your Voice season 2. He featured in the season's 12th episode, which aired on January 7, as a "good" singer. He made an appearance during the Evidence round, and was nicknamed "Primitive Soul from the Jungle". Following his appearance on I Can See Your Voice, Hong joined the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to fulfil his mandated service between 25 January 2016 and 26 October 2017 as an Army Sergeant. On 1 April 2018, Hong started a YouTube channel called 차곡차곡 where he broadcast himself writing and composing songs in real time.
2019–2023: JTBC's Superband, budding popularity
Beginning in April 2019, Hong "garnered popularity after participating in the first season of Superband on JTBC. Hong first appearance on the show is in Episode 2, during the audition round. Hong performed his original song "Spring", while singing and playing acoustic guitar. From episodes 3 until 9, Hong joined and created various bands, winning two out of three rounds. In Episode 10, Hong placed seventh out of nine teams, with his team's highest judge score being 90 and lowest being 78. Hong joined his final team, Moné, making it to the show's finals. Moné finished the show in fourth place.The same year, Hong released the singles "You Liked Me in My Dreams" and "Campfire", as well as the song "Ruin", which was released on the Original Sound Track for the Korean television show Strangers from Hell). Hong made his first appearance on Dreaming Radio, a radio program broadcast on MBC FM4U and hosted by the Korean music producer Park Kyung. Throughout 2019, he maintained a regular presence on the show, appearing 11 times that year. On the 6 December 2019, Hong released an EP titled The Important Little Things. The EP is 15 minutes long and comprises four songs. On the 31 December, Hong did his first interview.
In 2020, Hong released the single "Without You" and featured on the soundtrack of The Uncanny Counter with the song "Close Your Eyes". He made his acting debut as a guest actor in Lee Ji-Hyung's musical play The Home and also appeared on JTBC's show Hidden Singer 6 Episode 12 as a member of the show's celebrity panel. Hong also participated in the making and production of the musical film Da Capo ), which was released on the 22nd of September 2020, as both an actor and a music director. Da Capo was the opening film of the 16th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival. As part of this project, Hong released his first album titled Da Capo on 22 September 2020.
In 2021, Hong released the song "Kiss Me, Kiss Me" as a soundtrack for Lovestruck in the City, "Pain" for Happiness soundtrack.".
On 4 September 2021, Hong appeared on KBS show Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend. He appeared in Episode 521, winning against Song So-hee with Jeon In-kwon's song "Don't You Worry". Hong lost to Im Tae-kyung overall. He also completed narration and interviews for Hong Jin-kyung's show Hong Jin-kyung's glorious life as a devotee throughout 2021, with his first appearance being in Episode 10.
In 2022, Hong released the song "Can't Run Away" as the soundtrack of Through the Darkness ., "Dive in" as part of Military Prosecutor Dobermans OST and "I Think I Know" for My Liberation Notes. Hong also released "Since today", which was followed by a pair of singles grouped under the title "Stay" named "Stay" and "Rain". Following these releases, Hong made his first appearances on Korean music broadcast shows, performing his single "Stay".
On 4 March 2022, it was announced that Hong signed an exclusive contract with the entertainment company Achim Archive. From 9 June to 8 November 2022, Hong hosted the radio show Hong Isaac's Gleaning - How to become a lyricist. The show was broadcast by EBS FM and has a total of 10 episodes. Hong also reappeared on KBS' show Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend and reunited with the Yoo Jae Ha Music Contest as the 33rd Contest's co-host alongside Choi Yu-ree.
On 29 January 2023, Hong appeared on Episodes 388 and 389 of MBC's show, King of Mask Singer, as Possibly Masked King Dumpling. In the first round, Hong competed against I am so touched Japchae where the pair sang "I Have a Girl" by Park Jin-young. Hong won the first round, receiving 79 votes vs Mija's 20. In the second round he performed "In Dream" by Lena Park against 'Sister-In-Law With High Self-Esteem', who performed "Hymn of Dreams" by Sim Soo-bong. Hong received 38 votes, losing to his opponent who received 61 votes. The same year, Hong released the song "Wind" which featured on the OST of the South Korean television series Kokdu: Season of Deity., "Give Me That Night" as part of the OST for South Korean television series My Perfect Stranger, and released a song for the OST of Perfect Shot called "Shoot At Me". Hong returned to I Can See Your Voice as a guest panelist for the tenth episode. He also appeared in Episode 1, performing a cover of "Permission to Dance" by BTS as the opening for Season 10 alongside various other past participants.
Hong was selected as a musician to take part of CJ Cultural Foundation's program Tune-Up as part of the 22nd selection group. This program, which "aims to support rookie and indie musicians producing, recording and promoting their music", allowed Hong to produce the EP everland alongside Jazz pianist Jin Soo-young. On April 26, 2023, the EP was released after "six months of close-knit collaboration" with Jazz pianist Jin Soo-young. The two musicians met through a mutual connection who suggested that they were musically compatible. The EP is a 22-minute listen featuring six songs, which are mostly sung in English. A pre-release of the EP's title track "everland" came out as a Korean version of the EP's title track 'everland' on April the 6th 2023, announcing the collaboration between Hong and Soo-young.
Hong opened his second YouTube channel on 30 October 2023 named mm음, where he normally uploads short documentaries of his life as a musician.
2023–Present: JTBC's ''Sing Again 3'', burst of fame
From 26 October 2023 to 18 January 2024, Hong appeared on JTBC's third season of their show Sing Again as ‘Singer Number 58’ the "Eternal singer with no expiration date". During the audition round, Hong performed Choi Yu-ree's song "Forest", passing with all eight judges pressing the 'Again' button. From Episode 5 to 11, Hong competed in four rounds, winning all of them. During the first part of the final round, Hong received the song, "I Love You". Hong's highest individual judge score was 100, his lowest individual judge score was 94, his total score was 773, which meant he ranked third out of seven contestants. During the second part of the final round, Hong performed "Song of the Wind" by Cho Yong-Pil. His highest individual judge score was 97, his lowest individual judge score was 92, his total judge score was 761, which ranked him sixth out of seven contestants..The show's winner was announced at the end of Episode 13's broadcast, where they also received the grand prize of 300,000,000 KRW. Hong got a score of 212.20 for Online early voting, 839.78 for Part 1 of the final, 282.85 for Part 2 of the final and 1604.36 for the Real-Time voting score. Thus, Hong finished with an accumulated score of 2939.19, placing him in first and making him the show's winner.
In 2024, Hong released the single, "Because There Is Love", featured on the OST for season two of Gyeongseong Creature with his song "Gradation in Light", and released the song "Fallin'" as a soundtrack to Queen of Tears. Said soundtrack "further skyrocketed his fame" as the TV show, and in turn the soundtrack, gained popularity. Hong was invited to perform at the 2024 KCON held in Chiba, Japan over from 10 until 12 May. He also performed at the KCON in Los Angeles, America, on July 26–28th. These performances "on international stages...put his name on the map".
In 2025, Hong released the single 'Lovers'. He made his second appearance on KBS' show Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend. He appeared in Episode 688, in which he competed against Jeon Yu-Jin with Kim Kwang-seok's song "On the Street". Hong won against Jeon Yu-Jin during the first round, and was declared 688 Episode's final winner. On 20 January, Hong began recruitment for his first official fan club, announcing that his fans were referred to as "Toast". On 27 February Hong released the EP 'The Lovers Notes' which features five songs, running for 18 minutes and 12 seconds. On 8 March, Hong released the song 'Dreaming' which appeared on the OST of the musical 'Dream High' which he sung with actor Kim Soo-hyun. On 15 June, Hong released the single 'In You' which appeared on Our Unwritten Seoul's Original Soundtrack Part.4.