Taemin

24th Dream Concert 12 May 2018; Pic credit to Nine Stars

Lee Taemin, the maknae (Korean term for youngest) of the group, born on 18 July 1993. Debuted at 15, many of SHINee’s fans has seen Taemin grow from a small timid boy to a confident young man. Taemin is in charge of dancing and singing. He is one of the best dancers in K-pop. He appeared on Hit The Stage and won.

Taemin has starred in various TV dramas namely, Salamander Guru and The Shadows, Dating Agency: Cyrano and Final Life: Even If You Disappear Tomorrow. For his full filmography, click here.

Taemin was the first in the group to have a solo, albums that he has released so far are Ace, Press It, Sayonara Hitori, Flames of Love and Move. He has won many awards for the different albums that he has put out, list can be found here. Taemin has held 2 concerts so far, Taemin The 1st Stage Nippon Budokan and Off-Sick. He recently announced his first Japan Tour, Sirius, from 21st September to 2nd November he would be touring a total of 15 cities.

As the maknae of the group, Taemin is often seen being pampered by his members (older brother) that one of his nicknames is brat.

He is such a brat that there is a part 2.

 

Taemin anticipating and reacting to a music show win; Gif credit to owner

Taemin is also known to be a meme, due to his facial expressions. One time a gif of him got pretty viral on tumblr and he was named “the kpop dude”, even now when you Google “the kpop dude” pictures of him would appear.

Screenshot of ‘the kpop dude’ Google search; Own picture

Minho

‘Derailed’ Movie Premiere 22 Nov 2016; Pic credit as tagged

Choi Minho, born 9 December 1991. In charge of rapping and visuals in the group. He has also participated in writing songs and lyrics for the group.

With his amazing visuals he was one of Vogue’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2017, after stealing the show when Melania Trump visited South Korea with the First Family.

Minho has starred in multiple TV dramas, Salamander Guru and The Shadows, To The Beautiful You, Medical Top Team and Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth, just to name a few. He won the New Star Award for his role in To The Beautiful You at the SBS Drama Awards in 2012. He also won the Popularity Award for his host work on MBC’s Show! Music Core at the MBC Entertainment Awards in 2014 and 2015.  Minho appeared on Dream Team as a main cast from 2009 to 2012, showing off his athleticism.

His full filmography can be found here.

Minho is known to be competitive in everything he does. As seen in the video below.

As his dad is a famous football coach, Minho is naturally good at sports. This is evident in Dream Team and also Idol Star Athletics Championship (ISAC) that usually occurs twice a year. In 2011, Minho won 3 gold medals during ISAC, in high jump, 50m hurdles and 50m freestyle swimming.

Key

New Start Talk Concert 12 Sep 2015; Pic credit as tagged

Kim Kibum, stage name Key, was born on 23 September 1991.  He is an all rounder in the group, in charge of rapping and dancing. However, talented in singing too, as seen in this clip.

Also known to be the fashionista in the K-pop world, Key even naming his dogs Comme Des and Garcons. Key was appointed fashion director for SHINee in 2015, due to his works when he worked with Bridge Shop House and the brand Charms for SHINee’s stage outfits and other fashion apparel respectively. He modelled for the brand Jill Stuart in 2016.

Key is also talented in acting, he has starred in musicals; Catch Me If You Can, Bonnie and Clyde, The Three Musketeers, Zorro, Chess and others, and TV shows namely, Drinking Solo and The Guardians. Key won Best New Actor for his performance in The Guardians at the Grimae Awards 2017. He has hosted many variety shows most recently, Cheongdam Key-chin.

For his full filmography, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(entertainer)#Filmography

Among the 5 members, Key is seen to be the ‘mom’ of the group and also the most savage. Here is a compilation of his savage moments.

Notes: hyung = older brother, aegyo = cute display of affection.

Key’s English is the best in the group, he often does Instagram lives to interact with fans. There was once a fan commented “I’m crying in the club”, referencing to an internet meme, and Key read the comment and asked “You’re in the club?!” Which became a meme in the K-pop community. Another one of his memorable quotes would be “My Gucci burned.”

 

Jonghyun

SHINee World Concert; Pic credit as tagged

Kim Jonghyun, born on 8 April 1990, he is the second oldest and also the main vocalist of the group. He is well-known for his vocal and songwriting, composing and producing abilities.

This is a compilation of some of his best performances.

Jonghyun has released a few solo albums mostly written and produced by him. Base, Story Op. 1, She is, Story Op. 2 and posthumously Poet | Artist. Jonghyun won a Disk Bonsang (a main prize given to multiple artists) at the 2016 Golden Disc Awards for his album Base. Story Op. 1 and Story Op. 2 are compilation albums of songs he has made and released previously on Blue Night and other platforms. Blue Night was a radio show that Jonghyun hosted from 2014 to 2017, where he won an Excellence Award at the MBC Entertainment Awards 2015. He has also written songs for other K-pop artists, namely Gloomy Clock for IU and Breathe for Lee Hi.  Jonghyun also wrote a book, Skeleton Flower: Things That Have Been Released And Set Free. The book includes backstories of songs that he has put out and also pictures that he has taken.  

Jonghyun has held 4 solo concerts, The Story by Jonghyun, JONGHYUN – X – INSPIRATION, The Agit (The Letter) and INSPIRED. 

He is the first artist under SM Entertainment to significantly participate in writing, composing and organising an album, where previously SM Entertainment was known to limit their artists from controlling the production of albums.  As of April 8 2018, he has 78 songs copyrighted under his name, top 9 among K-pop male artists. Full list of songs that he has written can be found here and his discography can be found here.

He is also an entertaining person, often making people laugh on shows that he appear on.

Unfortunately, on 18 December 2017, Jonghyun took his own life after a long battle with depression. The news was a shock to many around the world. The impact he has made on so many people’s lives is immense. The contributions he has made to the K-pop industry will never be forgotten.

수고했어요, 종현아.

(Jonghyun, you have done well.)

Onew

SHINee World Concert; Pic credit as tagged

The leader of the group. Also Best Leader in 2015, as awarded by 2015 SBS Gayo Daejeon.

Onew is his stage name, his real name is Lee Jinki. Born on 14 December 1989, making him the oldest of the 5.

Lead vocalist of the group, he is known to have a distinct vocal colour.  He went for a vocal cord polyp removal and vocal fold mucosa reconstruction operation in June 2014, after which his vocal coach commented that his condition has improved so has his vocal range and he was able to produce sounds comfortably.

Here is him performing Nessun Dorma.

and him holding a note for 40 seconds like it’s nothing. 

Not only Onew is a singer, he has starred in a couple of musicals, Brothers were Brave and Rock of Ages. Acted in a few television dramas notably Welcome to Royal Villa and Descendants of the Sun. He was awarded the Newcomer Scene Stealer Award (Male) for his role in Descendants of the Sun at the 2016 Scene Stealer Festival. He was also host of various variety shows; Night Star in 2010, Show! Music Core from 2010 to 2011, Law of the Jungle as main cast in the Borneo Edition in 2014 and Eat, Sleep, Eat in 2016.

For his full discography and filmography, click here.

Onew Condition/Onew Sangtae

 A condition where Onew is often seen falling, crashing into random things and doing things that make people go wtf? There is even a little song where his members would sing whenever said condition occurs. “Molhaedo onew sangtae” which translates to whatever he does is Onew Condition.  This happens so often that there compilations on YouTube. Here is one of them.