U.T.Tmoon is the Featured Group of January 2024
|
U.T.Tmoon (유티티문) stands for Up To The Moon[1] is a first generation boy group consisting of current five members, Kaehyun, Junhyung, Jongmin, Yoonjun, and Haeqi under FISS Entertainment. They debuted on November 19, 1997 with their album, "Up To The Moon: PRISCENT".
Members[]
Current members[]
| Name | Birthday | Nationality | Position(s) | Color | Years Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaehyun (캐현, ケヒョン) | March 7, 1978 | 🇰🇷 | Leader, Lead Vocalist | Canary Yellow | 1997-1999; 2000-2004; 2016-present |
| Junhyung (전형, ジォンヒョン) | January 6, 1979 | 🇰🇷🇺🇲 | Main Rapper, Lead Dancer, Sub-Vocalist[2] | Vivid Orange | 1997-2004; 2016-present |
| Jongmin (종민, ジョンミン) | February 1, 1979 | 🇰🇷 | Main Vocalist, Dancer | Amethyst | 1997-2004; 2016-present |
| Yoonjun (윤전, ユンジョン) | January 12, 1980 | 🇰🇷 | Vocalist, Lead Rapper[3] | Burgundy | 1997-2004; 2016-present |
| Haeqi (해기, ヘーギ) | August 16, 1986 | 🇹🇼🇰🇷 | Vocalist, Maknae | Jade Green | 2000-2004 |
Former member[]
| Name | Birthday | Nationality | Position(s) | Color | Years Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jurae (양주래, タマキ)[4] | April 21, 1983 | 🇯🇵🇭🇰 | Main Dancer, Vocalist, Visual, Maknae | Sky Blue | 1997-1999; 2000 |
History[]
Formation[]
Kaehyun was a soloist under his real name, Jeon Kye-hyun. Junhyung and Jongmin are the backup dancers for the trio, TINKER. Yoonjun and Jurae were just normal students who aspired to be in the entertainment industry. U.T.Tmoon was supposed to be a trio but the two members joined the lineup. They were exceptional and talented enough to train to be successful idols.
1997-1998: Debut with Up To The Moon: PRISCENT, Times Up, Rise of stardom[]
On November 19, 1997, they debuted with their first album, Up To The Moon: PRISCENT along with the title track, "Prism". The song got many controversies because of the corny raps and bad music quality. Despite being controversial, they gained more popularity and people anticipated more to appear in music and variety shows.
On February 28, 1998, the follow-up song, "Time" was performed. This era made more people attracted to them.
On July 7, 1998, they released their second album, Times Up along with the title track, "GO! U.T.Tmoon!". This song referred to the members' images and personality.
On October 3, 1998, the follow-up song, "Crunch (아그작)" was performed. This song has a bubblegum pop and upbeat style. They received a lot of wins in music shows. The album sold over 820,000 copies and reached popularity in Japan. They performed the Japanese version of "Prism".
On December 11, 1998, they released their Christmas album, A Happy Christmas along with the title track, "Our World (우리만의 세상)".
1999: Lineup changes, To Believe…[]
On August 1999, Kaehyun and Jurae announced they will not participating in the next comeback.
Kaehyun got kicked out of the group because of a dating scandal with Junkyung from DLHT. Because of that, they both kicked out their respective groups. At the same time, Jurae will be on hiatus to pursue his studies on his home country. This time, U.T.Tmoon continued to promote as a trio.
On September 25, 1999, they released their third album, To Believe… along with title track, "Face". The comeback didn't go well and got low recognition. It almost led them to downfall because of Kaehyun and Jurae’s departure. They released a Japanese version of this song and gained more popularity in Japan. Two months later, they about to promote their follow-up song, "Resignation (체념)" but it was postponed due to the ingoing lawsuit from Kaehyun. Resignation wasn’t promoted as a follow-up song. Instead, it became a b-side in their album.
2000: Kaehyun's return, Jurae's unexpected departure[]
On May 2000, in their fan meeting, Kaehyun and Jurae rejoined the group after Kaehyun won the lawsuit against FISS Entertainment and Jurae graduated from high school. They announced they have a comeback as a whole group. However, it's announced that Jurae actually got pulled out for a long time.[5] Her sister, Shin was commanded to withdraw after the second album promotions. Their parents told them to go back to their home country and focus on their studies.
The fans protested at the company building and ended up vandalizing the building. The fans also burning the group's posters and merchandise, and pasting Jurae's photos everywhere in some places, even on the billboards. They're screaming "U.T.TMOON! COME BACK AS FIVE!!!!!". The Japanese fans even find out Jurae's home address and quickly went to him and taking photos without his family's permission.
This incident can cause the group in hiatus. Suddenly, on November 19, 2000, they performed briefly in a music show with their unreleased song, "Consent (허락)". Some weeks later, Haeqi has been recruited in the group. He appeared on FANTASTIC December 2000 issue.
2001-2002: PURE VIVIDITY, TBA[]
After their one year hiatus, the group released their forth album, PURE VIVIDITY along with the title track, "Something" on October 17, 2001.
On January 19, 2002, the follow-up song, "Lux" was performed.
TBA
2003-2004: TBA, TBA, Disbandment[]
On 2004, the company's CEO got arrested due to gambling and fraud and the same time, the company got almost bankrupted. Because of this, U.T.Tmoon unexpectedly disbanded along with the other artists.
2016-2017: Reunion, 20th Anniversary[]
On November 19, 2016, U.T.Tmoon finally reunited after 12 years as four members signed their contracts under in Crown Labels Entertainment.
Discography[]
See more: U.T.Tmoon/Discography
Studio albums[]
- Up To The Moon: PRISCENT (November 19, 1997)
- Times Up (July 7, 1998)
- To Believe.. (September 25, 1999)
- PURE VIVIDITY (October 17, 2001)
Special Albums[]
- A Happy Christmas (December 11, 1998)
Singles[]
- Prism (November 19, 1997)
- Time (February 17, 1998)
- GO! U.T.Tmoon! (July 7, 1998)
- Crunch (아그작) (October 3, 1998)
- Our World (우리만의 세상) (December 11, 1998)
- Face (September 25, 1999)
- Something (October 17, 2001)
- Lux (November 19, 2002)
Concert tours[]
TBA
Filmography[]
TBA
Endorsements[]
- Sport Replay (1998)
- Sanrio (1998)
- NTT Docomo (1999)
Awards and achievements[]
TBA
Trivia[]
- The group was known for bright and cute concepts, also for the eurobeat and bubblegum pop music.
- In the second album, every song in their albums is composed by the members.
- Junhyung and Jongmin, and Yoonjun and Jurae shared a room together while Kaehyun had his own.[6]
- Kaehyun shared his room with Junhyung and Jongmin back then but Kaehyun left his room to them and has his own because of his dogs.
- Kaehyun is the only member who has pets.
- Their representative colors were revealed in their jerseys during the U.T.Tmoon (Rising Stars) era.
- In the Daydream era, they were wearing ribbons on the back of their hair and wrists. The ribbon has designated colors for each member.
- It was Yoonjun who thought of this style and made it as an accessory. Yoonjun is a good fashion designer of the group.
- In Sanrio endorsement, they have representative characters for each member:
- Kaehyun as Pompompurin
- Junhyung as Tuxedo Sam
- Jongmin as Keroppi
- Yoonjun as Hitsuji-san (known as My Sweet Piano today)
- Jurae as My Melody
- Yoonjun and Jurae were very close members. They became close since trainee days.
- Kaehyun claimed the trademark rights of U.T.Tmoon in 2010.
References[]
- ↑ It is originally known as "Unity Through the Mood" before debut. However the acronym doesn't sound good so it changed to "Up To The Moon" with the acronym of U.T.Tmoon.
- ↑ He holds the leader and main dancer position in the third album. After Jurae's departure, he holds the main dancer position.
- ↑ He holds the lead vocalist position, and he is the maknae in the third album.
- ↑ He was also preferred as "Tamaki (タマキ)" in Japan since that's his real name. The name of "Yang Ju-rae" which is the Korean-style Chinese pronunciation of his name.
- ↑ After 23 years, Jurae finally speak up about his departure on a video titled, "我経験を... / MY EXPERIENCE...". He talked about his experiences in the group and he said that he was not supposed to be an idol.
- ↑ During the forth album, Kaehyun and Jongmin, and Junhyung and Yoonjun sharing their rooms while Haeqi have his own due to his young age.