KOO Jun-Yup, AKA DJ Koo, is a South Korean musician who soared to prominence in the 1990s.
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Koo’s rise to fame
On September 11, 1969, Koo was born in Seoul, South Korea.
He grew raised with Koo Eun-Yeong, his older sister.
Koo was signed by SM Entertainment after placing fourth in a dancing competition while still in school.
Before beginning his required military service, he started dancing as Lee Soo-man’s backup artist.
In 1993, Koo and singer Lee Tak established a band called Tak and Jun, but they broke up soon after.
He and Kang Won-rae founded the dance music duo CLON in 1996.
Are You Ready?, their debut album, launched Koo’s remarkable career and sold 1.12 million copies in South Korea.
He won the title of Taiwan’s Sexiest Man in 1998 and again the following year.
Throughout the 1990s, Clon put out a number of albums, the fourth of which, New World, sold more than a million copies.
However, a terrible motorcycle accident in 2000 left Koo’s bandmate Kang paralyzed.
Koo took a break from singing to tend to his friend until Kang was able to sit in a wheelchair alone, despite being urged to go solo.
Becoming DJ Koo
Eventually, Koo started a solo career and rose to prominence as one of South Korea’s top stars.
He nevertheless kept up his collaborations with Kang, even collaborating with him on the full-length Victory album in 2005.
At the 2005 Mnet Asian Music Awards, the wheelchair dance that the musician choreographed for Kang was nominated for Best Dance Performance.
When Koo performed at a Gangnam club in 2006, he announced that he would eventually be known as DJ Koo.
Since then, he has participated in an effort to make EDM more widely known in South Korea.