Nicole Jung

Nicole Yongju Jung (born October 7, 1991), better known mononymously as Nicole, is a Korean-American singer. She is a former member of South Korean girl group Kara.

In 2014, Jung left DSP Media and moved to B2M Entertainment to pursue her solo career.^[1] Her solo debut mini album, First Romance, was released on November 19, 2014.^[2]

Biography

Nicole was born on October 7, 1991^[3] in Los Angeles, California^[4] to Korean parents. She attended Mark Keppel Elementary School and Toll Middle School in Glendale, California; however, she lived in downtown Los Angeles. Nicole was into the visual and performing arts while in school. She participated in choir, drill team, played the violin for 4 years and took dance classes.^[5] She auditioned for DSP Media by sending a video of her singing an Ivy and Black Eyed Peas song. Her mom was very supportive and told her that it was her decision and whatever decision, she would fully support her. Nicole made the decision to go to South Korea and experienced hardships such as adjusting to the culture and missing her friends terribly.^[6] She accepted DSP's offer, her mom moved with her to South Korea and has opened up a successful Korean BBQ restaurant called "Aura The Grill"^[7] that is often frequented by Nicole and Kara fans alike.

She was on a show called "KAIST" which was renamed to "Nicole The Entertainer's Introduction to Veterinary Science" in Konkuk University since Nicole would not be attending KAIST.^[8] The first episode aired on November 12, 2009. She "graduated" from college in January 2010.^[9]

Career

2007–2013: Kara

Kara debuted on March 29, 2007 with "Break It" on M! Countdown as a 4-member group. Nicole was one of the four along with Park Gyuri, Han Seungyeon, and Kim Sunghee. Kara was often compared to Fin.K.L because of their concept and the fact that they are from the same company (DSP Entertainment). In March 2008, Sunghee left the group due to parental pressure. Sunghee had failed her college exams. On July 24, 2008, Kara came back with two new members, Goo Hara and Kang Jiyoung. Their new concept was "cute" and "playful".

On December 4, 2008, Kara released their 2nd mini-album "Pretty Girl" and had their comeback starting on M! Countdown with "Pretty Girl". In February 2009, Kara followed up with their album "Honey". "Honey" became the group's first #1 single when it topped the M! Countdown and The Music Trend.^[10]

In late July 2009, Kara revealed their second album named "Revolution".^[11] Due to the popularity of the songs, Wanna and Mister, Kara's overall popularity increased. Kara currently started promotions with their third mini-album "Lupin".^[12] Lupin was a success, it won KBS Music Bank K-Chart on March 12, March 19, and March 26, 2010.

In August 2010, Kara officially debuted in Japan with "Mister". After this, Kara released their fourth mini-album Jumping in November 2010.

On January 19, 2011, Kang Jiyoung, Han Seung-yeon, and Nicole Jung, announced that they were terminating their contract with DSP. On April 28, 2011, the dispute between DSP Entertainment and Kara's 3 members was officially announced as resolved.

Nicole injured her ankle during Kara’s first stand-alone concert in Korea, which was held on February 18, 2012. Nicole was performing a solo performance cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It", when she hurt her ankle while leaving through a lift.^[13][14] After she got hurt, she did limp a little during performances but she still finished the concert. Afterwards in the dressing room, she received acupuncture for her injury. Despite her injury, she still performed on the very next day. Afterwards, Nicole’s injury was publicly revealed as she was photographed at airports in a wheelchair.^[15] Despite her injury, Nicole still hosted SBS “Inkigayo” with a cast on her leg. Due to the ankle injury, Nicole was unable to perform in group performance choreography during their Speed Up promotion in Japan from March to April 2012. She was also spotted still wearing a cast on her leg during several dates on KARASIA Japan tour. She began to fully perform near the end of April 2012, during their concert in Osaka.

Kara has released Kara Collection in 2012, both in South Korea and Japan, an album containing each of the girls' solo songs. Nicole's song was "Lost", which featured close friend Jinwoon.

Jung performed with the group for the last time at the 2013 MBC Gayo Daejejeon on December 31, 2013. The group performed a medley of their past hit singles along with "Damaged Lady", from the group's fourth album Full Bloom.^[16]

2014: First Romance

On January 13, 2014, it was announced that member Nicole would be withdrawing from the group due to the expiration of her contract with DSP Media,^[17] and that Nicole would be flying to the States for two months to focus on improving her vocal and dance skills while preparing to make a solo debut.

On October 14, 2014, Nicole officially signed an exclusive contract with B2M Entertainment. The agency also revealed, “Following the end of her contract with DSP Media, Nicole is currently preparing for her solo debut after confirming a new agency and completing the contract signing. Nicole’s new agency was established by CEO Gil Jong Hwa, who had been with KARA from their debut to their peak. Since their connection under DSP Media, they have maintained close relations with one another.”^[18]

Jung's solo debut mini album, First Romance was released on November 19, 2014 and the title song MAMA, which was used to promote the mini album. First Romance only in November has sold 8,754 copies. By the end of 2014, the mini album had sold 10,137 copies.^[19]

2015–present: Japanese debut

On April 22, 2015, It was revealed that Nicole would debut in Japan on June 24.^[20] She performed her debut song before release at the 'KCON 2015 Japan X M! Countdown'. On June 17, She released a short PV of her debut single "Something Special".^[21] On June 24, Nicole released the PV for "Something Special"

In December 2015, Nicole released news that she would be coming back in Japan with her second Japanese single in 2016. It was revealed that the single would be called "Don't Stop" to be released on February 17. On January 16, Nicole released a short PV version of "Don't Stop"^[22]

Other activities

She was featured on former DSP Media artist Sunha's first album Fahrenheit in the song "String" (2008)

In April 2009, she sang a duet with former Noel member Kang Kyun-seong called "Happy And".^[23]

In August 2009, she and singer Jay Park became part of historical culture variety show Nodaji, replacing Choi Min-yong and Kim Tae-hyun. But the show was cancelled due to low ratings in October 2009.

In September 2009, she was featured in numerous live performances of Mighty Mouth's single "Love Class". Mighty Mouth later remarked "thanks to Nicole, it feels great when we're on stage. Our other partners have also worked hard, but Nicole has been the most passionate." They also added, "As she suggest ideas to improve ourselves and work hard on our performances is something we find cute and are thankful for." ^[24]

In July 2010, she sang a duet with Park Myung Soo for his single "Whale" (고래).^[25]

She was a member of "Dazzling Red", one of the idol project groups for the 2012 SBS Korean Music Festival – The Color of K-Pop concert with fellow idols After School's Nana, 4Minute's Hyuna, Secret's Hyoseong, and SISTAR's Hyorin.^[26] Dazzling Red released a single, "This Person", in December 2012.^[27]

Nicole was invited to the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan (as the only Korean artist invited that year) on June 22, 2013 and performed her solo song “Lost” from Kara Collection.^[28]

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Featured singles

Guest appearances

Filmography

Film

Television drama

Variety and reality shows

Events shows hosting

Music video appearances

Awards

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicole Jung.

• Official website (Japanese)
• Nicole at B2M Entertainment (Korean)

DSP Media
Current	Group A-Jax April K.A.R.D Click-B Solo Oh Jong-hyuk Heo Young-ji
Former	Sechskies Fin.K.L Lee Hyori SS501 Puretty Kara Rainbow
Multimedia works	Film Heartbreak Library (2008) TV Drama My Girl (SBS, 2005-2006, in partnership with Callistar) Surgeon Bong Dal-hee (SBS, 2007) Yeon Gaesomun (SBS, 2006-2007)
Partnerships	CJ E&M Music LOEN Entertainment Universal Sigma Warner Music Group