JONGHYUN (b. April 8, 1990 — ✝ December 18, 2017), born Kim Jonghyun (김종현, 金鐘鉉), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and former radio personality. The lead vocalist of boy group SHINee under S.M. Entertainment, he participated in the group project S.M. THE BALLAD.

From 2014 to early 2017, JONGHYUN served as the fifth host for the midnight MBC 4MFU radio Blue Night. In this period, JONGHYUN started to build his reputation as a songwriter and composer.

JONGHYUN’s first solo debut was BASE EP in 2015, followed by a compilation album, The Collection: Story Op. 1. On May 2016, he dropped his first studio album, She Is. On April 2017, JONGHYUN unveiled his second volume of The Collection.

JONGHYUN’s fourth and final solo concert INSPIRED was in Nov. 2017 at the Olympic Handball Stadium, Seoul.

Before his death, JONGHYUN was busily planning for his second album in early 2018 and was slated as the inaugurate for S.M. STATION SEASON 2.

On an early morning in December 18, 2017, JONGHYUN was found unconscious after attempting suicide at a studio apartment in Seoul, South Korea. He later passed away while being transported to a nearby hospital. He was 27.

A close protégé of JONGHYUN, Dear Cloud’s Nine9, soon publicized JONGHYUN’s suicide note on his Instagram account the day after his passing. A string of concerns over his long-battled depression, JONGHYUN wrote:

I’m broken from inside. The blues that slowly ate at me has finally swallowed me whole. I couldn’t overcome. […]"

Farewells from SMTOWN and fans worldwide.
May you rest in peace, JONGHYUN.

On Dec. 29, 2017, SMTOWN responded with a live concert music video of “Dear My Family,” played in the SMTOWN LIVE TOUR V IN JAPAN in memoriam to JONGHYUN’s passing.

The second and posthumous album of JONGHYUN, Poet | Artist, dropped on Jan. 23, 2018, compiling several of his last original lyrical works.

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