Taeyang

Dong Young-bae (born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage names Taeyang and SOL, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and dancer.

In 2003, Dong provided the rap verse in singer Wheesung's single "Player" on the latter's second album.

Although Dong was scheduled to debut alongside Kwon as the hip hop duo GDYB (with Kwon choosing the stage-name G-Dragon, and Dong young bae then initially choosing the name YB taekwon to rhyme with his bandmate G-Dragon), the plan was scrapped by their record label.

Instead, they were joined by four other trainees (T.O.P, Daesung, Seungri, and Hyun-seung) to form the group BigBang.

Their formation was documented on television, but before their official debut, Hyun-seung was dropped and their final lineup consisted of five members.

Dong was initially hesitant about being placed in a band but eventually warmed up to the other members.

Choosing the stage-name Taeyang (meaning sun) because "the sun is the brightest star from the incalculable stars in the universe," Taeyang abandoned the idea of rapping to focus on singing.

Following the release of several single albums, BigBang's first album, Big Bang Vol. 1, was a moderate success, and included Taeyang's first solo song "Ma Girl".

He made his debut in 2006 as a member of the South Korean boy band BigBang.

The group achieved mainstream success with the release of the song "Lies" from their first extended play (EP) Always (2007).

This was followed by "Last Farewell" from Hot Issue (2007) and "Haru Haru" from Stand Up (2008); both were also chart-toppers.

After contributing to singer Lexy's album, Taeyang announced that he was going to release a solo album.

Initially scheduled for a September release, the project was pushed back due to conflicting schedules with his group.

Following the release of several albums and extended plays with his group, Taeyang pursued a solo career in 2008, releasing his first extended play, Hot.

The EP was acclaimed by critics and went to win the award for Best R&B & Soul Album at the 6th Korean Music Awards.

Instead, Taeyang released the EP Hot in May 2008, backed by a production team that included 1TYM's Teddy Park, Yang Hyun Suk, Kush, and his fellow member G-Dragon.

Moving beyond the hip-hop genre of BigBang, Taeyang incorporated mainly R&B songs into his album, stating that it was his "main focus".

He expressed disappointment with the album, however, admitting that he did not write any of the songs.

He later stated that he would do so in the future to fully express and incorporate his thoughts and ideas into his music.

The EP produced two singles: "Only Look at Me", an R&B song written by Teddy and Kush, and "Prayer" which featured Teddy.

Promotional videos were shot for both.

In support of his album, he also staged his first solo concert, the Hot Concert Series.

Taeyang later received two awards from the 7th Korean Music Awards: Best R&B/Soul Song for "Only Look at Me" and Best R&B/Soul Album for Hot.

Throughout the majority of 2009, Taeyang contributed to his group's activities.

After promotional activities ended, he went back to the studio to record new solo materials.

Two digital singles were released: "Where U At" and "Wedding Dress" with promotional videos.

The latter single ranked number three on an online music poll for a Dutch radio station.

Hot was followed by his first full-length studio album Solar (2010), which was released in July 2010 and peaked atop the Gaon Album Chart.

Taeyang's second studio album Rise (2014) peaked at number 112 on the US Billboard 200, becoming the highest ranking album by a Korean soloist in the chart, while its lead single, "Eyes, Nose, Lips", peaked at number one on the Billboard K-pop Hot 100.

"Eyes, Nose, Lips" was one of the most popular songs in South Korea during 2014 and was awarded Song of the Year at the MAMA Awards, Melon Music Awards, and Golden Disc Awards.

His third studio album, White Night, released in 2017, debuted at number one on the Billboard's World Digital Albums and remained atop for two weeks, making Taeyang the second solo K-Pop artist to have an album do so.

Taeyang's vocal skills have been admired by music critics and he is regarded as one of the best vocalists in South Korea.

Born and raised in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Dong Young-bae's first contact with music was playing the piano, where he enjoyed classical music composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert.

When his family began struggling financially, Dong felt the need to find a job to help support them at a young age.

In sixth grade, he auditioned and won the part of "mini Sean" in Jinusean's music video "A-yo", where he was introduced to and became fascinated with hip hop music.

On the occasion, Dong met Yang Hyun-suk CEO of the record label YG Entertainment and begged him for a chance to become a singer.

As he got no answer, he went to his office personally to achieve his intention.

Yang gave him the opportunity to audition, where he was successful, and accepted by the record label as a trainee.

There, he met fellow trainee and future bandmate Kwon Ji-yong.

Dong spent the first few years as a trainee cleaning the studio for the other artists in the company and fetching them water bottles during dance practices, later admitting that current artists at the time weren't friendly towards him or Kwon.