Lee Jae-hwan , better known by his stage name Ken, is a South Korean singer and actor, signed under Jellyfish Entertainment. He is one of the members in the South Korean boy groupVIXX, and has been widely praised for his unique, soulful, and husky vocal tone. Ken began his acting career in 2014 in MBC Every 1's comedy dramaBoarding House No. 24 as Lee Jae-hwan.
Early life
Born April 6, 1992 in Jayang-dong, Seoul, South Korea. Ken's family consists of his parents, himself and two older brothers. He studied at Baekseok Arts University majoring in Practical Music. At a young age, he entered and won many singing competitions at local festivals. He later performed and won more singing competitions in middle school as part of a team with his friends prior to debuting with VIXX.
Career
2012–2013: Debut with VIXX and OSTs
Despite lacking experience in dance, Ken was able to pass his audition to Jellyfish Entertainment because of his singing where he trained for five months before debuting with VIXX. During this time Ken was one of ten trainees who were contestants in Mnet's survival reality showMyDOL and was chosen to be a part of the final line-up and the 6-member boy group VIXX finally debuted with "Super Hero" on May 24, 2012 on M! Countdown. In 2013, Ken contributed to The Heirs OST with "In the Name of Love". He was also featured with J'Kyun on the song "Ponytail". In 2013, Ken made a cameo appearance in episode four of SBS' television dramaThe Heirs alongside his group members.
2014–2015: Acting debut, ''Gap'' and musical theatre debut
In 2014, Ken contributed to another soundtrack for the You Are My Destiny OST with the song "My Girl". In 2014, the singer landed his first acting role as a main cast member in the television comedy drama MBC Every 1's Boarding House No. 24 as Lee Jae-hwan. On June 24, 2015, Ken and Hani released a duet called "Gap". In 2015, Ken was cast in the musical Chess in the lead role of Anatoly Sergievsky, a world champion chess player from June 19, 2015 to July 19, 2015 at the Sejong Grand Theater in Seoul. For the role, he had to sing at a lower register, a sharp contrast from the high notes that predominantly appear in VIXX's music. His powerful vocals were showcased in the music video for one of the songs, "Anthem". He also appeared in Chinese singer Lu Yu's music video "The Fourth Dimension Love" as a former boyfriend. A big fan of VIXX, the singer had personally offered the role to Ken who accepted. In 2015 Ken landed his second musical role in the first Korean production of the musical Cinderella in the lead role of Prince Christopher from September 12, 2015 to January 3, 2016 at the Chungmu Art Hall, Grand Theater in Seoul and Seongnam Arts CenterOpera House.
2016–present: Solo activities
In February 2016, Ken contributed to the Moorim School OST with the song "When I See You". On May 24, it was announced that Ken would be collaborating with Mystic Entertainment's Yoon Jong-shin on his monthly collaboration project, Melody Monthly. The project which has included artists like Seventeen's vocal unit and Epik High's Tablo, the single "Over Sleep" was released on May 30, 2016. On December 22, 2016, Ken contributed to The Legend of the Blue Sea soundtrack with the song "Fool". From April to May 2016, he was invited to Duet Song Festival to showcase his vocal abilities with his partner Choi Sang-yeob. They were wanted by the audience so many times for almost winning episodes which allowed him to appear in more than one episode. They finally won on episode six with That's Only My World. Finally, returned in August 2016 for the "King of Kings" special for episode 16 and 17. In 2017, Ken was cast in three musicals: Tsukasa Domyouji in Boys Over Flowers the Musical, Hamlet in Hamlet, and as Frederick Barrett in the Titanic the Musical. In 2018, Ken played in the musical Iron Mask as Louis and his twin Philip. On December 25, 2018 it was announced that Ken joined the cast of an upcoming musical Jack the Ripper as Daniel. On April 15, 2019, it was confirmed that Ken also joining a new musical "Mefisto" in a lead role scheduled to run from May 25 to July 28. On May 20, 2020, Ken made his solo debut with his first EP "Greeting", with its lead single "Just For A Moment".
