A Guide on NRG!

NRG (acronym for New Radiancy Group), was a 1st Gen K-Pop Group that is considered one of the pioneers of the Hallyu Wave (the spreading of K-Pop outside of Korea). The group, which consisted of members Lee Sungjin, Chun Myunghoon, Noh Yoomin, Moon Sunghoon, and Kim Hwansung, was under the company Music Factory Entertainment and debuted on the program Music Tank with their single "I Can Do It" on October 28th, 1997. They were mostly active from the years 1997-2005 before going on an indefinite hiatus. Although they did reunite for a time in 2018. Their fandom color is pink and their fandom name is Cheonjae Ilwoo, meaning "golden/rare opportunity".

1996: Pre-Debut

In the year of 1996, members Lee Sungjin and Chun Myunghoon were a duet called "Hamo Hamo", having released an album with two moderately successful singles, "Papillion" and "Pang Pang", while Noh Yoomin and Moon Sunghoon, who had been friends since childhood, served as backup members of the group. Meanwhile, Kim Hwansung was part of a co-ed group, a quartet called "Kkkaebi Kkaebi" who had released one single "Message", before then being in a project group with Shoo of S.E.S and Son Hoyoung and Danny from g.o.d.

The Birth of NRG

At some point, Sungjin and Myunghoon were discovered by producer Kim Taehyung, who had previously been part of a popular 80s group called Sobangcha, while Yoomin and Sunghoon were discovered around a TV Studio smoking after they'd ran away from home. Initially, NRG was intended to debut as a four-member lineup, but at some point they ended up recruiting Hwansung into the group, thus NRG was set to debut as 5.

1997: "New Radiancy Group"

Formed in order to rival groups such as H.O.T and Sechskies, NRG started out strong, truly living up to the "New" in their name. Debuting with their single "I Can Do It" on October 28th, 1997, NRG instantly achieved hit status due to their fun-filled song and dynamic choreography. Similar to Sobangcha, the group incorporated "tricking" and acrobatic stunts into their dance, which at the time was considered ground-breaking as no current idol group had ever come out with something like that before. It was due to this that at the time, even H.O.T considered NRG a threat and a rival, before the media made it H.O.T vs Sechskies. NRG's album ended up selling over 200,000 copies in South Korea and they even held an MC spot on a show for ten entire weeks, as well as being nominated for #1. However, they weren't given the chance to score the big win due to the IMF crisis going on in Korea at the time, which also affected music shows. Despite this, they continued maintaining their popularity, performing other songs such as "Smile" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

1998: The "Race" to Success: Transformation into "Hallyu-dols"

As of early 1998, NRG continued to gain popularity, promoting a remix of their song "I Can Do It", and later on, promoting another remix of their "Breakfast at Tiffany's" song, which was a high-dance beat rather than a ballad, which the original had been, and even performed it at the 1998 Dream Concert, one of the biggest K-Pop joint concerts in South Korea. They would truly experience a breakthrough and meteoric rise however with the release of their 2nd album "Race" in August, which included singles such as "Making Love" and "Messenger". With this album, they began to promote in China, and as a result, broke barriers by becoming the first K-Pop group to promote actively outside of Korea before even the mega-popular H.O.T and Sechskies stepped foot. "Race" did even better than their debut album, selling 300,000 copies in South Korea and sold 100,000 copies in China, further showing their extreme success overseas. (Some actually say NRG were more popular than H.O.T in China, so THAT'S something.) They won several awards such as the "Popular Singer Award", "New Artist Award", and "Male Rookie Award". In early November, NRG would release a compilation album, "Season's Greeting", and promoted the song "Our World".

1999: A New "Face": 5 to 3

Unfortunately, for unknown reasons, NRG held a sudden press conference in August of 1999 to announce the departure of members Myunghoon and Sungjin from the group. This was very shocking for many reasons. First off, NRG was doing well and were at the height of their career. Wouldn't it be a wise move to just keep the lineup and not change it all of a sudden? Due to this, lots of speculation surrounded the reasons for Sungjin and Myunghoon's leave. Either way, the two were not active promoting as NRG at this time. Sungjin became a VJ and appeared on variety shows, and Myunghoon remained behind the scenes, working more on composing music and choreographing dances for NRG rather than performing, leaving only three members remaining; Noh Yoomin, Moon Sunghoon, and Kim Hwansung. Just 3 months after Myunghoon and Sungjin left, the new trio came out with their 3rd album, fittingly called "NRG 003". From this album, which showed NRG's experimentation with genres such as rock, were two singles, "Face" and "You! Me!". Unfortunately, the album did not do as well as their two previous ones and they experienced a decline in sales/popularity, at least in Korea, selling only 46,856 copies, most likely due to multiple factors such as the member change and the change of music style. But MOST likely the member change affected things a lot. Regardless, they still remained very popular in China and were very active there. Along with their third album, they also released a Christmas album that year, called "Kiss in Christmas", and promoted the song "Parting" in some shows.

2000: Tragedy Strikes

Around early 2000, NRG, still a group of 3, started promoting their second single "You! Me!" and began wrapping up their third album activities over the next few months and start plans for their fourth album, which could've possibly have been the reuniting of NRG as 5 again, as both Myunghoon and Sungjin showed up at a fansign that NRG had in March or April 2000, which showed signs that they might have planned to rejoin the group in time for the fourth album. Whatever their company and the members had planned, however, would never come to fruition. On June 6th, 2000, after returning from a performance in China, Hwansung began to complain of a sore throat and a cold, and subsequently decided to go to the hospital. Of course, such news of Hwansung being hospitalized would reach fans, and therefore to calm his fans' worries, he recorded and sent a voice message saying that he was okay, as well as casually discussing stuff such as what he likes nowadays. Only a few days later, however, Hwansung's condition would suddenly deterioriate, and he began to have struggles breathing and had a high fever. He fell into a coma and was moved to the ICU. While he was there, his condition only got worser and his lungs kept filling with fluid until eventually, he went braindead. Doctors attempted to give him a surgery for alternative lungs, but it was too late. Deciding that keeping him on life support would only prolong his suffering, his family agreed to get his respirator removed, and so on June 15th, 2000, just 9 days after his admittance to the hospital, Kim Hwansung officially died, with his family and members by his side. His tragic death devastated not only his family and members, but also his fans and other celebrities at the time, such as H.O.T and Shinhwa, and they all attended his funeral. In honor of Hwansung, Myunghoon composed a song called "Antonio", named after Hwansung's English name, and the NRG members reformed and held a tear-filled concert for him in China, which was attended by many fans as well as Hwansung's family.

2001: The "Sorrow" of NRG: Final Goodbye

After many months, NRG returned as a 4-member group about a year later on June 4th, 2001 with a new album called "Sorrow" dedicated to Hwansung, named after their title track "Sorrow" written by Kangta from H.O.T, who had been close friends with Hwansung. They performed "Sorrow" at the Dream Concert 2001. In August, NRG held their first ever concert in Korea, again paying tribute to Hwansung by performing "Goodbye my Friend" and "Antonio", songs written by Myunghoon. For their work, they earned the Asian Viewers' Request Award. After their fourth album promotions, NRG took a hiatus for some time, and wouldn't be back anytime soon until 2003.

2003: "Hit Song": The Rebirth of NRG

2 years after the release of "Sorrow", NRG finally came back with a new and fresh start, returning with their fifth album "Hit Song", the lead single being the same name. The single ended up quite literally being a "hit song", allowing the group to resolidify their place in the industry back, and earning them their first #1 on a music show, which they again dedicated to Hwansung, as it had been his dream for NRG to win #1 on a music show. They also performed at the Dream Concert and also recieved more awards such as a "Singer of the Year Award", "Youth Singer of the Year Award", and a "Top 10 Singer Award".

2004: "New Radiancy 6 Group": Back to Square One

In 2004, NRG released their sixth album, called "New Radiancy 6 Group". They maintained their popularity and the title track did well, placing 4th in the music charts as the World Cup neared and they even performed at the Dream Concert. After promotions however, Sunghoon left the group for personal reasons, causing the group to once again be a three-member group like they had been in 1999-2000.

2005: "One of Five": Going Separate Ways

NRG would return with a fifth album, One of Five. Eventually, the group decided to go on hiatus due to the fact that two members would be starting military service, and Sungjin was caught in a gambling scandal. Naturally, due to all of this, the group went inactive, the members went their separate ways and started being active in different fields, esp Myunghoon and Sungjin, and that was the end of NRG. (actually they had a reunion in 2018 (THEY EVEN APPEARED ON A SHOW WITH SUNGHOON PRESENT) and released a song "20th Night" butttt I'M LAZY OKAY!)

Ending

NRG was truly a great group with a tragic history and unbelievable strength, dedication, and perserverence. They are a bit less talked about when it comes to discussion of 1st gen K-Pop, and they should be acknowledged far more than they usually are. After all, they were pioneers of the Hallyu Wave and contributed to the growth of K-Pop outside of Korea as well as incorporating amazing and intense dance routines into their choreography. Also they could sing LIVE stably while doing so as well. Overall, they were truly talented performers with amazing songs, vocals, visuals, and dances, and they should be remembered and loved for a long time.