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Early Life
Joo was born on January 10, 1981 in Los Angeles, California at City of Angels Hospital to parents of Korean descent. The family later moved to Absecon, New Jersey. Joo said he was raised with a strict Korean upbringing, and was taught to speak Korean and adhere to Korean customs. Brian has one older brother, Jason, and his parents are dealers at Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, NJ.
When he was 16 years old attending Holy Spirit High School, a friend signed him up for an audition with Brothers Entertainment without Joo's knowledge. The company have discovered other Korean Americans who wish to pursue an entertainment career in South Korea in the future. After several months of training, he was sent to SM Entertainment in Korea, and on December 9, 1999, made his debut as a member of Fly to the Sky, at the age of seventeen. Joo later went on to attend Rutgers University, but only completed his freshman year. Attending school in the States while simultaneously being a recording artist in Korea became too demanding, and Joo decided to cease his education in the States and return to Korea. While back in Seoul, Joo enrolled in Dongguk University, where he graduated from the Department of Theatre and Film.
Fly to the Sky
Brian was a member of duo, Fly to the Sky with Hwanhee. He sang and also rapped. As Fly to the Sky made its musical transition from bubblegum pop to heavy R&B, Joo felt discontent and inferior, and felt that Hwanhee was more appreciated for his vocal skills.
In Augus 2009, Fly to the Sky decided to work on separate projects and have become solo singers under different labels.
More info, see Fly To The Sky
Solo Career
Now under the label of PFull Entertainment - during September 2006, Joo announced that the release of his debut solo album, The Brian.The album incorporates such diverse genres such as classic pop, soul, and jazz. With this album, Joo hopes to gain more respect as an artist, rather than being known as "Fly to the Sky without Fany".
Originally, the album was to be fully recorded in English; due to lack of time, however, all tracks are in Korean, excluding the English track "All I Know". Released on December 18th, the album debuted at #7 behind TVXQ and sold 15,376 copies in the first month On January 21, "Gajima" was selected as the "Mutizen Song" on SBS Inkigayo. Due to hectic schedule, Joo has been suffering from vocal fold nodule.
Joo is interested in pursuing an acting career, and said his dream was to be a star in Hollywood. Brian is interested in breaking into the American music industry, as
Rain and
Se7en are doing, but is waiting for the right opportunity.
Most recently, Joo starred (as himself) in the English segment of the mini-series, Homey Korean, presented by Arirang. Joo - along with co-star and real life friend, Chris Pemberton - teach basic Korean language as well as discuss the culture, landmarks, popular tourist sites, and daily life of Korea to English-speaking foreigners.
Controversy
Joo's ties to the United States stirred controversy in 2002, when Fly to the Sky was the host of the radio show "1010 Club." At that time, the death of two teenage Korean girls in the Highway 56 Accident caused a surge in anti-American sentiment in Korea. Because of Joo's American citizenship, guest Hyun Jin Young asked for his opinion regarding this matter. In response, Joo stated that while the American soldier must be brought to justice, he did not want relations between Korea and the United States, his home country, to become strained. His comments were reported as "You can't talk badly about the United States in front of me.. I'm an American. Please only hate the American soldiers (responsible for the incident). His comments resulted in massive hate campaigns and criticisms from the Korean media and netziens.
"Unfortunately, during our program, I might have said something that some people took the wrong way...I wanted to make clear that the people involved with the incident are guilty and should face proper punishment. I also understand that the officers involved said that they were not guilty, which in fact they were. Even if they said that it was an accident, they still caused the accident, and for that should be willing to face what comes to them. That is what I wanted to point out and but, since my KOREAN isn't 100% good, I believe what I said threw a lot of people off I would like to take the time to apologize. Please do not be upset with me for this misunderstanding."
In a variety show, Image Survival, Brian tearfully explained how once these three girls pretended to be his fans and asked for his signature. Yet one girl grabs the notepad and through it away shouting insults at Brian. He was stunned. Later they came back and he thought they were going to apolgise yet they started brutally physically attacking him.
With Fly to the Sky
See
Fly To The Sky's Discography
Solo Album
Volume 1 - The Brian [ December 20, 2006 ]
01. 일년을 겨울에 살아
02. 가지마 (Don't Go)
03. First Date
04. 사랑하지 않으니까요
05. 닮아가기
06. 하지 말라고
07. 신사
08. 검은눈물
09. 눈물 속으로
10. 바래! 바래! (I Want! I Want!) (feat. 윤동훈 Trepass)
11. All I know
12. 바래! 바래! (I Want! I Want!) (Remix)
Volume 2 - Manifold [ December 10, 2009 ]
01. Dreaming
02. 내 여자 (My Girl) (feat. Supreme Team)
03. One Step
04. Erase
05. Tell Me Baby (feat. Day Day of Dalmatian)
06. Lock Me Up
07. Bullet
08. Move It
09. 친구의 여자를 사랑했네 (A Friend's Girl I Fell With) (feat. Tablo & Mithra Jin)
10. 눈물이 마르면... (Tears Run Dry)
11. Do It (Move It English Ver.)
12. Tears Run Dry (눈물이 마르면... English Ver.)
13. Bullet (English Ver.)
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