FinKL

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Lee Hyori - Leader

Born May 10, 1979, is a South Korean singer and actress. As the oldest member, she would become the leader of the group. Lee was discovered while taking sticker pictures with her friends and was actually the last to join Fin.K.L., just before their debut in January 1998. Fin.K.L. debuted officially on May 22, 1998 with their first single "Blue Rain."

Ock Ju-hyun - Lead singer

Born March 20, 1980, is a K-pop singer. Ock served as the lead singer for Fin.K.L until its unofficial breakup in 2002; she has since taken part in Fin.K.L's digital single "Fine Killing Liberty" in fall of 2005, including filming the music video.

Lee Jin - Singer

Born March 21, 1980, is a South Korean actress. First a member of the Korean pop group Fin.K.L, along with Lee Hyori, Ock Joo Hyun, and Sung Yuri, she is currently acting in dramas and movies.She joined Fin.K.L after her friend Ock Joo Hyun—the first member to be selected for the group. After Fin.K.L unofficially disbanded, she began to host shows and appear on various programs, including the long-running variety show X-Man. She also become a film actress, with her debut film in 2007.

Sung Yu Ri - Singer

Born March 3, 1981, is the youngest member of Fin.K.L and is also known as the "cute one" in the group, She has always been one of the most popular Korean stars, who is known for her beauty as well as her reputation for being a genuinely friendly person.



Creation

The first member to be discovered for Fin.K.L was its lead singer, Oak Joo Hyun. She was discovered through a radio singing contest, which she won by singing Mariah Carey's "Hero". Oak told her friend Lee Jin about this group and encouraged her to join; Lee was selected after singing Eco's "행복한 나를" (Blessed Me) for her audition. The next member to be selected was Sung Yu Ri, who was discovered while on a school field trip. As for the fourth member, Annie Lee (who formed Tashannie with Yoon Mi Rae) was accepted, but decided to depart after a few months. Lee Hyori, who was found while in a mall taking sticker pictures with friends, was brought into the group.

1st album: Blue Rain (1998)

Fin. K.L debuted in 1998 with its first album Blue Rain. The trend of late 90's K-pop was to have groups sing cute, catchy music, as evidenced by the success of SM Entertainment groups S.E.S. and H.O.T.. In contrast, Fin.K.L's initial strength was in R&B ballads led by Oak Joo Hyun's vocals; this was shown by their first single, the title song from the album. Fin.K.L's next hit "내 남자친구에게" ("To My Boyfriend") was a more typical pop song and followed popular conventions at the time. (Yuki Hsu, a Taiwanese singer, sang a remake version of "To My Boyfriend" not long after the song's success in Korea.) .

4th and Last album: Forever (2002)

Their last album was released in the spring of 2002. The first single, "영원" ("Forever"), was a depressing ballad about waiting forever for a lost love. This was accompanied by a video depicting four tragic stories mainly about the loss of innocence: Sung Yuri became a prostitute, Oak Joo Hyun was a sick housewife, Lee Jin became a moody artist who eventually killed herself, and Lee Hyori was a boxer who lost a finger. This song became very popular, although it was not as heavily promoted as their other lead singles. Their second single, "Don't Go Away", was chosen by the fans via the group's website, because they felt that Fin.K.L did not have an upbeat single for a while. However, this single was performed for only a short time and was abruptly dropped. By the end of 2002, the album sold 261,518 copies.

The end

Fin.K.L decided to go their separate ways, although not officially breaking up. Lee Hyori and Oak Joo Hyun have since released solo albums, while Lee Jin and Sung Yuri have acted in dramas and hosted various shows. At the end of 2005, the group made a comeback and released a digital single titled Fine Killing Liberty that had 4 songs (including the title track) and a music video. However, due to lack of promotion (as the group did not perform on the various music shows), the single failed to chart. Instead of ignoring the single, though, they have since released a special Fin.K.L Forever set that had two DVDs (one with their music videos and the other with various performances) and a photobook that also had the Fine Killing Liberty single in CD form.

They have continued to work in the entertainment industry and stay in the public eye. In the fall of 2006, all the members of Fin.K.L have left DSPent and have signed on with different companies. Although there is continued speculation on the status of the group, Fin.K.L has not officially broken up as a group.

FinKL reunited and performed together on December 19, 2008 during a concert by Lee Hyori.



Singles

Fine Killing Liberty (2005, digital single)

Albums

1 - Blue Rain (1998)
2 - White (1999)
2.5 - Special (1999)
3 - Now (2000)
3.5 - Memories & Melodies (2001)
4 - Forever (2002)