Cho Yong-pil
Cho Yong-pil | |
|---|---|
Cho in April 2013 | |
| Born | March 21, 1950 Hwaseong, South Korea |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1968–present |
| Spouse |
An Jin-hyeon (died 2003) |
| Awards | Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit (2013) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
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| Labels |
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| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 조용필 |
| Hanja | 趙容弼 |
| RR | Jo Yongpil |
| MR | Cho Yongp'il |
| Website | choyongpil |
Cho Yong-pil (Korean: 조용필; born March 21, 1950) is a South Korean singer-songwriter. Dubbed the "King of Pop" of South Korea, he is considered one of the most influential figures in the country popular music genre, K-pop. Over a five-decade career, his songs have ranked number one on local music charts in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s.
Born in Hwaseong, Cho debuted as a member of the rock band Atkins in 1968 and made his solo debut with the hit single "Come Back to Busan Port" in 1976. Cho has released 19 solo albums and has remained consistently popular during his 50-year career. He was recognized with the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit for his enormous impact on the country pop music scene. He was selected as Singer of the Year and his song "Bounce" was selected as Song of the Year in the surveys conducted by Gallup Korea in 2013.