[Sportschosun Lee Woo-joo] SHINee's Taemin mentioned the late Jonghyun.
Taemin gave an interview in the United Kingdom on the 3rd. He became the first Korean male solo singer to perform on the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival stage, and on the 28th of last month, he took the stage at BST Hyde Park, one of the UK's leading music festivals, where he held a 40-minute solo performance.
After Taemin thrilled an audience of 65,000, the interviewer asked, "Looking at your current career, if you could collaborate with any artist at this point, who would you want to work with?" Taemin answered, "Jonghyun. He would have become a truly amazing artist, and I wish I could have shared the stage with him. I respect him so much."
Taemin has often expressed his affection for Jonghyun through various media appearances. In the 2023 YouTube content "Leemujin Service," Taemin sang The Ray's song "Cleaning" and said, "This was a song that our member Jonghyun practiced a lot. He was such a great singer, so I thought, 'Wow, that's cool,' and I listened to him and practiced along with him from the time we were preparing to debut." He added, "I spent a very long time with the members. We lived together in the dorm, and I wanted to sing this song with my own feelings in mind. It is actually a breakup song, but I thought it would be nice to choose it and sing it with my own mindset."
Meanwhile, Jonghyun passed away in December 2017 at the age of 27. Since then, SHINee has continued to mention and remember him, preserving memories of their time with him. It was also reported that the members had even made friendship rings, and that Jonghyun's ring was delivered to his family, adding to the warmth.
wjlee@sportschosun.com
