Hwang Min-hyun (황민현), better known by the mononym Minhyun (민현), is a South Korean singer and actor. He debuted in 2012 as a lead vocalist of the South Korean boy group NU'EST.
He also became a member of the project boy group Wanna One, after winning the 9th place on Mnet's survival show, Produce 101: Season 2. He promoted with Wanna One until December 31, 2018.
Early Life
Minhyun was born and raised in Busan, South Korea. He is the youngest in his family, having an older sister, Sujin.
He was going to eat with a friend once when he saw the announcement of the audition for Pledis. He then decided to participate and was recruited shortly after.
After becoming a Pledis trainee, he attended School of Performing Arts Seoul, and graduated in 2014. He is currently attending Inha University.
Career
Pre-debut
Minhyun became a Pledis trainee through scouting at the age of 15. He gained more attention after he appeared in Orange Caramel's music video Shanghai Romance.
Prior to debut, Minhyun made numerous appearances in their labelmates' music releases as a member of Pledis Boys. He was a backup dancer for After School Blue's Wonder Boy and appeared in their label's Christmas release Love Letter, along with releasing their own music video for the song.
NU'EST
On March 15, 2012, Minhyun debuted as a member of NU'EST.
Minhyun and Ren had been gaining attention since their debut because of their heights and appearance. They appeared at the “2012-2013 Seoul Fashion Week” Runway as the models for designer Park Yoon Soo’s fashion show “Big Park.”
In 2015, Minhyun featured in indie artist Fromm's new track, "후유증 (Aftermath)". In 2016, Pledis released Minhyun and JR's music video for "Daybreak", which is part of NU'EST's fifth mini album, Canvas.
Produce 101
In 2017, NU'EST halted all promotions since JR, Baekho, Minhyun and Ren participated in the second season of Produce 101.
First Round of Elimination
He started off being placed in group C due in the first episode. However, he was demoted to rank D after the weak re-evaluation performance. In the first live-audience challenge, his team performed Sorry Sorry by Super Junior, and was able to win the votes over the competing team. He ranked #11 in the first round of elimination.
Second Round of Elimination
In the position-based challenge, he covered I.O.I's "Downpour" and the view of his fancam reached 1 million within three days. He ranked #9 in the second round of elimination.
Third Round of Elimination
During the third challenge, Concept Evaluation, Minhyun was chosen as the center for his team, Nation's Son, to perform the song Never, written by Triple H. Despite not winning the votes during the live performance, Never had ranked #1 in many music charts across Korea and attracted lots of attention due to powerful and attractive performance of the group. He ranked #7 in the third round of elimination.
Final Round of Elimination
In the last challenge, debut song evaluation, he performed the song "Hands On Me" with his team. He finished the competition in 9th place, making it to the final debut team Wanna One with 10 other trainees.
Return to NU'EST
After Wanna One's promotions ended in December 2018 and officially disbanded in January 2019, he returned to Pledis Entertainment.
Trivia
- Minhyun is allergic to salt and would have an allergic reaction to his own sweat and get rashes.
- Minhyun is a fan of TVXQ!, especially Kim Junsu, and dreamed of becoming a singer because of them.
- His ideal girl is someone who can cook well and is interested in fashion.
- He likes to imitate the character Optimus Prime from Transformers.
- He likes cleaning and organizing.
- In his audition, Minhyun sang 2AM’s "You Wouldn’t Answer My Calls".
Social Media
- Instagram: optimushwang