During his prime time, Onew has ventured not only in the field of singing as a soundtrack or collaborative singer but also in the field of acting where he acted in musical theaters and television dramas. As a public figure, Onew was involved in a dating rumor with former After School member, Jungah, and a sexual harassment controversy, which led some fans to leave the fandom. Most of the fans still support Onew loyally, to this day, and were sad to see the leader of SHINee enlist in the army as an active-duty soldier in December 2017.
SHINee’s Onew Enlistment in the Military Service
At the beginning of November 2017, it was reported that SHINee’s Onew would enlist in the army on December 10th. Onew’s home agency SM Entertainment confirmed the news and stated that the member of SHINee wants to have a quiet enlistment. Therefore, the location and time of Onew’s enlistment will be not revealed and no official send-off event will be held. Before his military enlistment, at midnight on December 10th, Onew wrote a letter to the SHINee World (SHINee’s fans) that expressed his thoughts, “I will be taking a break for a short while. I am always sorry, and you may be disappointed, but please think of this short break as a preparatory period for me to show you an improved version of myself. More than anything, your health is important. I will pray that everyone will be healthy and happy. I will continue to sing, so please listen to my voice again if you happen to think of me. I will return and greet you again. Thank you so very much. Let’s meet again!” https://www.instagram.com/p/BrK9HdKnvR_/ Onew also shared his new haircut for the military on SHINee’s official Instagram account. The fans praised his hair, saying how youthful he looks despite going through the tough army enlistment. Notably, Shinee members Key, Taemin, and Minho, accompanied their group leader Onew on the way to enlist in the military as an active-duty soldier. The photos of them standing close to each other were shared on SHINee’s Instagram account, as well as the caption of the post adorned with hashtags “Shining Shinee,” “Shinee,” and the words “Stay healthy everyone.” Onew is scheduled to be discharged on July 20th, 2020. We wish best of luck for Onew!
SHINee’s Onew Solo Debut
Two weeks after the revelation of his enlistment date, it was reported by media outlet Xports news that SHINee’s Onew will make his official debut as a solo artist with his first album, before his upcoming military enlistment. It was stated that Onew prepared the album for the fans who have endlessly given their support from his debut as a SHINee member until the present time. As a return, his solo album will be a present to soothe the fans who may feel let down about his enlistment. SM Entertainment confirmed the news on November 23rd, 2018, “Onew’s solo album is scheduled to be released in early December.” On December 3rd, Onew revealed the whole track list of his first mini-album Voice. It turned out that there will be seven tracks on the R&B and old-pop jazz genre album, namely “Blue,” “Your Scent,” “Under The Starlight,” “Sign,” “Illusion,” “Shine On You,” and “Timepiece.” Specifically, Onew wrote the lyrics to two songs of the album, namely “Illusion,” and “Shine On You.” Two days later, the music video of “Blue” was released.
In just a day of its release, Onew’s album Voice topped the iTunes Album Charts in many countries, such as Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, El Salvador, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Finland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Not only on iTunes, but Onew’s album Voice also ranked at the eighth place on Billboard’s World Albums Chart and Gaon’s Weekly Album Chart at the second place, following the fellow mate’s album Jonghyun’s Poet | Artist at the first place.
SHINee’s Onew Instagram Feed
Similar to his fellow mate in SHINee, the late Jonghyun, and Key, Onew occasionally shares the latest news of his activities with the fans on his personal Instagram account @dlstmxkakwldrl. Accordingly, Onew’s Instagram account has been verified and he has posted approximately 28 posts, gained 1,8 million followers, and follows two accounts, Jonghyun and Key’s account. Here are the top 10 of Onew’s Instagram Feeds throughout the years!
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Dec 5, 2018 at 2:25am PST
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Dec 5, 2018 at 12:56am PST
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Jul 19, 2017 at 11:59pm PDT
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Jul 8, 2017 at 7:09am PDT
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Sep 4, 2016 at 5:16am PDT
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Oct 29, 2015 at 7:49am PDT
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Dec 14, 2015 at 8:02am PST
A post shared by 오뉴 (@dlstmxkakwldrl) on Apr 6, 2015 at 6:32pm PDT
