Park Wan Kyu

Born in 1973, he debuted as Boohwal's vocalist. His first album was a compilation of Boohwal's songs "Aesop's Brush" (이솝의 붓). He was the voice of Boohwal's 5th album "Discovery of Fire" (불의 발견) released in 1997. He made his name known with the title song "Lonely Night" as with his clear voice & strong vocal.


It was told that Kim Tae Won was told of Park Wan Kyu, and heard him singing in an American base camp inside of Seoul, singing Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog." His voice amazed Kim Tae Won who invited him to sing for Boohwal which was looking for a new vocal at the time.


You can find out more about Boohwal's 5th album here (click), featuring among others "Lonely Night", "Discovery of Fire", Magician (마술사), "Sad Wish" (슬픈 바램), and "Trust" (믿음). Personally, every single song in this album is a masterpiece. Park Wan Kyu's voice, was simply, .. in-express-able.


Lonely Night is one of a "must" song in every Boohwal's concert. Despite having had so many vocals over the years, no body could ever sing "Lonely Night" as Park Wan Kyu did.

He only stayed with Boohwal for less than a year, and released his first solo album in 1999 titled "1000 Years of Love" (천년지애). The title song, "Love of 1000 Years" really highlighted his high toned voice.


His second album "Vigorous Hunting (엽기발랄) was released in 2000, with the title song "After Love" (사랑한 후에). The album did not give as good a result as the previous album, despite the good quality. The changes in Korean music industry is among the reasons to it, as well as the economic downturn started in late 1990'.


The following albums he released did not make much difference: 3rd Album (2002) "It's Now or Never", 4th Album (2006) "Exodus", and 1999-2006 "Best Album". For me, it's quite a question mark why he excluded his time in Boohwal in his "Best Album". His relationship with Kim Tae Won, the leader of Boohwal, remained good and in tact though. They enjoy fishing together, and in fact, the song "Lonely Night" was composed and written by Kim Tae Won during one of his fishing journeys.


He also works a lot with the musician Kim Kyung-Ho (김경호); he did some featuring for Kim Kyung-Ho's album, including a duet remake of Boohwal's "Story of You and the Rain" (비와 당신의 이야기) in 2009. Other than that, Park Wan Kyu also sung some drama OST and appeared in Musicals such as "Maria" and "Jesus Christ".


In 2007, Park Wan Kyu released 2 digital singles, "Black Secret" (검은 비밀) and Love Song "Bad Guy" (못된 남자). In the latter album, Kim Tae Won presented a song titled "Because I Love You" (사랑해서 사랑해서" to him - note that it's a different "Because I Love You" from the one presented to "Qualifications of Men" (남자의 자격). 


10 years of time has changed a lot of Park Wan Kyu's voice. He still has his special color, but the tone has changed much. The song eventually did not go far, but that to say that Boohwal was not getting as much attention as it's getting today as well.


With the increase of recognition towards Kim Tae Won and Boohwal from the beginning of 2009, the band's going really well and started various projects this year. One of the projects Boohwal attempted was Boohwal Collaboration + (Plus). The first "plus" was Park Wan Kyu. In this collaboration project, instead of Boohwal's current vocalist, Park Wan Kyu sung the song "Secret" (비밀) with Boohwal. The song rose to the tops of all music charts in Korea the first weeks it was released.

It's the beginning of Park Wan Kyu's return to Korea's entertainment industry. Following "Secret", along with 2 other previous vocals of Boohwal, he also sung "Everybody Love" (누구나 사랑을 하다) as the second part of Boohwal Collaboration Project.


As side effects, he appears a lot in TV shows now, either related to Kim Tae Won and Boohwal or not. One regular show he will be doing for a while now is the sequel of "Harmony" Project by the "Qualifications of Men" (남자의 자격) TV show. As Kim Tae Won's "right hand", he will be assisting Kim Tae Won being the conductor of the choir. You can definitely see his soft side here in the show.


You can find some more about his appearance in the show through this link (click).


I wish people could recognize him more. He's many to share with the world, and really, looks doesn't tell you nothing. And on top of his heart, I appreciate his work and sincerity. Park Wan Kyu, my best wishes for you!


Park Wan Kyu's coming concerts and appearances:

• 21 July 2011 - Fan Meeting @ Rolling Hall, registration through RWND Fan Club
• 27 July 2011 - (TV) Mnet Soundplex -- with Kim Jong-Seo (김종서)
• 31 July 2011 - (TV) KBS Open Concert 
• 3 August 2011 - (Recording) MBC Samcheok -- with Kim Jong-Seo (김종서) 
• 19 August 2011 - Triple Strong Concert (박완규, 박건성, 장혜진) @ KBS Busan Hall
• 20 August 2011 - Summertime Festival