Social media generation rediscovers 50-year-old K-pop idol once considered ‘too weird’ – now he plays to thousands of adoring fans
- Rejected three decades ago, Yang Joon-il is now being heralded as a K-pop pioneer well ahead of his time
- Millennial fans who discovered his songs on YouTube and social media often compare him to current idol G-Dragon of BigBang
Thirty years ago his floppy hair, make-up and flamboyant fashion sense outraged audiences, who threw stones at him as he performed on stage and threatened to beat him up at shows.
Today, 50-year-old Korean-American singer Yang Joon-il is enjoying an unlikely comeback, rediscovered by the YouTube and social media generation through online clips and hailed as a forerunner to today’s K-pop stars.
The K-pop industry is now estimated to generate US$5 billion a year and many of its male stars are celebrated at home and abroad for their gender fluidity, while Yang – who was once shunned for exactly that – is often compared to current idol G-Dragon, lead of hugely popular boy band BigBang.
Standing in front of a 2,000-strong crowd at a recent appearance in Seoul, the middle-aged singer felt speechless as they cheered – he had never experienced such mass adoration. “There are no words to describe what that moment was like. I felt like I could not breathe,” Yang says.
He is “extremely surprised” by his new-found popularity, he adds. “I’d like to ask them: ‘Why do you like me?’”