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Childhood
The 25th of June 1982, marked the phenomenal day a little boy, named Jung Ji Hoon, graced the arms and worlds of two proud parents. He is the same little boy who would later become the big brother of Jung Hana, a quiet child with remarkable hidden talent, a motherless teenager with an extraordinary dream, the lowly student and back dancer of a recognised producer who promised him an album, the artist named “Rain” with several hits to credit for it, and the successfully blooming “World Star” he stands as today.
Rain started with dance. The revelation of his talent and his passion, and a divulgence into what he wanted in life, occurred in primary school, in year 6. Jung Ji Hoon was a quiet child who kept to himself and was not very noticed amongst his fellow peers. Their opinions, along with his life, changed dramatically at the expense of a school talent quest.
His class’ turn was coming up and no-one was volunteering. This quiet boy was exasperated, and finally, stood up and in front of the class, suddenly pronounced that he, will perform. And so he decided to dance. He did not know exactly what dance was, but he remembered what he had seen on TV and what he had speculated on the streets, and with the attention of the disapproving crowd on him, and hearing the negative comments voiced on the choice of the performer, he thought, “I will show them something”. The music flowed out, and he started dancing with all his heart. He ended with the thunder of the school’s booming, enthusiastic applause ringing in his ears. A single thought protruded into his mind, “Yes, it’s dance”.
Ji Hoon’s absence from school and increasing devotion to his interest and passion in dance commenced and continued. He started to hang around with the older boys of the school to support this passion, and enduring the bullying and often unjust treatment towards him due to his age and weak stature, he continued to focus and drive towards solely dancing.
In 1998, his dreams of a singer were finally given a chance to come true, with the debut of a 6 member male group called “Fan Club” at his age of 16. He debuted under his birth name “Jung Ji Hoon” with the song “Searching for a Dream”, a remade version of Chumbawamba’s hit song Tubthumping. However, although the group’s presence generated some public interest, they still remained to create the sensation that they had hoped for, and soon, after the release of their 2nd album in 1999, the group Fan Club eventually disbanded.