Kang Dae-sung (Korean: 강대성; born April 26, 1989), better known mononymously as Daesung and his Japanese stage name D-Lite, is a South Korean singer who made his musical debut in 2006 as a member of the South Korean boy band Big Bang. He debuted as a solo artist in South Korea with the number one trot song "Look at Me, Gwisoon" in 2008. Since the inception of the Gaon Digital Chart in 2010, Daesung achieved two Top 10 songs, the digital single "Cotton Candy" and "Wings" from the BigBang album Alive (2012).
In 2013, he released his first solo album in Japan, D'scover and embarked on his first Japanese tour. The following year, he released two more albums, D'slove and his first chart-topper, Delight. D'slove Tour made him the first Korean soloist to gather over 100,000 fans for two Japanese tours in a row. In 2017, he held his first solo Japanese dome tour, performing for over 150,000 people from four shows and released his second number one album, D-Day, that made him the second foreign male solo artist to have two consecutive number one albums in Japan after Michael Jackson.
In South Korean television, he was a part of the main cast of the top-rated comedy show Family Outing from 2008 to 2010, the musical drama series What's Up (2011) and was one of the hosts of the talk show Night After Night (2010).
1989–2007: Early life and debut with Big Bang
Kang Dae-sung was born in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood and from a young age, he acquired an interest in becoming a singer. To overcome the objection of his parents who were strongly against the idea, he left home for a week to get his permission. Kang continued to pursue his goal and was recruited by YG Entertainment as a trainee after succeeding in an audition. Later, he started using his first name, Daesung, as his stage name and was paired with five more trainees (G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Seungri and Hyunseung) to integrate the formation of the boy group Big Bang. The formation of the group was documented on television, but prior to their official debut, Hyunseung was dropped and BigBang debuted in 2006 with five members. BigBang made their first appearance as a group on August 19, 2006, at YG Family's 10th Anniversary concert.
BigBang's debut was fairly successful, with their first studio album, Big Bang Vol.1 – Since 2007, getting sales of over 100,000 copies. The album also contains Daesung's first solo song "Try Smiling" (웃어본다; Useo Bonda) and was preceded by three single albums: "Big Bang", "Big Bang Is V.I.P" and "Big Bang 03", released the same year. The group's breakthrough came with the release of their first extended play, Always (2007), which included the number one single "Lies" (거짓말; Geojitmal). The song went on to top major Korean music charts for a record-breaking seven consecutive weeks and won the group the Song of the Year award at the 9th Mnet Korean Music Festival. Their following EPs followed its predecessor's footsteps: Hot Issue yielded "Last Farewell" (마지막 인사; Majimak Insa) while Stand Up spawned "Day by Day" (하루하루; Haru Haru); both singles were chart-toppers.
Shortly after the debut of BigBang, Daesung was diagnosed with voice chord nodules and developed sociophobia and stage fright. However, he was able to recover with the help of fellow singer and label-mate Gummy, who had been previously diagnosed with the illness.
2008–2009: Solo career development, Family Outing and Cats
Daesung released his first trot single "Look at Me, Gwisoon" (날봐, 귀순; Nal Bwa Gwisun) in 2008. He stated that although he was worried about dampening the group's image, he wanted to try something different. The same year, he joined the SBS reality variety show Family Outing as a permanent cast member. He also made his musical debut in Korean production of Cats, playing the role of Rum Tum Tugger. Daesung then became a host for MBC's music program Show! Music Core, alongside fellow member Seungri.
Daesung released his second trot single titled "Big Hit" (대박이야; Daebakiya) in 2009. He was also scheduled to join bandmate Seungri in the autobiographical musical Shouting. In August 2009, however, Daesung was injured in a car accident shortly before the musical opened. He was returning to Seoul from a filming location for Family Outing when the accident occurred on the Pyeongtaek Express highway, Gyeonggi Province. The van hit the guardrail as it skidded in the pouring rain, according to YG Entertainment. Daesung, who was in the passenger seat, broke his nose, injured his back and sustained minor bruises on his face and arms. Daesung fully recovered and made his return to BigBang in October 2009, joining the group to perform at the Dream Concert.
2010–2012: What's Up, Night After Night and solo songs
Daesung released a new single, "Cotton Candy" (솜사탕), at the end of January 2010. It was composed by Jung Ji-chen, with Daesung penning the lyrics.
In 2010, Daesung began his shoot for MBC's pre-produced musical drama What's Up, written by Song Ji-na. It started airing on MBN channel on December 3, 2011. "Lunatic", a track sung by Daesung for the drama's OST, was also released online on the same day. Since November 2010, Daesung also became a host for the variety-talk show Night After Night. That same year, Daesung recorded a duet with Family Outing co-star Lee Hyori titled "How Did We Get", featured on the latter's album.
In 2011, Daesung released a solo song, "Baby Don't Cry", which was included in BigBang's 4th extended play (EP). The song was first performed in Big Show 2011 concert in February. On May 31, 2011, Daesung was involved in a car accident in which a motorcyclist died. An investigation cleared the singer of charges, but he had to suspend his public activities with Big Bang for a period of time.
Daesung had his first public appearance after the incident on November 6, 2011 when he attended the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast, Northern Ireland. From December 2011 to January 2012, he also performed for YG Family concerts which took place in South Korea and Japan. Daesung made a comeback with the rest of the BigBang members in March 2012 with their new mini-album Alive, which includes a solo track sung by Daesung titled "Wings", an "uplifting rock ballad" that received positive reviews.
2013–2016: Solo debut in Japan, D'slove, Delight and encore concerts
Daesung released his first solo Japanese album, D'scover on February 27, 2013. It has a total of 12 tracks with mostly remakes of Japanese originals and also includes Daesung's solo tracks, "Wings" and "Baby Don't Cry". D'scover ranked No. 2 on the Oricon Albums Chart and also ranked No. 2 on Oricon Weekly Album Chart. It was then announced that Daesung would hold a total of four solo concerts at Kobe and Tokyo to promote the album. However, due to popular demand, an additional 21 concerts over 17 cities were added, bringing the total to 25 concerts over 18 cities. The D'scover Tour kicked off on March 23 at Kobe's World Memorial Hall and ended on June 18 at Kanagawa's Yokohama Arena, with an attendance of 100,000 fans.
In February 2014, YGEX announced that Daesung would hold a second tour in Japan. The D'slove 2014 in Japan tour kick-started on June 11, 2014 at the Yokohama Arena. On the same day, he released a mini digital album Rainy Rainy containing 4 songs to celebrate the start of his tour. The album topped Japan's iTunes charts.