Nam Woo-hyun (Korean: 남우현; born February 8, 1991), known mononymously as Woohyun, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a vocalist of South Korean boy group Infinite.
Nam began his solo career in 2016 with released EP Write.., which charted at number two on Gaon Album Chart and number nine on the Billboard World Albums chart. Since then, he continued to release more solo music, Second Write.. (2018), A New Journey (2019), and With (2021).
Early life and career beginnings
Nam Woo-hyun was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. He graduated from Dong-ah Institute of Media and Arts, majoring in Applied Music. He has an older brother, Nam Boo-hyun, who is the owner of BBQ restaurant Meok & Sam.
Nam initially aspired to be a soccer player. However, he could not pursue this dream and eventually realized his dream of becoming a singer when he was in high school, and auditioned at Woollim Entertainment along with two other agencies, one of which was YG Entertainment, to pursue a career as a solo singer. He passed the audition and was accepted into Woollim with a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Lately" and began training as an idol trainee. He admitted being a little disappointed but worked hard to practice dancing instead.
Nam began his career as a model for a shopping mall alongside Beast's Junhyung and T-ara's Jiyeon. He also competed in the 6th Hello Star Contest performing Lee Hyori's "U Go Girl". In one of his first broadcast appearances, he played the lead role in KooPD's music video for Guigamalo in 2007. Later in 2009, he appeared on Mnet's Girl Punch and sang Lee Seung-gi's "Words That Are Hard to Say".
Nam officially debuted as a member of Infinite on June 9, 2010.
In September 2011, Nam joined Immortal Songs 2 as a fixed member. His first performance on the show aired on October 1. On November 1, it was announced that he would be leaving the show due to Infinite's upcoming Japanese promotions, and his final episode was aired November 5. He later made two more additional appearances on the show, once by himself in January 2012 and again with group mate Sungkyu in December 2012.
2012–2015: Solo activities and Toheart
In 2012, his career in musical theatre began with a supporting role in the musical Gwanghwamun Sonata. Nam and Sungkyu shared the role of Jiyong, the son of the female lead. The musical ran in Korea from January 3 to March 11, 2012, and in Japan from January 4 to 6, 2013. Nam made his first foray into acting in August with a minor role in the drama The Thousandth Man.
In February 2013, he released a duet song titled "Cactus" (선인장) with South Korean Indie Singer, Lucia. It is a cover of Epitone Project's song of the same, and was included as part of a special project album, Re;code.
On February 20, 2014, SM Entertainment announced the formation of a special unit, Toheart, consisting of Nam and Shinee's Key. Toheart debuted with their first mini album and title track Delicious on March 10 and made their live debut on March 12 through a MelOn Premiere Showcase. In April, Nam was cast in a lead role for the KBS drama Hi! School: Love On alongside Kim Sae-ron and group mate Lee Sung-yeol, playing the character Shin Woo-hyun. Nam released a soundtrack "When Love Comes" for SBS drama Modern Farmer on October 24, 2014. In December, Nam directed the horror short film What Happened in Hong Kong.
Nam currently plays as a striker for the South Korean celebrity football club, FC MEN. Having previously played for FC One, he was recruited to FC Men in early 2015. He made his football debut with FC Men on May 17, 2015, in a charity match against Jeju United FC.
2016–present: Solo debut, military service and departure from Woollim
Nam debuted as a solo artist with his first EP Write.. on May 9, 2016. He made an appearance on Immortal Song, scoring 439 points, the highest score among idols in the show.
In 2017, Nam joined the sitcom titled Unusual Men and Women.
In 2018, Nam joined musical comedy I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change in Osaka, Japan. He was also cast on a photography variety show Photo People 2, which was filmed in Tokyo and was broadcast on June 11. Nam appeared in the musical Barnum: The Greatest Showman, in Seoul, South Korea from August to October 2018.
On September 3, 2018, Nam released his second EP, Second Write... The lead single was titled "If Only You Are Fine". Nam appeared on Happy Together 4 as guest on Ep 563, and again as special MC, showing his MC-ing skills.