Lee Tae-min (Korean: 이태민; born July 18, 1993), known mononymously as Taemin, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and actor. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy band Shinee in May 2008 and the supergroup SuperM in 2019, both under SM Entertainment, and has subsequently been labeled by media outlets as the "Idol's Idol" due to the large number of idols citing him as an inspiration. As an actor, Taemin's first role was as Junsu in the 2009 MBC comedy Hilarious Housewives.
Taemin debuted as a soloist in 2014 with the release of his first extended play (EP), Ace. It peaked at number one on the South Korean Gaon Album Chart, and its lead single "Danger" reached number five on the Gaon Digital Chart. His first studio album, Press It (2016), also charted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart. Taemin made his solo debut in Japan in July 2016 with the release of his second EP, Sayonara Hitori. His third EP, Flame of Love, was released a year later.
In October 2017, Taemin released his second Korean studio album, Move, and the title track gained attention for its distinctive choreography. In 2018, Taemin released his first Japanese studio album, Taemin, and embarked on his first Japanese tour, named Sirius. His third Korean studio album, Never Gonna Dance Again (2020), led by singles "Criminal" and "Idea", was widely recognized by critics as one of the best K-pop releases of the year. He followed this with the EPs Advice (2021), Guilty (2023) and Eternal (2024).
Lee Tae-min was born on July 18, 1993 in Seoul. He joined SM Entertainment as a trainee with talent in singing and dancing and was chosen to debut as a member of Shinee in 2008 at age 14. The group officially debuted on May 25, 2008, performing on the music program Inkigayo on SBS. Taemin made his acting debut the following year in MBC's comedy Hilarious Housewives as Junsu. In January 2012, he voiced the main character in the Korean version of the animated film Koala Kid. He also joined the singing competition program Immortal Songs 2 as a contestant.
On September 19, 2012, Taemin released his first soundtrack song (OST), "U", for the drama To The Beautiful You. On October 16, it was announced that Taemin, alongside Super Junior's Eunhyuk and Super Junior-M's Henry, Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon, and Exo's Kai and Luhan would participate as a six-member dance team for the Veloster theme song "Maxstep", the collaboration between SM Entertainment and Hyundai. A video teaser of the song premiered at the PYL Younique Show on October 17.
In April 2013, SM Entertainment revealed that Taemin would be taking part in the reality variety show We Got Married with Son Na-eun as his partner, replacing the previous couple Kwanghee and Sunhwa. In the same year, Taemin made a three-episode appearance on the drama Dating Agency: Cyrano as idol singer Yang Ho-yeol with the stage name Ray. In June, he featured in Super Junior-M's Henry solo song "Trap" alongside Super Junior's Kyuhyun. In December, Taemin participated in the soundtrack of the series Prime Minister & I, providing vocals for the track "Footsteps", the first track to be previewed on the series, at the end of its third episode.
2014–2016: Solo debut with Ace, Press It and Sayonara Hitori
In May 2014, Taemin appeared in the musical Goong in Japan. On August 18, 2014, Taemin made his solo debut with the release of his first extended play (EP) Ace. The six-song EP peaked at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, while its lead single "Danger" reached number five on the Gaon Digital Chart. The music video for "Danger" was released on August 16, choreographed by American choreographer Ian Eastwood and SM Entertainment's performance directing team BeatBurger. Taemin traveled to Los Angeles to learn the routine.
On February 3, 2015, Taemin was confirmed for the cast of the first season of Match Made in Heaven Returns. On April 14, Taemin joined JTBC's program Off to School as a cast member. On June 1, he released the song "That Name" in collaboration with bandmate Jonghyun for the soundtrack of KBS2's Who Are You: School 2015. The song debuted at number 36 on the Gaon Digital Chart.
Taemin released his first studio album Press It on February 23, 2016. The album contained ten songs, including the lead single "Press Your Number", which was co-produced by Bruno Mars. Taemin told reporters at a media showcase hosted by bandmate Minho at the SM Town Coex Artium in Gangnam District, Seoul, "After my EP, I did perform with Shinee but I also spent a lot of time preparing my next solo album, […] I took a lot of private lessons for voice and dance, and looked over my past songs. I want to say that I've become a stronger performer." The album debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart.
In June 2016, Taemin's Japanese debut was announced with the EP Sayonara Hitori and a showcase on his 23rd birthday. The EP was released on July 27 and included four new songs, as well as the Japanese version of "Press Your Number". Later in June, Taemin was confirmed to be part of the cast of Mnet's dance program Hit the Stage. He was partnered with Koharu Sugawara, who choreographed his Japanese debut song "Sayonara Hitori", and placed first in the second episode.
2017–2018: Flame of Love, Move and Taemin
In July 2017, Taemin held his first solo concert in Japan at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, attracting 28,000 fans. His second Japanese EP, Flame of Love, was released the same month. Taemin held his first Korean concert, Off-Sick, over three days at the end of August, playing to a total of 12,000 people. Encore Off-Sick concerts were announced on September 7 and took place on October 14 and 15 at Jamsil Gymnasium, attracting 10,000 fans. This was later followed by additional shows in Japan.
In August 2017, Taemin's first Japanese drama, Final Life: Even If You Disappear Tomorrow, was announced. The crime series, directed by Masatoshi Kurakata and Takeshi Maruyama, was an original Japanese work for Amazon Prime Video and released in September. It starred Taemin and Shota Matsuda. Taemin also provided vocals for the soundtrack for the drama, "What's This Feeling". His first reality series, The Taemin: Xtra Cam, was broadcast through V Live, showing preparations for his upcoming album and behind-the-scenes concert footage.
Taemin joined the reality show The Unit as a mentor in October 2017. His second studio album, Move, was released the same month. Its lead single of the same name gained attention for its unique choreography and sparked a trend called "Move Disease" after a performance of the song went viral in South Korea. The album debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and number three on the Billboard World Albums Chart. On December 10, a repackaged edition of Move was released, titled Move-ing. It added four new songs to the tracklist, including the lead single "Day and Night". That same month, Taemin was scheduled to perform at the annual KBS Song Festival but pulled out a week after the death of bandmate Jonghyun.
Taemin took part in the JTBC program Why Not? The Dancer in May 2018. The show saw him travel to Los Angeles alongside Eunhyuk and Highlight member Lee Gi-kwang in their quest to become choreographers. He later joined the music program The Call, where he collaborated with artists such as Bewhy and UV. Beginning on September 21, 2018, Taemin embarked on his first Japanese concert tour, Sirius. It consisted of 32 sold-out shows across 16 cities, attracting 100,000 people. On November 5, Taemin released the self-titled studio album Taemin, his third overall and first in Japanese.
2019: Want, Famous and debut with SuperM
Taemin released his second Korean EP, Want, on February 11, 2019. The choreography for the title track was created by Koharu Sugawara. The EP entered various Billboard charts, including number four on World Albums, Taemin's fifth entry to date, and number five on Heatseekers Albums, a new career high. He followed the release with his second Korean concert T1001101, which played at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium from March 15 to 17.