[CELEB] Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo is topping charts without his bandmates

K-pop

Published: 24 Feb. 2022, 14:34 Updated: 24 Feb. 2022, 17:36

[CELEB] Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo is topping charts without his bandmates

Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo [FANTAGIO]

Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo is topping iTunes charts around the world — not with his boy band ASTRO, but with his solo song for a webtoon’s soundtrack.

His song “Focus on me,” which dropped on Tuesday, ranked No. 1 on the iTunes Top Song Charts the day after its release in six nations: Argentina, Chile, Oman, Singapore, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

The song is also ranking high in nations such as the Philippines, Qatar, Peru, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Cha's song "Focus on me" for the soundtrack of Kakao Webtoon's "The Villainess is a Marionette" dropped on Feb. 22. [FANTAGIO]

"Focus on me" is Cha’s remake of a 2021 song of the same title by singer-songwriter Coffeeboy. Cha’s version is part of the soundtrack for Kakao Webtoon's romance fantasy "The Villainess is a Marionette” by Mangle, which was originally a web novel of the same name by author Han Yi-rim uploaded on KakaoPage from 2018 to 2021. The webtoon version has been running on Kakao Webtoon since February 2021.

Because of this, early teaser videos for “Focus on me” did not show Cha and instead featured an animation of the webtoon’s lead characters Kayena Hill and Regef Hill.

Cha previously sang “Don’t Cry, My Love” for the soundtrack of Ridibooks’ romance fantasy web novel “Under The Oak Tree” in November of last year.

Cha debuted in February 2016 as a member of boy band ASTRO, through its first EP “Spring Up." The band consists of six members — MJ, JinJin, Moonbin, Rocky, Sanha and Cha — and is best known for songs “Crazy Sexy Cool” (2017), “Blue Flame” (2019) “Knock” (2020) and “One” (2021).

Boy band Astro [FANTAGIO]

Cha's official debut was as a K-pop idol, but his acting career predates his music career. Prior to his official debut as a member of ASTRO, Cha played a minor role in the film “My Brilliant Life” (2014). Cha’s real name is Lee Dong-min, but after he played a character named Cha Eun-woo in ASTRO’s pre-debut promotional web series “To Be Continued” (2015), he kept the name as his alias.

Cha quickly became known for his good looks, even among those who know little about K-pop idols. In Korea, his name has become a byword for an extremely good-looking man.

Cha in MBC’s historical drama “Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung” (2019) [MBC]

Cha has also been active as a K-drama heartthrob. He started with web series such as Naver TV’s “My Romantic Some Recipe” (2016), Oksusu’s “Sweet Revenge” (2017) and YouTube Premium’s “Top Management” (2018). In 2018, he landed his first lead role on a major television channel through the JTBC drama “My ID is Gangnam Beauty,” and went on to star as leads in MBC’s historical drama “Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung” (2019) and tvN’s “True Beauty” (2020-21).

This year, Cha is set to appear in the drama “Island” and film “Decibel” (working title).

Cha starred in the tvN series "True Beauty" (2020-21). [TVN]

Cha has often sung original soundtrack songs for works he starred in — “Rainbow Falling” for “My ID is Gangnam Beauty,” “Together” for “Top Management,” “Please Remember” for “Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung” and “Love so Fine” for “True Beauty.” But apart from original soundtracks, Cha has not made an official debut as a solo artist.

Cha is currently studying acting at Sungkyunkwan University, where he enrolled in 2016.

Cha Eun-woo (Lee Dong-min)

Date of birth: March 30, 1997
Zodiac sign: Aries
Birthplace: Gunpo, Gyeonggi
Debut: February 2016 as a member of boy band ASTRO
Agency: Fantagio

Singer and actor Cha Eun-woo debuted in 2016 as a member of six-member boy band ASTRO, known for songs "Crazy Sexy Cool” (2017), “Blue Flame” (2019) and “One” (2021). Cha has also been starring in films and K-dramas since 2014, landing his first lead role on a major television channel in 2018 through the JTBC drama “My ID is Gangnam Beauty." He went on to play lead roles, most notably in the MBC series "Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung" (2019) and tvN series “True Beauty” (2020-21). Cha has often sung solo songs for original soundtracks of web novels and webtoons, as well as television series he starred in. Most recently, he topped the iTunes Top Song Charts in six nations with "Focus on me" for the soundtrack of Kakao Webtoon's romance fantasy "The Villainess is a Marionette."

This information was confirmed by Fantagio on Feb. 24, 2022.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]