Joy

Park Soo-young (born September 3, 1996), known by the stage name Joy, is a South Korean singer, actress and television host. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet. Aside from group activities, Joy has had starring roles in television dramas, The Liar and His Lover (2017) and Tempted (2018).

Park Soo-young was born in Jeju Island and raised in Dobong District, Seoul. Her family consists of her parents and two younger sisters, Park Ji-yeong and Park Min-ji.

As a child, Joy was interested in modern trot music and was influenced to become a singer after receiving praise for her rendition of Korean rock band Cherry Filter's song "Flying Duck" during a grade school festival. Joy auditioned and was cast by SM Entertainment at the SM Global Audition in Seoul in 2012. She trained under the agency for two years, during which time a vocal coach gave her the stage name "Joy".

1996–2014: Debut with Red Velvet and career beginnings

Joy was officially introduced as the fourth member of Red Velvet on July 29, 2014. She was the only member of the group who was not introduced as a part of SM Rookies, a pre-debut training team created by SM Entertainment. Red Velvet made their debut in August 2014 with "Happiness" and has since released two studio albums and nine mini-albums. The group gained global popularity with both Time and Billboard regarding them as one of the most popular K-pop groups worldwide.

2015–present: Solo activities

In June 2015, Joy began her first solo television activity with the fourth season of MBC variety show We Got Married, where she was paired with BtoB's Yook Sung-jae. Joy received significant recognition for her participation and won the New Star Award and Best Couple Award at the 2015 MBC Entertainment Awards. Joy also released a duet with co-star Yook entitled "Young Love" in April 2016, with Joy receiving official songwriting credit from KOMCA. Departing from the show in May 2016, they became known as one of the longest-running and most popular couples in the show's history.

In November 2016, Joy collaborated with Lim Seul-ong in a duet titled "Always In My Heart". The song reached number one on five charts and number ten on the Gaon Digital Chart. In March 2017, Joy made her acting debut as the female lead in tvN's music-based drama The Liar and His Lover, a South Korean adaptation of Kotomi Aoki's popular manga Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru. For her performance as lead actress, Joy received the Newcomer Award at the OSEN Cable TV Awards. Joy also released several OSTs through Stone Music for the drama: Yeowooya, I'm Okay, Your Days, Shiny Boy, Waiting For You, and The Way To Me.

In July 2017, Joy appeared on the singing variety contest show, King of Mask Singer, where she won her first round of the competition and performed under the alias of Bandabi.

In January 2018, Joy became the co-host of the second season of JTBC music variety show Sugar Man alongside top TV personalities Yoo Jae-suk, You Hee-yeol, and Park Na-rae. The revamp was a success, and rated higher than its initial season. In 2018, Joy was also cast as the female lead in the MBC drama Tempted, loosely based on the French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, and recorded the OST "OMG!". Joy received numerous award nominations for her performance including: Best Actress at the 2018 MBC Drama Awards, Actress of the Year at the Brand of the Year Awards, and the Popularity Award (Drama Actress) at The Seoul Awards.

In July 2018, Joy was chosen as one of the hosts of Lifetime's new variety show Pajama Friends, alongside Song Ji-hyo and Jang Yoon-ju. In October 2018, Joy released the song "Dream Me" (with Mark Lee) for the soundtrack of the KBS drama The Ghost Detective. "Dream Me" went on to be listed in Spotify's Top Korean OSTs of 2019.

In January 2019, it was announced that Joy was chosen to be the main host of Asia's most popular beauty program, OnStyle's Get It Beauty, alongside Jang Yoon-ju. Establishing herself in the industry, in May 2019 Joy was nominated for Beauty Icon of the Year at the Brand of the Year Awards and Beauty Icon at the Korea First Brand Awards in October 2019. In December 2019, Joy was confirmed as a cast member of the new variety show, Handsome Tigers, alongside Cha Eun-woo, Lee Sang-yoon and Seo Jang-hoon. On April 27, 2020, Joy was announced to have won the Best Female Variety Idol Award at the 2020 Brand Customer Loyalty Awards in recognition of her work across various entertainment programs.

In March 2020, Joy released the solo song “Introduce Me a Good Person” for the soundtrack album of tvN drama, Hospital Playlist. The song reached number one on multiple charts, the Top 5 of the Billboard Korea K-pop Hot 100 Chart, and surpassed 300 million digital points on Gaon. Joy also went on to be ranked #2 on the Melon Female Solo Artist Chart.

In April 2020, Joy was asked to participate in the song "Sangnoksu 2020" alongside prominent Korean artists. The collaboration aims to honor medical professionals around the world fighting against COVID-19.

In May 2020, it was announced that R&B artist and producer Crush had chosen Joy to feature on his new title track "Mayday". The song was released on May 20 and topped multiple major charts, including achieving a Genie roof hit and reaching number one on the Melon R&B/Soul Music Chart.

In July 2020, Joy was nominated as a soloist for the Melon Music Awards Top 10 Artist Bonsang, becoming the first SM Female Artist without a solo debut to receive a Bonsang (Main Prize) nomination. On July 27, 2020, Joy's solo OST "Introduce Me A Good Person" was nominated for OST of the Year at the Brand of the Year Awards.

Endorsements

In July 2018, Joy was named as the new model and official endorser for Fitz Super Clear Beer. In May 2019, Joy was officially announced as the new muse of Amore Pacific's professional makeup brand, eSpoir. In January 2020, Joy was selected as the new official model and muse of Aveda, owned by Estée Lauder, with the eco-friendly brand stating that Joy was chosen because of her bright and healthy image across various fields including music and acting.

In the K-pop Radar Year-End Chart, Joy was named as "2019 Hot Instagrammer - Female" and confirmed to have the most Instagram followers among K-pop artists who opened an account in 2019.

In 2019, Joy was ranked as the fifth most popular female K-pop idol in a survey of soldiers doing mandatory military service in South Korea. Joy was also named in Gallup Korea's annual survey listing the Top 20 Most Popular Idols.

Joy is renowned for her brand recognition and marketing power, having topped several times the "Individual Girl Group Members Brand Power Ranking" published by the Korean Corporate Reputation Research Institute, including two consecutive months in January 2020 and February 2020. Joy was stated to have a high communication index whilst maintaining her position in the Top 3 from January to April 2020.

In February 2020, Joy was invited as a VIP guest of Michael Kors to attend New York Fashion Week, with Vogue calling Joy "one of K-pop’s brightest stars".

Joy's voice has been praised by many respected producers and artists. Composer and producer Hwang Hyun said that Joy has a voice "that can't be achieved even with practice". Crush commended Joy as a vocalist in his Billboard interview stating: "she’s got the most beautiful voice that’s impossible to replace". On July 13, 2020, Joy became the first SM Female Artist without a solo debut to receive a Bonsang (Main Prize) nomination in recognition of her achievements in music.

In February 2015, Joy graduated from School of Performing Arts Seoul. In February 2020, Joy donated 10 million won for the Community Chest of Korea to help support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.

Songwriting credits