‘What Behind-the-Scenes Stories Are There?! The Tearful Singer Hit Song’ ranked first with Jo Sung-mo's ‘To Heaven (1998).’
The 270th episode of KBS Joy’s ‘20th Century Hit Song,’ aired on the 27th, introduced hit songs from singers who had unfortunate stories behind their great popularity, under the theme ‘What Behind-the-Scenes Stories Are There?! The Tearful Singer Hit Song.’
Ninth place went to Park Jin-young's ‘Don't Leave Me (1994).’ He debuted as part of ‘Park Jin-young and the New Generation’ during his university years but failed to succeed. The story of Park Jin-young, who was preparing to debut with a team called ‘Freestyle’ while working as a dancer for Kim Gun-mo but ultimately saw it fall through, was revealed.
Kim Jung-min's ‘Sad Covenant (1995)’ ranked eighth. The broadcast showed Kim Jung-min getting emotional on stage after winning first place. Kim Hee-chul explained, “He had a very difficult family environment,” adding, “He was born in an unlicensed shantytown and after debuting as a faceless singer, his mother worked as a building cleaner and his father as a construction laborer.” He continued, “Even during his activities, the five family members lived in a single room in a shantytown.”
Seventh place went to Song Chang-sik's ‘The Piper (1974),’ who had musical talent enough to enter Seoul Arts High School as the top student but had to drop out due to difficult family circumstances. Sixth place was awarded to So Chan-whee's ‘The Opportunity to Break Up (1996),’ who overcame eight years of obscurity. Various anecdotes from So Chan-whee's time as a rock band guitarist and her eight years of anonymity were shared. Kim Hee-chul revealed, “It was so hard that she even had extreme thoughts at one point,” expressing So Chan-whee's feelings at the time.
Fifth place was revealed to be Lee Ji-hoon's ‘Why Does the Sky (1996).’ It was disclosed that Lee Ji-hoon lived in a semi-basement in a poor neighborhood before his debut, stating, “It was just like the house in the movie Parasite,” and that even after his debut, he lived with his family of five in a single room on the rooftop of a commercial building.
Lee Soo-young's ‘I Believe (1999)’ took fourth place. Kim Hee-chul shared, “She was a girl head of the household. Her father passed away in a car accident when she was in the second grade of elementary school,” and “Her mother also passed away in a car accident a year before her debut,” revealing Lee Soo-young's family history. It was also revealed that Lee Soo-young lost all her assets and incurred a debt of 3 billion won after entrusting her seal to a relative.
god, who ranked third with ‘To Mother (1999),’ also had a heartbreaking story revealed. Lee Mi-joo shared that god member Park Jun-hyung developed alopecia due to poor living conditions, and that during their sixth album activities, their meal expenses amounted to 200 million won over six months.
Rain's ‘Instead of Goodbye’ was introduced in second place. The broadcast detailed Rain's debut process, where he went through various part-time jobs due to his family's difficult circumstances and met Park Jin-young after his 19th audition. It was shared that he asked Park Jin-young for help with his mother’s treatment for diabetes, and although he received treatment with Park Jin-young's guarantee, she passed away two weeks later.
In a past broadcast, Rain revealed, “After my mother passed away, I couldn't afford the funeral, and I couldn't even feed my younger sibling,” sharing his past. Lee Mi-joo tearfully asked, “Why isn’t this number one?”
The coveted first place went to Jo Sung-mo's ‘To Heaven (1998).’ It was revealed that when his mother opposed his dream of becoming a singer, Jo Sung-mo said, “I will come back after becoming a singer,” and did not return home for four years. Afterward, Jo Sung-mo faced many rejections in auditions and went through a tough time doing menial work in a studio.
The album he prepared for over a year was indefinitely postponed just before its release. After his debut, Jo Sung-mo returned home, but due to his father's business failure caused by the IMF crisis, they had debts of 1 to 1.5 billion won, and foreclosure notices were stuck all over the house. He also experienced the tragic discovery of his missing brother, who died in a hit-and-run accident.
