Mingyu

Background

Kim Mingyu is a South Korean singer and rapper, who is mostly known as a member of the boy group, Seventeen. He was born on April 6, 1997, in Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. His Zodiac sign is Aries. Details about his parents and siblings are unknown. According to Mingyu, his name has a meaning — Min means ‘precious gemstone’ and Gyu means ‘star.’ When Mingyu was in primary school, he discovered that he was interested in playing music, so he signed up for the school music club and taught himself how to play different instruments. He became the school’s bassist in the eighth grade. Apart from music, Mingyu was also part of the cross-stitch club and soccer team.

When Mingyu was in his second year of middle school, he was cast by Pledis and he wore sandals to the audition. In 2013, Mingyu and 12 of his friends started a band called Seventeen. The name was derived from the expression “13 members + 3 units + 1 group” representing the fact that 13 members from three different units came together to form one group. Mingyu and his band began appearing in regular live broadcasts of a series titled “Seventeen T.V.” on the online streaming platform, UStream. The band also appeared in the reality television show called “Seventeen Project: Big Debut Plan” on M.B.C. in 2015.

Seventeen finally debuted on May 26 with a live showcase televised by M.B.C. Three days later, they released their first extended play “17 Carat,” which became the only rookie album to appear on Billboard’s 10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015 list.