Eric Nam

Background

Eric Nam was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 17, 1988. From a very young age, he had a deep affinity for music and would learn entire Korean folk tunes by heart. While still in school, he performed in Rome at the St. Peter’s Basilica mass during a Europe tour with the Atlanta Boy Choir. Later, he began listening to K-Pop music in middle school, and his first approach to the genre included timeless artists like BoA, Shinhwa, and Fly to the Sky. As a teenager, he made cover songs and uploaded them to YouTube. He got discovered by a J.Y.P. official, who contacted him, extending an invitation to take part in an audition for the label in New York. Still, he chose to complete his studies first, graduating from The Lovett School in 2007. Nam earned his degree in International Studies from Boston College in 2011 and spent a year as a student at Peking University in Beijing, China.

After completing his studies, Nam was hired as a Business Analyst by Deloitte Consulting in New York City. The Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation invited him to Seoul to participate in the competition program “Birth of a Great Star 2” after one of his YouTube covers went viral. He finished in the top five competitors, showcasing tremendous talent. When the show ended in April 2012, he received an offer from a music label to launch his career in South Korea. Then, Nam relocated to Asia in June 2012, after quitting his job in New York. During this time, he collaborated with the project group Namaste to release the digital song “Blue Night in Jeju Island.” Three months later, he got a solo artist contract with B2M Entertainment, a South Korean management company. With them, he released his debut mini-album, “Cloud 9,” in 2013, and it’s only been onward and upward from there.

Currently, Nam is planning on making his acting debut with “Transplant,” a psychological thriller by Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang.