A video uploaded to MyTube shook the entire Republic of Korea.
“Genius musician” Sun Myungju reveals video after 20 years... “I have returned”
These days, to the younger generation he was mostly known as “Sun Wooju’s father,” but once he had been a jazz pianist with nationwide recognition.
The genius who had died in an unfortunate accident was declaring that he would return.
With a performance he had prepared twenty years in advance.
“Did you see this? This? They say he’s Wooju’s father.”
“What...? He fild this twenty years ago and just kept it?”
Everywhere, online and offline alike, was flooded with talk about Sun Myungju.
“They say Sun Myungju is coming back.”
“How does a dead person co back?”
“They said he recorded a video. Telling people to co watch his performance.”
“Sothing he fild twenty years ago...?”
The people reacting the most strongly were the older generation.
When the country had been shaken by the financial crisis.
Because everyone rembered the musician who had been recognized worldwide, including in the United States and Japan.
Of course, most people did not know his music in detail.
Just as people who did not understand golf or baseball still cheered when heroes of the 1990s shone on the field, Koreans had watched his achievents and laughed and cried along with them.
When he died suddenly, the shock had been imnse.
For people who had carried that lingering regret in their hearts, this news could not help but be astonishing.
But on the other hand.
‘What is this?’
The younger generation could only feel confused.
The middle aged departnt heads at the office and other adults nearby were murmuring among themselves, saying things like “That Sun Myungju guy...”
‘Was he really that famous?’
Opening AntWiki, the “Overview” section contained a brief explanation.
“The last genius of the twentieth century.”
It said he had even been included in lists like “100 Jazz Figures,” which mostly selected famous Black musicians from the United States, surpassing barriers of nationality and language.
Among a list crowded with figures from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, he was almost the only person born in the 1960s.
‘Wow...’
Even just the attached photos made his career look extraordinary.
In one picture he wore sothing like a dal around his neck.
In another he stood shoulder to shoulder with famous foreign figures whose faces made people think, “Wait, that person?” smiling like a movie star.
“Mom, was soone nad Sun Myungju really that famous?”
“Oh, he was incredibly famous in his pri. If people heard he was arriving at the airport, crowds would literally rush over in droves...”
Whenever soone asked if he had been famous, adults would reminisce about the past and testify that “he was incredible.”
Because of that, even minor debates were happening across the internet.
[Sun Wooju today vs Sun Myungju in his pri]
Who do you think was more famous?
Still feels like Wooju wins
If we’re talking about their peaks, isn’t it the father?? I was in elentary school and the impact was insane
If we’re talking national pride then Sun Myungju was definitely higher
I lived through that era too but Wooju is on another level lol. Even the elderly people in my hotown know Wooju
I think the comparison itself is wrong; you’re comparing pop music and jazz
Different fields
Art world celebrity vs pop music celebrity
Honestly most of the hype about Sun Myungju was national pride anyway lol. Ask people to na one of his songs and nobody could
Along with that, explanation posts about “who Sun Myungju is” were appearing everywhere.
[Why Koreans are suddenly feeling a generational gap right now]
[The genius musician who still looks incredible today]
[Sun Myungju legendary improvisation stage]
And as the younger generation looked through past footage, they gradually ca to understand.
‘No wonder he was popular.’
A flower boy face that would have spread everywhere as legendary reaction images if he had lived in the current era.
An astonishing talent for composition.
And even fan service.
Where did our Nabi co from?
A cat that had wandered onto an outdoor stage climbed onto the piano keys.
In the video, he improvised a piece on the spot, matching the notes the cat struck before hopping down, drawing thunderous applause from the audience.
Ladies and gentlen! Please welco the genius musician who has co all the way from Korea!
There were also scenes of him appearing on famous Arican talk shows, showing quick wit in conversation with the host.
Even now, he clearly possessed imnse star quality.
Sun Wooju’s father.
‘Like father, like son.’
It suddenly made sense where his son’s star power had co from.
But beyond all that, there was another reason the keyword “Sun Myungju” was attracting so much attention right now.
“Sun Myungju” returning to the stage after more than twenty years
What kind of musician prepares a concert twenty years in advance in case of his own death?
It went beyond ordinary passion for music and almost felt like madness.
Seeing the obsession with music his son displayed, people could only think, ‘So it was inherited.’
The artistic aura contained in the video—Sun Myungju’s atmosphere, his face—was sinking deep into people’s hearts.
And.
Reflecting that interest, the sa news began appearing on every major broadcast and cable news program.
Musician Sun Myungju is said to be returning after more than twenty years. According to a video uploaded to the popular MyTube channel “NewBlack TV”...
anwhile, Lemon Entertainnt, the agency of Sun Wooju, stated that they would “hold a press conference soon”...
The video is rapidly breaking view count records, with attention coming from the United States and Japan as well...
No matter how famous he had once been, he was a musician who had died twenty years ago.
Twenty years was long enough for mountains and rivers to change twice.
Under normal circumstances it might have been a modest cultural story—people saying, “Oh? A performance after twenty years?”—sothing mainly discussed in the performing arts world.
But...
The global fa of his son, known far beyond Korea, was creating a butterfly effect that Sun Myungju himself could never have imagined.
A video has been uploaded to the MyTube account of the global K pop group NewBlack. The video concerns the musician once called a genius jazz artist...
In today’s culture news. Wooju, the leader of NewBlack and one of Korea’s biggest stars...
Did you hear the news, Lenny? Apparently the father of Sun, the leader of NewBlack, is a famous musician.
Cultural reports from overseas dia such as CNN and BBC.
Arican dayti talk shows.
Explosive search traffic on portal sites and Twitter.
If Wooju’s father had seen it, he might have said in confusion, “Son...? What on earth is this?”
Scenes like that were unfolding everywhere.
And amid all this attention, everyone began focusing on one person’s words.
‘What exactly happened here?’
People were waiting for Sun Wooju to speak.
Everyone was focusing on my mouth.
“......”
......
I scrolled down the laptop screen with the mouse.
Faces.
Faces.
More faces.
The faces of people from many races and dressed in different styles were divided into grid boxes, stretching endlessly.
[Total participants: 300]
What I was looking at now was a video eting program, one commonly used for business etings.
Today was the day for a eting about my father’s concert and fundraising party.
It had been arranged at the suggestion of the pianist Paul Laurent.
How about calling together people who had connections with Mr. Sun Myungju and holding a eting? I already contacted them in advance.
Sounds good to .
So we had contacted them to try holding a eting together.
“Paul.”
“Yes?”
“...Didn’t you say this would be a small eting?”
Paul Laurent looked confused.
“Isn’t this small? Considering the six hundred people who couldn’t even join this eting.”
“......”
What exactly had my father been doing all his life?
Son! Work hard for !
Ahahahaha! Love you! Our baby!
The high pitched laughter of my father and mother from the video echoed in my mind.
Looking at the smiling faces of all kinds of people, I opened my mouth.
“Nice to et you. I’m Sun Wooju, the son of Sun Myungju.”
At that mont voices burst out from everywhere.
He looks like him!
A mber of NewBlack was Mr. Sun Myungju’s son?
Nice to et you!
They were noisy and lively like a marching band in a plaza.
But when all those voices overlapped—
Boom boom boom boom!
I...
will kill you...!
Love...
does not exist...!
Hearing the chaotic sounds, people burst out laughing among themselves.
As everyone muted their microphones, they all looked at with warm expressions.
It felt like uncles and aunts looking fondly at their nephew.
Seeing them resting their chins on their hands and watching as if I were cute, I deliberately put on a solemn expression befitting the eting host.
“Ahem. Then let’s begin the eting.”
Their microphones were muted so I could not hear them, but they were all laughing.
“First, as you saw from the video uploaded to MyTube, I think the first step has been successfully completed.”
Even if my father had been famous, that was twenty years ago.
For an artist from twenty years ago to hold a new performance, public attention was essential.
And the strategy of releasing a teaser on MyTube had succeeded.
“Sun Myungju Return Greeting” video explodes in views... foreign dia also interested
Even overseas news outlets were reporting it as “the resurrection of a genius.”
I heard Japan in particular was going wild over it.
Apparently there were reports about my father almost every hour.
If that man left a musical legacy, I would like to believe he also left a story for . We were once fierce rivals, after all. A bond ordinary people cannot understand between us...
I had seen a broadcast where Hashimoto Kenji, who claid to be my father’s rival, gave an interview.
Rembering the absurd mont made chuckle as I continued.
“Since we’ve gathered public interest through MyTube, the next step is the fundraising party.”
We had succeeded in drawing attention in the first stage.
Now what remained was securing the budget.
But since I did not know much about fundraising parties, I decided to listen to the experts present here.
People who had long experience with music events offered advice.
With issues like this, it’s best to move as quickly as possible. The fundraising party should be organized as soon as possible too.
Right. Speed is everything.
The most recomnded timing is around Thanksgiving in the United States.
I also agreed with the opinion that the best option was to hold the fundraising party during the sa week as the AMA and the Thanksgiving parade appearances.
It ant preparing the party in only two weeks, but everyone was full of enthusiasm.
Contact information for famous party planners was shared during the eting, and Seokhwan was busy taking notes.
Then soone said:
Actually the most important thing is the performance...
A famous Indonesian pianist among the participants asked:
I heard you will perform Mr. Sun Myungju’s unpublished sheet music.
“Yes.”
The mont the words “unpublished sheet music” appeared, curiosity, anticipation, and excitent filled the faces of the three hundred participants.
They all looked eager to speak.
I’m not questioning Mr. Sun Myungju’s compositional ability, but if this performance has gained such fa, the content must also be extraordinary. So I must ask.
“Yes.”
What is the level of the unpublished sheet music?
“Hmm...”
I spoke carefully.
“Since my knowledge of jazz is limited, I can’t say with certainty... but as a musician myself...”
Gulp.
People swallowed nervously as they waited.
“I believe it’s worthy of the title ‘a performance after twenty years.’”
Gasps spread everywhere.
On one muted screen a British perforr could be seen mouthing “Wow,” looking thrilled.
Imdiately voices began flying from every direction.
Have you found perforrs yet?
I, I can work without pay.
If I fly to Seoul right now, can I see the sheet music? I will keep it secret until the performance...
The people my father had discovered had gone on to various fields.
Music columnists.
Saxophonists.
Classical pianists.
Piano tuners.
And many others.
Among them, those who had entered the jazz field were eagerly volunteering.
Shouldn’t the very best perform it?
, , !
I heard you like at. I read it on Wikipedia. This is Australia, ho of the finest cattle.
My schedule is free. .
Regardless of age, they raised their hands with sparkling eyes.
Seeing that made laugh.
My father would probably have loved seeing this.
At least one worry—how to find perforrs—seed resolved.
With so many people offering help in various ways, the discussion moved forward smoothly.
Trust us.
If we can do this much for the professor...
We’ll treat it like our own work.
Smiling, I nodded to the hundreds of people telling to trust them.
Then I slowly wrapped up the eting.
“Then I’ll see you all again next ti.”
After ending the video eting, I stretched.
“Whew.”
“Good job.”
I smiled brightly at Seokhwan as he patted my shoulder from behind.
The look in his eyes behind his glasses seed surprised.
“Wasn’t it exhausting? It must’ve been hard doing the eting in English.”
“I don’t know. It just... wasn’t.”
I didn’t know why, but I kept smiling.
Inside I was telling myself, ‘It’s about Dad! Be serious!’ but the silly grin kept slipping out.
It just felt good.
I knew logically that the video had been recorded twenty years ago.
But whenever I watched it, it felt like my father and mother were hugging and whispering to .
“I’ve never felt this happy while having so much work to do.”
“That’s good.”
Seokhwan said my smile made him feel happy too.
I leaned against him and laughed.
After organizing the tablet, he asked :
“So the only thing left is dia related stuff?”
“Yeah.”
Stretching again, I smiled.
“I should go promote it properly.”
“I’m Gu Yongseok. Haha. So this is how I finally get to et you, Wooju.”
“I’m Hong Aran.”
I smiled as I shook hands with the two anchors who politely extended their hands.
“I’m Wooju. Thank you for having today.”
“Of course.”
While chatting in the friendly atmosphere, I looked around.
[KTN Evening News]
A studio filled with the distinctive atmosphere of a news desk, along with a tallic logo shining in silver.
KTN’s longest running news program.
The segnt called “Today’s Guest” was the program I was appearing on today.
When exactly will the performance be held?
How will the profits be used?
What exactly is this unpublished sheet music?
Even at this very mont, the company was being flooded with inquiries.
We had considered holding a press conference but decided instead to appear on an interview program like this.
But since major terrestrial news programs didn’t have this kind of guest segnt, we searched among cable and news channels and eventually found this place.
“I suddenly rembered I’d appeared here before.”
“Ah, the hero of Galhyeon?”
Both anchors laughed.
“At first I didn’t realize it, but later a friend showed it to . He said, ‘Hey, isn’t that you on TV?’”
“When you debuted, Wooju, I kept wondering where I had seen you before. I was shocked.”
Back when I had saved an elderly man in a traffic accident.
This had been the news program that aired the footage that day.
We chatted about how it had already been exactly four years ago, marveling at how quickly ti passed.
After several rehearsals.
“Five seconds to live broadcast!”
I briefly looked around the scene where the news control room staff and the cara and lighting directors were moving busily.
“We’ll check your microphone.”
“Yes.”
After confirming that the microphone was properly attached, I entered the interview segnt.
As I sat in the guest chair and smiled brightly, my face appeared on the monitor beside the prompter.
“Hello, I’m Wooju of NewBlack.”
“Yes, hello.”
We bowed politely to each other and began the calm interview.
“I received my father’s unpublished sheet music and video only recently. I was contacted from the United States...”
ntioning the plausible explanation arranged by Arthur Anderson, who had delivered the sheet music, I explained how the performance had been planned.
“The concert is intended to be a charity performance. We plan to raise funds, and all profits from the performance will be used for a foundation supporting young people who want to study music.”
Who gets the profits?
He’s making money off his father.
To counter those kinds of accusations, I made it clear from the beginning that it would be a charity concert.
“The exact date hasn’t been finalized yet, but we’re considering holding the concert soti early next year.”
“I see.”
“Yes. We want to present the performance as soon as possible.”
After delivering the ssages that needed to be conveyed to the public, the interview continued in a relaxed atmosphere.
Questions about NewBlack’s schedule.
How my father’s music had influenced .
As I answered them one by one, anchor Hong Aran asked the final question.
“While preparing this performance, is there anything you would like to say to your father?”
“Hmm...”
The answer did not take long.
My grandmother, my younger mbers, our fans.
Thinking of the faces my parents would have wanted to see first if they were here, I smiled.
“I’d like to tell him that right now I’m spending good monts with good people.”
“I’d like to tell him that right now I’m spending good monts with good people.”
“Skip it. Move forward.”
“I’d like to tell him that right now I’m spending good monts with good people.”
“Again.”
Listening to the voice repeating “right now I’m...” over and over, I sighed.
“Stop playing it.”
“Nope.”
“I said stop listening to it...!”
“Look how embarrassed he is.”
Four people were burying their faces into a single phone inside the car, snorting with laughter.
The youngest asked proudly.
“So among those ‘good people,’ what rank are the four of us? What number am I?”
“You’re fourth.”
“Aaaaaah!”
The other three wriggled their shoulders smugly.
Watching the lackeys who seed thrilled as if their dream was to beco giant caterpillars, I laughed quietly.
“Thanks. You guys really helped a lot with this.”
“Well. We’re good at working.”
I laughed at Ri Hyuk’s words.
“Of course, you weren’t helpful at all in terms of actual work...”
“Hmph!”
“But you’re like teddy bears you hug while sleeping... reassuring.”
“Whoa...!”
Realizing the comparison might have been a mistake, I froze, but they were already delighted.
“Did you hear that? He said teddy bear.”
“Does that an we’re cute?”
“It ans lovable.”
They were making their own excitent, beating their own drums.
Watching them burst into giggles and start dancing wildly, I beca certain.
If our guys were released as teddy bears, they would probably be returned for having excessive performance.
“Anyway... really, thank you. I’ve been so busy lately I didn’t even get to say thanks.”
Things had been happening nonstop, but I truly was grateful to my mbers.
Even though it was a good thing, there had been many confusing monts.
And each ti, they had been confused right alongside .
Whoa!
What is this!
Soone might say that kind of thing wasn’t helpful.
But it actually helped a lot.
People who make you feel, “You’re not the only one,” are always precious.
“You should appreciate us.”
I smiled at the youngest who was bragging and looked toward a massive building in the distance.
Clapping my hands toward the others, I said:
“Now that the work is mostly wrapped up, let’s properly blow off so steam on stage today.”
“Go go go!”
As the Gocheok Do stadium drew closer, cheers could already be heard.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Grrr! Grrr!”
“Grr... they’re coming! Waaaah!”
Cara flashes were already sparkling along the red carpet.
[2017 Mango Chart Awards]
MCA, nominated in all three grand prize categories this year.
Today was the day of the first year end music awards ceremony of the year.
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