Since his music career debut in 2002, Rain emerged to become one of the top selling artists across all of Asia. He has successfully released 3 albums to date with a fourth album expected to drop in the Fall of 2006. In 2004, he starred in a Korean drama called “Full House” which made Rain a household name even in non-Korean speaking Asian countries like China, Japan, The Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and others.
In 2004, Rain earned even greater recognition by winning the MTV Asia Grand Slam, winning top honors in all the Asian countries that broadcast MTV Asia. Rain won the “Favorite Artist of Korea” from the 2005 MTV Asia Aid held in Bangkok , the “Popular Asian Artist Award” from Channel [V] Thailand, and the “Best Buzz Asia Award” during the MTV Japan Video Music Award 2005 and the “Best Korean Singer” award in the MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Honors in Beijing. Rain was also the first Asian performing artist ever to be invited to the 2005 American MTV Video Music Awards in Miami and the 2005 MTV Latin Video Music Awards in Mexico. These accomplishments among others earned Rain media attention including interviews with Time Magazine Asian Edition and CNN Talk Asia.
In his interview on December 14, 2005 with CNN Talk Asia, Rain expressed interest in crossing over into the US market. “Although I still have a long way to go, I would like to become the pride of Asia. When another Asian artist enters the US market, I would like him to think ‘there was an artist called Rain who succeeded in the US market.’ This is my dream. I hope there will come the time when I step out onto a global stage. But until that time, I need to put in a lot more work, and I need to study hard, especially different languages so that I can become more international.”
In February 2nd and 3rd , DreamVille Entertainment in association with ImaginAsian TV and Rainstone Live, will present to American audiences the Rainy Day NY concert as a continuation of Rain’s highly successful global tour that has already sold out over 150,000 seats in 8 cities worldwide.