Taemin

Who is Taemin?

Taemin (태민) is a South Korean singer who debuted as a member of SHINee in 2008 and began solo activity in 2014 with songs such as “Danger”, “MOVE” and “WANT”, according to Hankook Ilbo. In October 2019 he also became a member of SuperM, the joint team SM Entertainment put together with the American Capitol Music Group.

The dances, and his own words

The title track of his first solo album, ACE, ‘Danger’, was rehearsed in July 2014 at a dance studio in Los Angeles with the American choreographer Ian Eastwood, and it won a terrestrial music show during that promotion. The choreography for the title track of MOVE in 2017 was made by the Japanese choreographer Koharu Sugawara. In a written interview with Seoul Shinmun in 2018 she explained that because Taemin takes explosive choreography in his stride too easily, she set a new challenge: “I expressed an inner beauty with choreography that feels like a new shoot slowly coming into view.”

Talking to the same paper during the ‘WANT’ promotion in 2019, Taemin described its choreography as a dance that complements ‘MOVE’, and said: “The singer I have in mind is a performer who isn’t confined.” From 15 to 17 March that year he held the concert T1001101 at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul’s Olympic Park.

The third full-length album, Never Gonna Dance Again, came out in three parts — the prologue, Act 1 and Act 2. In a Q&A TenAsia carried in September 2020, Taemin said he had been watching films for inspiration and decided to tell the album “like a film with a story”, so he made film the reference. At the online concert Beyond LIVE – TAEMIN : N.G.D.A on 2 May 2021 he said of the title: “The director drew out a deep rebelliousness in me. Of course I’ll keep dancing, but it carries something of what’s inside.” He added that he had taken part in the choreography of the new song ‘Advice’.

He enlisted on the 31st of that month and completed his service on 4 April 2023. At the press conference for Guilty at Megabox Seongsu in Seoul on 30 October that year, he described it as an album that gathers “the identity and the clichés that come to mind when you think of Taemin”. The title track’s choreography drew on SM Entertainment choreographer Kasper and BADA, leader of the crew BEBE.

After the change of company

His exclusive contract with SM Entertainment ended in March 2024 after 16 years. He then spent a period with Big Planet Made Entertainment before Galaxy Corporation announced an exclusive contract with him on 11 March 2026.

His first solo world tour, Ephemeral Gaze, opened at Inspire Arena in Incheon on 31 August and 1 September 2024. Munhwa Ilbo wrote that the title means “a fleeting gaze”, and Hankook Ilbo reported that the tour ran to 37 shows in 20 countries; it went on to encores in Tokyo and Kobe and closed with a finale in Seoul. In September 2024 he took on his first solo hosting role since his debut, on Mnet’s Road to Kingdom: ACE OF ACE, and on 16 November he won Best Artist and Best Solo Artist at the 2024 Korea Grand Music Awards, saying: “I’m truly grateful that I’ve been able to perform in front of you for such a long time.”

The 2025 Japanese arena tour ‘Veil’ moved to Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas on 16 January 2026. It was his first solo show in Las Vegas, and from the stage he said: “I don’t think I’ll ever forget today, and I’ll definitely come back.” From 1 April to 25 May the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles ran the exhibition TAEMIN: Performer. Artist. Icon., showing stage costumes from Ephemeral Gaze and ‘Veil’, his in-ear monitors and microphone, a light stick and a handwritten letter to his fans.

On 11 April 2026 he played a roughly 50-minute solo set on Coachella’s Mojave stage in Indio, California — the first Korean male solo singer on the festival’s official lineup, per Sports Kyunghyang. The six new songs he first sang there became the core of his next mini album.

PHASE 1 and LiMiNaL

The mini album PHASE 1 : Soft Violence came out on 31 August 2026 at 6 p.m. KST. Around the release he told Vogue Singapore: “Previously, I’d choose from a repertoire of songs that were sent to me. This time, I was able to create the concept and key themes, sharing my own stories and point of view.” The mini album is called PHASE 1 because a second phase is in mind, and his remark that lately he feels “in the in-between a lot—spaces, boundaries, states of mind” runs on into the tour’s name, LiMiNaL. Music-show promotion ran across four programmes from M Countdown on 3 September to Inkigayo on the 6th, and ‘FLOAT’, one of the double title tracks, won MBC’s Show! Music Core on 12 September.

The LiMiNaL world tour opened with three shows at Seoul’s Jamsil Indoor Stadium from 18 to 20 September. Opening with ‘IDEA’ and ‘Advice’, Taemin played the piano himself for new arrangements of ‘Frankenstein’, ‘MOVE’ and ‘Press Your Number’, and performed every song on the new album for the first time. Asia News Agency reported a set list of more than 20 songs, and News Culture a show of about 120 minutes. Before the shows, Dailian reported that on the schedule then in place they would be the last pop concerts at Jamsil Indoor Stadium.

On 29 September Taemin’s side postponed the North American dates, citing visa and administrative processes, and said new dates would follow. According to the official tour site, the next show after Seoul is in Monterrey, Mexico, on 28 October, and the tour runs on through Latin America, Europe and Central Asia to Tbilisi, Georgia, on 9 December.

Where to start

Taemin’s own YouTube channel carries the official trailer and videos for PHASE 1 : Soft Violence, and the official tour site lists every LiMiNaL date and venue.