Jo Jin-ho (Korean: 조진호; born April 17, 1992), commonly known by the mononym Jinho, is a South Korean singer, lyricist, composer, vocal coach and member of South Korean boy group Pentagon under Cube Entertainment. In 2023, he participated in the JTBC singing competition program Phantom Singer 4, where his quartet Crezl ultimately placed third and officially debuted.
He is a former SM Entertainment trainee and member of the project group SM the Ballad. After leaving SM Entertainment in 2015, Jinho became a vocal coach. Since then, he has trained Cube labelmates (G)I-dle and Yoo Seon-ho, among others.[2]
Early life
Jinho was born in Bucheon, South Korea on April 17, 1992. When he was seven, his family moved to Daejeon. At the age of 15, he lived in Qingdao, China, for eight months due to family and work before settling in Seoul.[3][4]
In 2008, Jinho won first place in the SM Everysing Contest. He later became a trainee through SM Entertainment's casting system in the same year.[citation needed]
In November 2010, Jinho, under the name Jino, made his debut as a member of SM the Ballad alongside Super Junior's Kyuhyun, Shinee's Jonghyun, and TraxX's Jay.[6] The group had great reception, and their debut EP Miss You reached number one on the Gaon Album Chart.[7] He was then preparing to debut in another group, but plans fell through and the group was ultimately not formed.[1] In 2013, he was cast in the musical Summer Snow.[8]
2015–present: Departing SM Entertainment, debut with Pentagon and musical roles
In 2015, Jinho left SM Entertainment and began working as a singing tutor at Modern K Academy.[9] Modern K Academy encouraged Jinho to audition at Cube, as their CEO has close connections with Cube Entertainment and had a hand in creating Pentagon, being in charge of talent development.[10] In February, he was part of a vocal project group, Seorin-dong Children (서린동 아이들) with Hui and another female singer. They released a remake of Lee Won-jin [ko] and Ryu Keum-deok's 1994 classic "For All the New Lovers". The group wasn't originally supposed to consist of them, but after receiving a good response from Cube Artist Development for the recorded guide, the company decided to release it on streaming sites.[11] In February 2016, Jinho was featured in K.Shin's song "Perception" alongside Hwang Sung-dae under the name Mush. The name was intended to be Mu$h, but he forgot to tell K.Shin to add a dollar sign instead of an 's'.[12]
Making it through the audition process, Jinho participated in Pentagon Maker making it to the final lineup and debuting with the group on October 10, 2016.[13][14]
In 2017, Jinho started a personal project titled "Magazine Ho" releasing covers in various genres and languages on the last of each month. With this project he has worked with and featured other artists such as CLC's Sorn, (G)I-dle's Jeon So-yeon, HYNN, and band mates Hongseok, Shinwon, Hui, Kino, and Yeo One.
On March 17, 2018, Jinho held his first mini live concert which is a part of his Magazine Ho cover songs project.[15]
In September, it was announced that Jinho would star in the musical Iron Mask as Raul, the son of Athos who admires his father and dreams of becoming a royal general. The musical ran from September 13 to November 18 at the Kwanglim Art Center, Seoul. He rotated the role with musical actor, Shin Hyun-mook and actor Yoo Hyun-seok.[16]
On December 17, 2018, Cube announced his second mini live concert "Magazine Ho Vol.2 - Ready Ho" would be on 19 January 2019 at Ilchi Art Hall, and it sold out in seconds.[17] Members Hongseok and Kino were present as special guests during the concert.[18]
Jinho was cast in his fourth musical, Goddess is Watching You.[19] He played as the role of an innocent and pure North Korean soldier Ryu Soon Ho, who overcomes his trauma due to war with the belief in a goddess. The musical ran from November 14, 2019, to February 26, 2020, at the Daehangno Arts Theater in Seoul.[20]
Jinho held his 3rd solo mini live concert, "Magazine Ho Vol.3 - Off Stage" on January 11, 2020.[21] Due to high demand from fans, Cube Entertainment added an additional date to the concert. Jinho is set to open the first performance on January 10 to meet more fans.[22][23] He sang an unreleased song, "Gravity" together with member Kino which was composed and written by Kino.[24] Members Hui, Hongseok and Yeo One were also present as special guest.[25][26] In March, Jinho appeared on Mnet's music talk show Studio Music Hall 2. He was introduced as "high note terminator" performing a duet of Kim Kwang-seok's "At About Thirty" with Hui.[27]
2021–present: Phantom Singer, Crezl, Japanese mini album
In March 2023, Jinho joined season 4 of Phantom Singer as a contestant.[28] His quartet, Crezl, ended up placing third in the final round.
Jinho released his first solo mini album, titled Cho:rd, on August 28. The album is a five-track Japanese project, with the lead single "Teddy Bear".[29]
Personal life
Mandatory military service
As part of his mandatory military service, Jinho enlisted as an active duty soldier on May 11, 2020.[30] Jinho prepared a small gift, "I'm Here", a self-composed solo song for his friends and bandmates who are running toward their dreams. Jinho explained, "When people are faced by exhaustion and discouragement, they bring back the old self of the day when they first dreamt of a dream. I hope that the voice of Pentagon's Jinho with the words 'You are doing great, so don't worry', will comfort everyone who listens to this song."[31] The song was made before he enlisted,[32] and only available through We:th physical album.[33]
On September 29, 2021, Jinho's agency announced that he will be discharged from military service on November 14, 2021, without returning to the unit after his final vacation, according to the Ministry guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19.[34]
^Kim Na-yul (March 25, 2020). '음악당' 펜타곤 후이 "中 회사 연습생 당시, 오디션 60등 안에 들어 탈락" ['Music Hall' Pentagon Hui "At that time I was a trainee at a Chinese company, he was eliminated in the 60th place in the audition."]. HeraldPop. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
^펜타곤 진호, 1월 단독콘서트 '미니 라이브 매거진호 VOL.3 - OFF STAGE -' 개최 [Pentagon Jinho to hold solo concert Mini Live Magazine VOL.3-OFF STAGE -` in January]. WowTv. December 24, 2019. Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
^펜타곤 진호, 단독콘서트 '미니 라이브 매거진호 VOL.3' 전석 매진 [Pentagon Jinho sells all solo concerts 'Mini Live Magazine Ho VOL.3']. OSEN [ko]. December 31, 2019. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
^ abKang, Min-kyung (March 17, 2023). 펜타곤 조진호→'라이징' 이해준 등장…깜짝 놀란 전현무·팬심 폭발 규현('팬텀싱어4') [Jo Jin-ho of the Pentagon → 'Rising' Lee Hae-jun appears... Surprised Jeon Hyun-moo and Kyu-hyeon ('Phantom Singer 4')] (in Korean). Ten Asia. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023 – via Naver.
^비투비 육성재·임현식→펜타곤 진호, 오늘(11일) 나란히 입대 [BTOB Yook Sungjae, Lee Hyunsik & Pentagon Jinho enlisted together today, the 11th]. Daum (in Korean). May 11, 2020. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
^Jeong Ga-young (October 12, 2020). '컴백' 펜타곤 키노 "새 앨범 온라인 커버 내가 그려…후이에게 준 선물" ['There is nothing that cannot be done' Pentagon aims to sympathize with 'WE:TH' (Total)]. SportsWorld. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
^Hong Sunghoon (October 5, 2020). 펜타곤, 미니 10집 'WE:TH' 트랙리스트 공개 [Pentagon reveals 10th mini album 'WE:TH' track list]. NBNNews. Archived from the original on October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
^Lee Sun-myung (September 29, 2021). 펜타곤 맏형 진호, 오는 11월 14일 만기 전역 [Jinho, the eldest member of the Pentagon, will be discharged from the military on November 14th]. Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021 – via Naver.
^Jeong Bit (March 24, 2022). [공식]펜타곤 진호, 뮤지컬 '태양의 노래' 캐스팅…다채로운 활약 기대 [[Official] Pentagon Jinho casts for musical 'Song of the Sun'... Expect a variety of activities] (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022 – via Naver.
^Jeong Hee-yeon (August 10, 2022). 펜타곤 진호, 창작 뮤지컬 '오션스' 캐스팅 [공식] [Jinho of Pentagon, cast for creative musical 'Ocean's' [Official]] (in Korean). Sports Donga. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022 – via Naver.
^"[스테이지리뷰] 펜타곤 진호, '폭넓은 스펙트럼의 보컬, 새해의 경쾌감성 되다' (종합)" [[Stage Review] Pentagon Jinho, 'Vocalist of Broad Spectrum Becomes New Year's Lightness' (Official)]. RPM9. January 10, 2020. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
