Danny Ahn

Early life

Born in Seattle, Washington, on December 22, 1978, Danny Ahn holds American citizenship. He moved to South Korea with his family and spent most of his school years there. His father is the youngest sibling of the mother of g.o.d bandmate Joon Park, making the two first cousins.

When Ahn was in elementary school, his parents divorced, and he and his older sister went to live with their mother. As a teenager, he began dreaming of becoming a singer after listening to Seo Taiji and Boys. He later studied Theater and Film at Dankook University.

Career

Ahn's professional career began when he worked as a rapper for singer Uhm Jung-hwa. He was also part of a mixed-gender project group with his friend Son Ho-young, Shoo, and Kim Hwan-sung, but the group fell through; Kim later became the final member of NRG, and Shoo joined S.M. Entertainment to debut with S.E.S. In 1997, his cousin Joon recruited him for another project group. Between 1997 and 1998, Son, Yoon Kye-sang, and Kim Sun-a were brought in through auditions, with Park Jin-young as their producer and mentor.

Kim Sun-a left to pursue acting and was replaced by Kim Tae-woo, then still a high school student. This lineup became the five-member boy band g.o.d, short for "Groove Over Dose." Their debut performance in January 1999 received a lukewarm response, but the group went on to become one of the most popular K-pop acts of the 2000s. Ahn occasionally composed his own rap lyrics.

1999–2005: Success with g.o.d

The group later moved from SidusHQ to JYP Entertainment, with two members switching agencies while Ahn and Yoon renewed their individual contracts at SidusHQ. Yoon left the group in 2004, and g.o.d continued as a quartet until December 2005. Before the group went on hiatus at the end of that month, Ahn had already ventured into radio. He became a DJ on KBS Cool FM, hosting the first episodes of Kiss the Radio, and later took over the long-running afternoon program Music Show from Lee Soo-young.

2006–2013: Solo activities and projects

In 2015, he returned as a guest DJ for KBS Cool FM's 50th anniversary "Homecoming Day" special. On May 28, 2007, he released his solo single "If It Were A Dream," featuring a cappella group Sweet Sorrow. Since then, he has largely done guest vocals for artists such as Rain, his bandmate Kim Tae-woo, SG Wannabe, and Kim Dong-wan. Ahn also took roles in TV shows and films, including the 2008 film Crazy Waiting, the KBS drama The Slave Hunters as Baek-ho, the variety show Let's Go Dream Team!

Season 2 as team leader, the drama The Fugitive: Plan B as Manager Baek Nam-jung, and The Innocent Man. He was a permanent guest on SBS's talk show Strong Heart.

Did You Know?

• Danny Ahn and g.o.d bandmate Joon Park are first cousins; Ahn's father is the youngest sibling of Joon's mother.
• He was part of a project group called HOTSechgodRG, which included members of H.O.T, Sechs Kies, and NRG, all born in 1978.