Sweet Sorrow (band)

History

In Ho-jin, Song Woo-jin, Sung Jin-hwan, and pianist Kim Young-woo met around 1996 as students at Yonsei University, all singing together in the school glee club. They joined four other friends to create an eight-member a cappella group that earned a warm reception. The name Sweet Sorrow came from the line "Parting is such sweet sorrow" in Romeo and Juliet, chosen by Kim, an English literature major, to reflect the difficulties they had shared. Only these four decided to turn professional, making their debut in 2002. After performing covers at college festivals and events, the quartet gained national attention by winning the Daesang (Grand Prize) at the 16th Yoo Jae-ha Music Competition with their original song "Sweet Sorrow." They signed with Mezoo Cultures and released their first album in 2005. Their audience grew significantly through soundtrack work for popular TV dramas and appearances on MBC's Show Survival and KBS's Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend. In December 2017, Sung announced a health-related hiatus and later left the group for good. Sweet Sorrow returned as a trio in 2019 with a new album. They also joined with The Barberettes to form the mixed group SBSB, performing together on Immortal Songs.