These 8 K-Pop Idols Proved That Age Is Just A Number By Debuting Later In Life
While it seems like these days, it isn’t unusual for K-Pop idols to debut at younger and younger ages (which is understandably controversial), there have been a number of idols in the past who went against the odds and debuted at an “older” age than what is typical! While late teens to early twenties is the most common age to debut, the following idols all began their idol careers later than that, and many of them are still promoting actively today! Listed in no particular order, here are 8 idols who made this achievement.
1. Hui (PENTAGON)
Hui was born on August 28, 1993, making him 28 years old now! When PENTAGON debuted on October 10, 2016, he was 23 years old, which makes him still one of the younger people to debut on this list — however, he also deserves to be credited for the 9 years he spent as a trainee before he got to debut with PENTAGON!
2. Yoon Jisung (former Wanna One)
Jisung was born on March 8, 1991, making him 30 years old now! When he first debuted Wanna One on August 17, 2017 after ranking #8 on Produce 101, he was 26 years old! After Park Seongwoo, he was actually the oldest trainee on the program. When Wanna One had their planned disbandment, he re-debuted as a soloist on February 20, 2019 at just under 28 years old!
3. Park Bom (former 2NE1)
Park Bom was born on March 24, 1984, making her 37 years old now! When 2NE1 debuted on May 17, 2009, she was 25 years old, and the oldest member of the group (but only by a few months!). After the group disbanded, she released her first solo mini-album on March 13, 2019 at just under 35 years old!
4. Jinho (PENTAGON)
Jinho was born on April 17, 1992, making him 29 years old now! He’s the second member of PENTAGON to be on this list due to his later age of debut, since he was 24 with the group began their career in October of 2016.
5. Sojin (Girl’s Day)
Sojin was born on May 21, 1986, making her 35 years old now! When Girl’s Day first debuted in July 2010, this leader of the girl group was 24 years old. After the remaining four members of Girl’s Day didn’t renew their contracts with Dream Tea Entertainment in 2019, she ended up signing up with Noon Company in March of that same year at age 32!
6. J.Seph (KARD)
J.Seph was born on June 21, 1992, making him 29 years old now! When the co-ed group debuted on July 19, 2017, he was 25 years old (though they had released three pre-debut singles as early as December 2016). He is the oldest member of KARD, but only by a couple of months!
7. Dara (former 2NE1)
Dara was born on November 12, 2984, making her 36 years old now! Only a couple months younger than former fellow 2NE1 member Park Bom, Dara was 24 years old when the group debuted in May 2009. She finally left YG Entertainment earlier this year in May, and just signed a contract with Abyss Company in September, so it seems she’s still going strong in her solo career in her mid-thirties!
8. BM (KARD)
BM was born on October 20, 1992, making him just under 29 years old now! Only a few months younger than fellow KARD member J.Seph, he was 24 when the group debuted in July 2017. He made his solo debut this year on June 9 at the age of 28, so he’s still going strong too!