Background
Eric Nam was born and raised in Atlanta to South Korean parents on November 17, 1988 as an oldest son.
Eric Nam was born and raised in Atlanta to South Korean parents on November 17, 1988 as an oldest son.
He graduated from The Lovett School in 2007 where he played soccer and played in the orchestra. He then flew to Boston where he studied Bachelor of International Studies at Boston College. He also studied in Beijing for a year.
He first appeared on Birth of a Great Star 2 in 2012 after being discovered in one of his cover songs on YouTube. He made official debut with released his first mini album, "Cloud 9" on January 23, 2013. Foreign his senior project, he recorded his own solo Civil Defense that was very popular with the student body.
He can speak Korean, English, Spanish, Chinese, and is currently learning Japanese.
When he was younger, he became a part of the Atlanta Boy Choir and toured in Italy where he got to sing for mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Pre-debut
After doing some covers on YouTube, a JYP representative suggested that he should go to a JYP audition in New New York
However, he decided not to audition because during that time, he still had to focus on his studies. In June 2011 a cover called "Eric Nam - 에릭남 - 2NE1 - Lonely! Male Version Cover" that he posted was enough for MBC to fly him to of Korea for an audition in person.
Eric Nam became a part of a talent search show, Birth of a Great Star 2 as a contestant in December 2011.
He stayed in the competition for about 8 months and made it to the Top 5. After the show, he flew back to United States of America and performed at Kollaboration Boston 2 on April 21, 2012. Kollaboration is a "nationwide talent competition that empowers Asian-Americans through entertainment."
In June 2012, Eric Nam headed back to of Korea for his project group, Namaste"s single, "제주도의 푸른밤" (The Blue Night of Jeju Island) and was released after a month.
He also became an Military Cross at MBC Star Audition Season 3 that was held in August in New New York
On September 25, 2012, he joined B2M Entertainment and became a solo artist. 2013-2014: Debut with Cloud 9, Ooh Ooh and Melt My Heart
On January 23, 2013 Eric Nam made his official debut with released debut mini album Cloud 9 which contained the title track, "Heaven"s Door".
On April 8, 2014, Eric Nam released new single "Ooh Ooh" which featured Hoya of Infinite. The accompanying music video also featured cameo appearances of Boa (Spica), Kevin (U-KISS), and Brad Moore (Busker Busker).
On December 9, 2014 Eric Nam released new single "Melt My Heart" before releasing a new album the following January.
2015-present: I"m Oklahoma, Interview
In February 2015, Eric was featured on Amber Liu"s mini-album Beautiful on the song "I Just Wanna". On March 5, 2015, he released the single "I"m Oklahoma" and its accompanying music video. On May 19, 2015 producer group Sweet Tune revealed that Eric Nam would release a single called "Dream" which features 15&‘s Jimin for Charity Project.
In December 2015, Eric Nam signed an exclusive contract with CJ East&M after his three-year contract with B2M Entertainment expired.B2M Entertainment still managed him as producer.
On March 4, 2016, Eric Nam take part of Master of Science Entertainment"s digital music channel Master of Science STATION by releasing "Spring Love" a duet track with Red Velvet"s Wendy. On March 8, 2016 Eric Nam dropped teaser image in his official instagram and revealed that would release his second mini album Interview on March 24.