Leo (singer)

Jung Taek-woon (Hangul: 정택운, born November 10, 1990), better known by his stage name Leo (Hangul: 레오), is a South Korean singer, songwriter and actor, signed under Jellyfish Entertainment. Known for his high-pitched, sharp, and clear vocals, Leo debuted as a main vocalist of the South Korean boy group VIXX in May 2012, and began his acting career in 2014 in the musical Full House as Lee Young-jae. In 2015 he began his songwriting career, and with VIXX member Ravi formed VIXX's first official sub-unit VIXX LR.

Early life

Born in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, South Korea, his family consists of himself, his parents and three older sisters. Leo studied music composition at Howon University and was a member of the National Youth Soccer Players from 2004 to 2007. Growing up, Leo was actively involved in swimming, boxing, taekwondo, and soccer. While recovering from an injury, he developed an interest in becoming a singer after listening to Wheesung's "Walking in the Sky".

Career

2012-2013: Debut with VIXX

Leo Singer

Leopold von Singer (May 3, 1877 – March 5, 1951) was an Austrian American who was the manager of the Singer Midgets, a popular vaudeville group in the first half of the twentieth century.

Life and career

Singer was born to a prominent family in Vienna, Austria. He was reportedly inspired to form Singer's Midgets in 1912 or 1913, after he and his daughter Trudy were entertained by a troupe of little people at the Vienna Prater. With his wife, Walberga, Singer recruited little people for his own troupe, and began building the Liliputstadt, a "midget city" at the "Venice in Vienna" amusement park, where they could perform. Singer mainly sought out little people with proportionately-sized body parts – generally called "midgets", thus the name of the troupe – so that they could move and dance with ease.

The Liliputstadt was a major success, Singer began to tour with his performers throughout Europe and, in the process, recruited new members. After World War I broke out, the troupe traveled to the United States, and remained there for the remainder of their existence; they performed in vaudeville theaters. Because he was Austrian, the Bureau of Investigation (now the FBI) investigated Singer during World War I. In the end, the agents agreed with Singer’s claim that the accusations against him were based on “professional jealousy.” During the 1930s, some of Singer's Midgets began appearing in films, such as They Gave Him a Gun (1937), Block-Heads (1938), and The Terror of Tiny Town, a 1938 Western with an all-dwarf cast. Also in 1938, Singer signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to provide 124 proportionately-sized little people to play Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Some of the members of his troupe formed a portion of the group, and he traveled throughout the United States to recruit others.