May (singer)

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May
Birth nameBang Yu-jeong
Born (1982-05-06) 6 May 1982 (age 41)
OriginSouth Korea
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s)Acoustic guitar
Years active2006-present

Bang Yu-jeong (Korean방유정; born 6 May 1982),[1] better known by the stage names May (Korean메이; Japanese: メイ) and Yuu (Korean유우) is a South Korean singer active in Japan.[2]

Career[edit]

Wonderland[edit]

May is a Korean artist who made her debut in 2006, but wasn't able to gain any success on her releases. May started her music career singing "Miracle" as a theme song along with a F.I.R. cover song "Lydia" as an insert song for a popular Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) weekend drama "Friends" in late 2005. On 7 March 2006, May had a contract with CJ Music releasing her first EP or mini album entitled "Wonderland" that featured seven songs. The EP did not gather much attention despite charting at number 23 on Korean top 200.

Smile[edit]

Three months later, on 2 June 2006, May released her second EP or mini album "Smile" with a different publisher, Doremi Media. "Smile" reached number 27 in the chart. She also covered another song from F.I.R which was, "Fly Away". May released two versions of "Smile": a first press limited version with her "M" symbol, and a regular version without the "M" symbol.

A Little Happiness[edit]

Early in 2005, Avex launched a project called Show Case Live. It featured samples of eight upcoming artists, including May. She signed under the Avex label later that year. On 21 February 2006, May released her first single "Wonderland", which failed to chart on Oricon. Before Mat's "Smile" EP, she released her second single "Kienai Niji" in May 2006 also failing to chart. On 26 July 2006, May released "Surrender (c/w Lydia)", her third single, which gained her little success. May released her fourth single in autumn on 8 November 2006. By 10 January 2007, Sarai no Kaze was released as her fifth single, also her first single to chart at #132 sold 518 copies in the first week. By end of the month May released her first album "a Little Happiness" chart at #77.

Japanese tour[edit]

MAY started a tour in 2007 after releasing her sixth single "Onna Gokoro" on 4 April 2007.

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
JPN
[3]
Japanese
A Little Happiness
  • Released: 31 January 2006
  • Label: Avex IO
92

Extended plays[edit]

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[4]
Korean
Wonderland
Smile
  • Released: 14 June 2006
  • Label: Doremi Media
"—" denotes album did not chart.

Singles[edit]

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
JPN
[3]
KOR
Japanese
『Wonderland』 2006 No data* A Little Happiness
『消えない虹』
『Surrender』
『木枯らしの純情』
『サライの風』 2007 132 Non-album singles
『オンナゴコロ』
『Kizuna』
Korean
"Wonderland" 2006 No data* Wonderland
"Wicked Me" (못된 나) 2008 Non-album singles
"Winter Wonderland"
"—" denotes single did not chart or was not released in that region.
*No chart data available from South Korean Gaon Chart prior to 2010.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "메이(May) 소개" [May Profile]. Mnet (in Korean). Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  2. ^ Lee, Hae-ri (24 July 2009). "'영혼을 달래는 울림'… 유우가 왔다". Sports Dong-A (in Korean). Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b "MAYの作品" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  4. ^ "K-Pop Album Sales Volume" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.