Kang Daniel (; born Kang Eui-geon, December 10, 1996), stylized as KANGDANIEL, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, television host, and businessman who rose to fame in early 2017 as the first-place winner of the second season of reality competition series Produce 101. He is a former member of the show's resulting boy group Wanna One that, at the time, was a major power player in the K-pop industry.
Following the end of Wanna One's activities as a group, Kang took a six-month hiatus from the entertainment industry and took over management of his career. In mid-2019, he released his solo debut extended play (EP), Color on Me, which was a commercial success that topped South Korea's Gaon Album Chart. His subsequent works from his color series titled Cyan (2020) and Magenta (2020) also topped the Gaon Album Chart with the former's title track earning Kang his first domestic top ten single. Further solidifying his career as a solo artist, Kang earned his first top five single in Korea as well as his first solo appearance on Billboard'''s World Digital Song Sales chart through the single "Paranoia". He then released the third and final chapter of his "color trilogy", Yellow (2021), which topped the Gaon Album Chart and contained his first domestic number one single titled "Antidote".
Alongside his music career, Kang appeared as the host of Mnet's Street Woman Fighter (2021), the spin-off show Street Dance Girls Fighter (2021–2022), the one-episode television special titled Be Mbitious (2022) in addition to Street Man Fighter (2022) as well as Street Woman Fighter 2 (2023). He also made his acting debut through the first-ever Korean Disney+ Star original series, Rookie Cops (2022). His other ventures include establishing an independent entertainment company named Konnect Entertainment to manage his own career, expanding to manage other artists prior to its dissolution in 2024.
Kang is the recipient of numerous accolades including four Seoul Music Awards, one Melon Music Award, one Circle Chart Music Award, and a Guinness World Record. His acting debut also earned him various accolades including two Asia Artist Awards, one Blue Dragon Series Award, and a Seoul International Drama Award. He has made the Gallup Korea list of Most Preferred Idols in 2017, 2018, and 2019, the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 list in 2019 and 2022, and appeared on Peoples list of talented emerging artists making their mark in 2022. In the same year, Kang was the recipient of the Seoul Mayor's Award for Culture due to his great contribution to the rise of Seoul's awareness by promoting the Korean Wave in various fields.
Early life and education Kang Daniel was born as Kang Eui-geon () in Busan, South Korea as the only child of his family. After spending his childhood and most of his teen years with his birth name, he decided to legally change it to Daniel due to family and friends having difficulty pronouncing Eui-geon. On an episode of MBC's Radio Star, Kang cited a biblical figure as his source of inspiration for the name Daniel. He began dancing in eighth grade through a b-boy club he joined following a teacher's suggestion and later attended a dance academy in Busan called Nataraja Academy. Following this, Kang participated in a youth dance competition titled "Busan Kids" where he and his teammate won against competitors such as Jimin (who would later become a member of BTS) and Park Woo-jin (who would later become a fellow member of Wanna One). During a guest appearance at variety show Hello Counselor, Kang revealed that he was ostracized in elementary school because of his appearance and developed passion and built self-esteem through dancing. To further pursue this passion, he attended Peniel Arts High School where he studied modern dance for a year with a focus on ballet and won a gold medal in the dance category at the 49th High School Performing Arts Contest. Having been raised in a single parent household, Kang revealed that the "tuition [at his arts high school] was really expensive" for his mother who, at the time, was not feeling healthy. This led to him dropping out of high school shortly after enrolling and later receiving the Korean equivalent of a General Educational Development (GED) credential.
In mid-2018, Kang enrolled in the Department of Applied Music at Kyung Hee Cyber University.
Career Early career Prior to appearing on Produce 101 Season 2, Kang had trained for two years and one month. He initially started as a trainee under B2M Entertainment until the company's acquisition and then became a trainee under MMO Entertainment. Throughout this training period, Kang did not receive dance or singing lessons due to both company's financial instability. One of the most notable moments during his time as a trainee was his appearance on Her Secret Weapon, performing "Invitation" by Uhm Jung-hwa, where he served as a backup dancer to Fiestar's Cao Lu and Spica's Sihyun.
2017–2018: Produce 101 and Wanna One
In 2017, Kang was one of the five contestants who represented MMO Entertainment on the second season of Mnet's Produce series. He is known for finishing first in the final episode of the survival show and becoming the center of the temporary boy group Wanna One that was initially managed by YMC Entertainment and later managed by Swing Entertainment. Kang's most notable moment on the show was his signature dance move that was re-enacted by many such as the cast of Running Man, the cast of Saturday Night Live Korea (SNL Korea), and other celebrities such as Rain.Kang Daniel's Signature Dance Move: Running Man cast SNL Korea cast Rain He officially debuted with Wanna One during Wanna One Premier Show-Con on August 7, at the Gocheok Sky Dome, with the debut extended play (EP) 1×1=1 (To Be One). During the preparation for this debut, Kang was confirmed to join the pilot season of MBC's It's Dangerous Beyond The Blankets which premiered on August 27. In the same month, he was featured on the cover of Weekly Chosun magazine, one of the major news and current events publications in South Korea, with an article focusing on his popularity among the general public. Following the conclusion of promotions for the EP, Kang was chosen as the first male celebrity to appear on the cover of InStyle Korea fashion magazine in its 14-year history for its October 2017 issue. He was also signed as a cast member for SBS's newly launched variety show Master Key, for which he was awarded the variety rookie award at the 2017 SBS Entertainment Awards.
Kang was involved in several prominent solo activities the following year, most notably as the main model for Davichi's "Days Without You" () music video and as a continuing cast member on the second season of MBC's It's Dangerous Beyond the Blankets. He was later awarded the variety rookie award at the 2018 MBC Entertainment Awards for his work at the respective show. He also continued to promote with Wanna One, including as a part of Wanna One's unit "Triple Position" which won the Best Unit Award at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards for the single "Kangaroo". Although he concluded his contract with Wanna One on December 31, he still appeared with the group until its official farewell concerts that were held at the Gocheok Sky Dome between January 24 to 27 of the following year.
2019: Solo debut with Color on Me On January 31, 2019, it was reported that Kang would move to LM Entertainment after the end of his activities with Wanna One. On March 21, it was further reported that Kang submitted an application to suspend his exclusive contract with LM. His legal representative revealed that LM Entertainment had signed joint business contracts that sold Kang's exclusive contract rights to third parties without his prior consent. On May 10, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Kang, allowing the suspension of his contract and his pursuit of individual activities as a celebrity without any interference from the company. The following month, Kang was reported to have established his own agency Konnect Entertainment for his future activities. LM Entertainment's first appeal regarding the contract suspension was rejected by the Seoul Central District Court on July 11.
Kang officially debuted as a solo artist on July 25 with the debut EP, Color on Me. As reflected on Hanteo Chart, the EP set records for both the highest first-day and first-week physical sales for a solo artist since the chart's inception at the time. Its lead single "What Are You Up To" gave Kang his first-ever solo music show win on KBS2's Music Bank on August 9. He kicked off promotions for the EP with six different fan-sign events held across Korea between July 31 and August 3. Following this, Kang embarked on the first fan meet tour of his solo career, touring six different cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila, before ending in Seoul on November 24.Kang Daniel's 2019 Fan Meet Tour: Singapore Bangkok Taipei Kuala Lumpur Manila Seoul In the midst of touring, he also hosted his own radio show on NOW., Naver's online audio streaming service. The Kang Daniel Show aired on Chuseok holiday with a total of four episodes released each day from September 11 to 14; with Gray making a guest appearance on the third episode. In the same month, it was announced that Kang's contract with LM was officially terminated as both sides came to a mutual agreement. Serving as his first comeback, Kang released two digital singles on November 25 called "Touchin'" and "Adulthood". Unlike his solo debut, Kang was able to promote "Touchin'" by performing the song on several Korean music shows and won a trophy on SBS MTV's The Show on December 3. However, after a week of promoting, Konnect announced that Kang would take a break to focus on his health.
2020–2021: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and MC ventures
In 2020, Kang returned to scheduled activities with travel reality show Hello, Daniel which premiered on March 4. Twenty days later, he released his second EP Cyan as the first installment of his "color trilogy" project. Its lead single "2U" gave Kang his first top ten track in Korea along with several trophies on music shows: The Show, Music Bank, Show! Music Core, Show Champion, and M Countdown. Prior to the release of Cyan, it was revealed that Kang and Zico would release a song together as part of the Pepsi and Starship Entertainment collaboration project named "For the Love of Korea". Their joint single "Refresh" was co-produced by Steve Aoki and released on April 23. The following month, he participated in 88rising's Asia Rising Forever and the TikTok Stage online concert. On June 19, Kang released his first-ever drama OST titled "Something" through SBS's romantic comedy Backstreet Rookie. He also joined the lineup for KCON:TACT 2020 Summer and the Pepsi Online Showcase, for which he hosted the opening and later performed as Pepsi's global K-pop partner. To celebrate the first anniversary of his solo debut, Kang held an online fan meeting on July 25 via ten streaming platforms worldwide. This made him the first Korean celebrity to have a fan meeting broadcast live through China's local platform since the country's ban on Korean culture began in 2016.
The second installment of his "color trilogy" project and third EP Magenta was released on August 3. With this release, Kang surpassed one million cumulative albums sold within 13 months of debuting as a solo artist. The lead single "Who U Are" peaked at number 12 in Korea and won trophies on SBS MTV's The Show, KBS2's Music Bank, and MBC's Show! Music Core. Two months later, Kang performed on a special episode of MBC's I Live Alone for the 2021 Summer/Spring Seoul Fashion Week. In November, Konnect opened pre-orders for Kang's first artbook Never Standing Still - It's Time to Shine in collaboration with Paul McCartney's personal photographer, MJ Kim.