You Hee-yeol

You Hee-yeol is a composer, singer and broadcast host who has performed under the one-man project Toy. His signature songs include Toy's 〈내가 너의 곁에 잠시 살았다는 걸〉, 〈좋은 사람〉 and 〈뜨거운 안녕〉.

Debut

October 24, 1994 · Debut song 내 마음속에

Birthday

April 19, 1971

Years active

1994–

Meaning of the Name

Toy is a name that spells out phonetically the two Y's, the initials of the two founding members' surnames, that is, "Two Y."

Genre

Ballad · Pop

Real name

유희열

Debut reference

Listed by debut year rather than idol generation.

걸어온 길

1. 01 내가 너의 곁에 잠시 살았다는 걸 1996 YouTube Spotify
2. 02 여전히 아름다운지 1999 YouTube Spotify
3. 03 좋은 사람 2001 YouTube Spotify
4. 04 뜨거운 안녕 2007 YouTube Spotify
5. 05 세 사람 2014 YouTube Spotify

Links go to each service's search results. Lyrics are not included for copyright reasons.

Key releases

1. 1994.10 내 마음속에Toy full-length first albumDebut album
2. 1996.02 YOUHEEYEOLToy full-length second albumIncluded on 〈내가 너의 곁에 잠시 살았다는 걸〉
3. 1997.10 PresentToy full-length third album
4. 1999.01 A Night in SeoulToy full-length fourth albumIncluded on 〈여전히 아름다운지〉
5. 2001.05 FermataToy full-length fifth albumIncluded on 〈좋은 사람〉
6. 2007.11 Thank YouToy full-length sixth albumIncluded on 〈뜨거운 안녕〉
7. 2014.11 Da CapoToy full-length seventh album

• 1992 4th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest Grand Prize
• 2009 Korean Music Awards Musician of the Year
• 2009 Korean Music Awards Best Pop Song (뜨거운 안녕)
• 2010 KBS Entertainment Awards Radio DJ Award
• 2015 Melon Music Awards TOP 10

Key records and stories

• He graduated from the Department of Composition at Seoul National University.
• He won the Grand Prize at the 4th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest in 1992.
• He hosted KBS 2TV's 《유희열의 스케치북》 from 2009 to 2022.
• When plagiarism suspicions arose in 2022, he acknowledged some similarities, apologized, and stepped down from 《스케치북》.
• Toy's seventh album 《Da Capo》 reached No. 2 on the album chart.
• In November 2014 he reached No. 1 on KBS's 《뮤직뱅크》 with Toy's 〈세 사람〉.