Mark Tuan (born Mark Yien Tuan (Chinese: 段宜恩; pinyin: Duàn Yí'ēn; Korean: 마크투안), on September 4, 1993),[1] also known mononymously as Mark, is an American rapper and singer. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Got7.[2]
In 2022, Tuan released his first studio album The Other Side and embarked on his first solo tour that same year.
Biography
Born as Mark Yien Tuan in Los Angeles, California, he spent a number of years in Paraguay and Brazil before eventually returning to California, where he grew up.[3][4] He is Taiwanese,[5] and has two older sisters and one younger brother.[3][6][7] He took violin and piano lessons in elementary school, and moved to guitar in junior high school.[7]
He attended Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California.[4] In 2010, while with his friends at school, he caught the attention of a JYP Entertainment scout, who invited him to the auditions.[8] Tuan had no desire to pursue a musical career but was encouraged by his friends and family who told him it was a good opportunity and thus, he gave it a try.[9] He subsequently passed the audition and dropped out of school, which he attended until grade 10.[4][6] He moved to South Korea in August 2010,[10][11][12] where he learned acrobatics for one year, and martial arts for two years.[13] Learning to sing, rap and dance, and performing on a stage as a trainee, inspired him to pursue the idol life and to become a singer.[8][9]
Career
2012–2013: Pre-debut
In 2012, Tuan made a cameo in the first episode of Dream High 2 as a backup dancer alongside JB and Jinyoung, who later became members of Got7 with him.
He appeared in the fourth episode of Mnet's 2013 reality-survival program WIN: Who is Next, which presented iKon and Winner members, who at the time were still trainees under YG Entertainment. It also featured future fellow Got7 members' Jackson Wang, BamBam and Yugyeom.[14][15]
2014–2020: Debut and solo activities in China
On January 16, 2014, Tuan debuted as a part of K-pop boy group Got7, with the EPGot It?.[16] Since his debut, Tuan has expressed his goals in working harder to become a singer-songwriter and making his own music.[17] He began writing rap and lyrics with the track "Back To Me" from Got7's 2015 extended play Just Right,[18] then participated in the rap and lyric making for five out of thirteen songs from the 2016 album Flight Log: Turbulence.[19] With Got7's third studio album Present: You, Tuan released his first Korean solo song "OMW" featuring fellow member Jackson Wang;[20] an accompanying music video was published on September 13, 2018.[21] As of December 2021, Tuan is credited as songwriter on twenty Got7's songs and on eight as co-composer.[22]
With Dazed Korea May 2017 issue, Tuan launched his career as a model on magazines across South Korea, China and Thailand,[5][7][23][24] appearing on over 21 magazines cover as of April 2021.[25] He has also released two limited edition apparel collections with Represent in 2018 and 2019 titled XCIII, helping in the creation and designing of each piece.[5][26][27] The second collection, XCIII Evolution, sold more than 35,000 items, and all the profits proceeded to Save the Children.[27][28]
On February 10, 2018, Tuan, along with fellow member BamBam, held the "Project Blur" fan meeting in Thailand at MCC Hall The Mall Ngamwongwan, whose tickets sold out in a minute.[29] In the spring of 2019, he joined Jus2 in their "Focus" Premiere Showcase in Asia, acting as the MC for Macau (April 7), Taipei (April 14) and Singapore (May 4) stops.[30][31][32]
Tuan's increasing presence in the Chinese market began in 2018 with photoshoots, participation in events and interviews. In January 2019, the variety show Change Your Life (重量级改变) marked his first television appearance in mainland China.[33] On April 11, 2019, Tuan attended the Weibo Starlight Awards in Hong Kong and won the Hot Star Award.[34][35]
In 2019, Tuan toured China for his first set of fan meetings, titled "On Your Mark". The first one in Nanjing was held on July 20, 2019, and sold out all 3,000 seats within the first minute.[36][37][38] The event also saw the signing of his first photobook, Mark Yixia, which had been earlier released on June 30.[39] The second fan meeting was held on September 14 in Chengdu.[40] As both the shows were well received by local fans, they were followed by an additional and final stop in Shanghai on January 11, 2020.[40] On the day of the last fan meeting, he released his first Chinese single, "Outta My Head".[5] His second single, titled "Never Told You" (从未对你说过), was released as a charity single on White Day.[41]
From June 15 until August 28, 2020, Tuan appeared on eight episodes of Huya Super Idol League Season 10 as "Gamer Mark".[42][43]
2021–present: Departure from JYPE and music releases
In January 2021, Tuan, along with the other six members of Got7, chose not to renew his contract with JYP Entertainment.[44] He moved back to the USA and opened a YouTube channel which shortly gained over a million subscribers before he had posted any content to it.[45]
The opening of his company Mark Tuan Studio in Beijing was announced on February 7 with focus on his solo Chinese activities and promotions.[46] Meanwhile, he also set up a new label, DNA Records, together with his friends.[47] On February 12, he released the single "One in a Million" in collaboration with Sanjoy Deb.[48] An animated music video, which Tuan was also an executive producer of, was then released on his YouTube channel on Valentine's Day.[49] He also served as the executive producer of Got7's "Encore" music video released on February 20, 2021.[50]
A third apparel collection in collaboration with Represent, named XC3, went on sale on March 17.[51][52] On April 29, Tuan signed with Creative Artists Agency.[53][54]
In the second half of the year, Tuan sang "Never Gonna Come Down" with Bibi for the movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.[55][56] On November 12, 2021, he released the digital single "Last Breath."[57][58] He subsequently released other songs in 2022, namely "My Life" on January 21,[59] "Lonely" on March 24,[60] and "Save Me" on April 7.[61]
From May 27 to May 29, 2022, he held a sold-out solo fan meeting in Thailand titled "Pull-Up."[62]
On July 1, 2022, Tuan released the digital single "IMYSM".[63] The song was the fifth and last single extracted from his first studio album The Other Side, which was published on August 26, 2022 together with the music video of title track "Far Away."[64] The singer was credited both for songwriting and composition across every song of the 20-track record, showcasing both his singing and rapping abilities.[65] In October and November, Tuan subsequently embarked in his first solo tour and performed in 15 cities across North America;[66][67] the Asian leg started in Bangkok and Khon Kaen in April 2023.[68] In the meantime, his new collaboration with Represent went on sale in mid December.[69][70]
On March 31, 2023, he released the single "Carry Me Out".[71] Along with following releases "Everyone Else Fades" and "Your World", the song was included in Tuan's digital EP Fallin', which was released on October 27.[72]
Personal life
Growing up in the US and coming from a Taiwanese family, Tuan can speak both English and Mandarin Chinese, as well as having learned Korean and Japanese.[73]
In December 2018, Tuan suffered from a leg injury while practicing martial arts tricks for the JYP Nation stage on 2018 KBS Song Festival and could not perform at the event or at later schedules including the fifth anniversary fan meeting for Got7, therefore he stayed seated for most of the concert.[74]
Other ventures
Philanthropy
In March 2019, Tuan became the cover of the 200th issue of the Korean charitable magazine The Big Issue, which provides support for the homeless.[75][76] He has also supported charity through his clothing line collaborations with Represent and his second single, "Never Told You".[77] The latter was released in collaboration with the China Children's Charity Relief Foundation,[77][78] and their partnership also saw the sale of a sweater in collaboration with ETET to help children in Heqing County in Yunnan Province.
In September 2024, he partnered with Siam Center to auction some of his exclusive unseen photos to raise money to help flood victims in Thailand.[86]
Endorsements
In 2019, Tuan became Vivo brand ambassador in Thailand alongside group member BamBam.[87] In China, he became the brand ambassador for Davines in April 2019[88] and Mentholatum on May 27, 2020 for Mentholatum Acnes,[89] having previously endorsed Mentholatum's Lip Tiara in December 2019, which was restocked multiple times due to the high demand.[90] In August 2020, Tuan became the brand ambassador for China Unicom, a large telecommunications operator in China.[91][92][93]
On June 2, 2021, he became the ambassador for Sisley's Black Rose Skin Infusion Cream,[94] while on June 16, Tuan collaborated with Anessa for a limited edition Artist Box, becoming the first artist to do so.[95][96]
^ abJang, Eun-kyung (February 27, 2014). "[더★프로필] 갓세븐(GOT7) JB-마크-잭슨-JR, 형라인 4인방의 수집품은?" [[The★Profile] What are the collections of GOT7's JB-Mark-Jackson-JR, the four members of the older brother line?]. Global Pickcon. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
^ abLee, Jae-hoon (January 18, 2014). "갓세븐·GOT7, 빛나는 2PM 우리가 잇는다…JYP엔터 신병기" [GOT7, GOT7, the shining 2PM, we are connected… JYP Entertainment’s new weapon]. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
^Jimin, Kyung (August 25, 2018). "갓세븐, 9월 3집 'Present : You'로 컴백..2년 만에 정규앨범 [공식입장]" [GOT7 to make a comeback with their 3rd album 'Present: You' in September.. First full-length album in 2 years [Official statement]]. Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
^Kwang, Hyun-soo (September 14, 2018). "[DAY컷] GOT7 마크, 솔로곡 'OMW' MV서 비현실적 매력" [[DAY CUT] GOT7 Mark, unrealistic charm in solo song 'OMW' MV]. Sports Donga (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2020 – via Naver.
^Park, A-reum (January 30, 2019). "갓세븐 마크 "톱 되고싶었던 나, 데뷔 후 힘든 일임을 깨달았다"" [GOT7 Mark: “I Wanted to Become the Top, But After Debuting, I Realized It Was Hard”]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
^Lee, Min-ji (September 5, 2020). "갓세븐 마크, 中 이동통신사 합작 아티스트 발탁(공식)". Newsen (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
^"鲜活一触即发，与段宜恩一起自信闪耀". www.xiaohongshu.com (in Chinese). June 2, 2021. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
^Hong, Eun-young (July 12, 2021). "갓세븐 마크, 아넷사와 협업한 '아티스트박스' 팬심 저격". Sisa News (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
^Bae, Yeon-soo (July 12, 2021). "아티스트박스, '갓세븐 마크X아넷사' 깜짝 굿즈 판매". Sports W (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
^Peaks on the Circle (formerly Gaon) Download Chart:
"Last Breath": 2021년 47주차 Download Chart [Week 47 of 2021 Download Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
"My Life": 2021년 04주차 Download Chart [Week 4 of 2022 Download Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
"Lonely": 2021년 13주차 Download Chart [Week 13 of 2022 Download Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
^Lee, Seong-sun (January 3, 2024). "'서울가요대상', 영예의 대상엔시티 드림…임영웅→제베원 등 18팀 본상 수상" ['Seoul Music Awards', Honourable Mention NCT Dream... 18 teams including Lim Young Woong → Zerobaseone win main prize]. Surprise News (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
