Holland (singer)

Go chose Holland for his stage name as a tribute to the first country to legalize same-sex marriage.[3]

When Holland first decided to pursue music, he attempted to audition to join an entertainment company. However, no entertainment company was willing to work with an openly gay artist, so he worked two part-time jobs in order to fund his own debut single.[4] Holland released his debut single, "Neverland", on January 22, 2018. Its music video accumulated over 1 million views in 20 hours.[5] The music video shows Holland and his male counterpart kissing, and received a 19+ rating in South Korea.[2]

He returned on June 6 with his next single, "I'm Not Afraid". The music video also received a 19+ rating, but it was soon after removed.[6] His third single, "I'm So Afraid", was released on July 17. On September 6, Holland launched a crowdfunding campaign to help fund his first mini-album. He raised US$40,000 in the first 24 hours.[7]

On March 19, 2019, Holland announced his self-titled mini album, Holland, and the tracks "Nar_C" and "Up" on his Twitter and Instagram pages.[8] The album was released on March 31.

On July 8, 2019, Holland announced plans for his first tour via social media. [9] Later on November 1, Holland announced his first tour titled "Holland: Invitation from Neverland". He traveled to five cities in Europe. Months after releasing his debut mini album, Holland started teasing his next single "Loved You Better" on his social media platforms starting December 2, 2019. The song and music video were released on December 11.

Holland is known as "the first openly gay K-pop idol".[2] He is an only child. His parents found out about his sexuality after an article of an interview had been released. Holland, who was not home at the time, had written a letter to his family after they found out and explained everything to them. His family tearfully accepted him, unaware of the hardships he had gone through because of his sexuality.[10] He is currently a student of Seoul Institute of Arts.[11]

He decided to make his debut as a singer to speak out based on his experiences with violent assailants and victims inflicted on sexual minorities.[12] While preparing the album, he tried to sign several agencies for his debut, but the deal was broken when he told the story of the sexual minority through music and expressed his wish to develop a discourse on discrimination against the sex minority on his own. In the end, he produced his first single with the money he saved from his part-time job for about two years without his agency.[13]

• Holland on YouTube