Lee Dae-hwi (Korean: 이대휘, born January 29, 2001), known mononymously as Daehwi, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, producer and television personality. He is a member of South Korean boy group AB6IX, and is known for his participation in the reality competition show Produce 101 Season 2, where he finished in third place overall and became a member of the boy group Wanna One. In addition to singing and writing songs for various artists, he guest hosted and then became the permanent host for the long-time running variety show M Countdown.
Lee Dae-hwi was born in Seoul, South Korea.[1] His father passed away when he was six years old due to liver cirrhosis.[2] He had lived in Osaka, Japan, for two years and Los Angeles, United States, for six years.[3] He started his path as an idol after he passed the JYP Entertainment's Global Audition in the United States to begin his trainee life in South Korea in 2015. Around late 2016 he got accepted in Brand New Music through audition.[4] In 2019, he graduated from School of Performing Arts Seoul as a Department of Stage Arts major.[5] He currently attends Global Cyber University as a Broadcasting and Entertainment major.[citation needed]
In 2017, Lee participated in Produce 101 Season 2, a reality competition show broadcast on Mnet which produces a boy band from a field of 101 contestants. Lee became the first center performer for the program's promotional theme song, "Pick Me".[6] He participated on the program along with Brand New Music representative trainees Park Woo-jin, Im Young-min and Kim Dong-hyun. In the finale, he finished in third place with 1,102,005 votes, securing him a spot as a member of the boy band which was named Wanna One.[7]
He also continued to promote with Wanna One, including as a part of Wanna One's unit The Heal, as a duo with fellow member Ong Seong-wu. He participated as a lyricist of the unit's song, "Sandglass", which is produced by Heize.[13]
The group disbanded in January 2019.[14]
In 2018, Lee was involved in several prominent solo activities as an emcee. He was part of Global MC Crew on M Countdown,[15] a music program on Mnet. He has also participated as a special emcee on music programs such as Inkigayo,[16] M Countdown in Thailand, and the music festival KCON 2017–2018 during its stops in Los Angeles, Australia,[17] Japan,[18] New York,[19] and Thailand.[20]
Lee has also composed and produced songs for the Produce 101 shows. During the first evaluation of the Produce 101 Season 2 program, he performed his own composed song, titled "Hollywood".[21] After his debut in Wanna One, Lee had been actively released his own songs under his label, Brand New Music. His first released song under the label was "Good Day" which was included in MXM's first digital single.[22]
In 2018, Lee participated in the Mnet competition program Produce 48 as one of producer for the Concept songs, which was titled "See You Again".[10] His other composed songs for his labelmates includes "Remember Me" by Kang Min-hee,[23] "Wish You Love Me" and "Dawn", which was included on the MXM's first album More Than Ever.[24]
In January 2019, Lee collaborated with fellow labelmate Park Woo-jin and released a single titled "Candle".[25] The song reached number 60 on the Gaon Single Chart.[26] Lee also joined Brand New Music's boy band AB6IX, which debuted in May.[27]
In April 2019, he and Han Hyun-min became official permanent co-hosts on M Countdown.[31] His final broadcast as MC for the show was in February 2021.[32]
Lee is set to make his acting debut as the male lead Dong Jin-woo in SBS's mobile platform Mobidic short drama called Mon Chouchou Global House.[33] The drama will begin filming in August and premiere in October.[34]
On December 16, 2020 it was confirmed that Lee would be producing songs for Mnet's audition show CAP-TEEN.[35]
Daehwi participated in the music competition show Listen Up, competing against producers from across the K-pop industry.[36] In the finale, on October 8, 2022 it was announced he had finished the show in 1st place.[citation needed]
^Ahn Tae-hyun (September 13, 2022). "얼어죽을 연애따위' 이다희부터 최시원까지, 첫 대본리딩 어땠나 [N컷]" [How was the first script reading from Dahee Lee to Siwon Choi [N cut]]. News1 Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022 – via Naver.
^Hwang Soo-young (August 23, 2021). "[단독] 슈주 예성-이대휘-강혜원-임나영, '우리 식구됐어요' 합류" [[Solo] Suju Yesung - Lee Dae-hwi - Kang Hye-won - Im Na-young, 'We have been in my family']. Dailysports (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
^Seo Ye-jin (July 28, 2022). "[종합] "프듀·쇼미보다 살벌"…'리슨업' 개코·이대휘, '찐 프로'들의 배틀 예고" [[General] "It's more bloody than Producer Show Me"... 'Listen Up' Gaeko and Lee Dae-hwi, the battle of 'steamed pros'] (in Korean). Ten Asia. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022 – via Naver.
^Ha Kyung-heon (August 5, 2022). "tvN '각자의 본능대로', 방송일MC이대휘-조유리 트위터 블루룸 라이브 개최" [tvN 'According to Your Instinct', MCs Lee Dae-hwi and Jo Yu-ri held Twitter Blue Room Live on the broadcast day] (in Korean). Sports Kyunghyang. Archived from the original on August 5, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022 – via Naver.
^Han, Ah-jin (June 24, 2022). "몬스타엑스 민혁-형원-주헌 등K팝 주역 한 자리에…'X: 신세계' 화제!" [MONSTA X’s Minhyuk, Hyungwon, Jooheon, and other K-pop protagonists in one place… 'X: New World' topic!] (in Korean). fnnews. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022 – via Naver.
^Jang, Jin-ri (September 2, 2022). "'더도어' 오마이걸 승희-이찬원, 신입 처키vs알바 좀비…상황극 장인 대결" ['The Door' Oh My Girl Seunghee and Lee Chanwon, new Chucky vs Part-time Zombie... Situational play master showdown] (in Korean). spoTV News. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022 – via Naver.