South Korean singer Shim Chang-min (known professionally as Max Changmin), was born on February 18, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. Scouted by an agent from SM Entertainment when he was a teenager, Changmin reluctantly auditioned for the agency and was accepted, joining K-pop boy band TVXQ in 2003 at the age of 15, alongside four other members: Yunho, Xiah Junsu, Micky Yoochun and Kim Jaejoong. In 2010, Junsu, Yoochun and Jaejoong left to form the boy band JYJ, leaving Changmin and Yunho to continue TVXQ as a duo, often considered the "Kings of K-pop". In 2014, Changmin joined S.M. the Ballad, publishing his first solo mini-album, Close to You in 2015, before devoting himself once again to TVXQ for the next five years. A second mini-album entitled Chocolate appeared in 2020, peaking at number 2 on the Korean charts followed by Human (2021) and Devil (2022), peaking at number 7. In December 2022, collaborated with South Korean singers Taeyeon and Winter on soulful single “Priority” which the trio performed at SMTOWN LIVE 2023, with the video attracting almost a million views online within a week of being released.
