behind Eric Nam

Nam Yoon-do (Hangul: 남윤도, born November 17, 1988), better known by his birth name Eric Nam (Korean: 에릭남), is a Korean-American soloist signed under B2M Entertainment alongside Lee Hyori, SPICA, Heo Young Saeng, and Kim Kyu Jong. He first appeared on Birth of a Great Star 2 in 2012 after being discovered in one of his cover songs on YouTube. He released his first album, "Cloud 9", on January 23, 2013.

Early life

Eric Nam was born and raised in Atlanta on November 17, 1988. He graduated from The Lovett School in 2007 where he played soccer and played in the orchestra. For his senior project, he recorded his own solo CD that was very popular with the student body. He then flew to Boston where he studied Bachelor of International Studies at Boston College. He also studied in Beijing for a year. He can speak Korean, English, Spanish, Chinese, and is currently learning Japanese. When he was younger, he became a part of the Atlanta Boy Choir and toured in Italy where he got to sing for mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Pre-Debut

Before making it to the K-Pop industry, Eric Nam was already making cover songs and posting them on YouTube. The cover songs include Taeyang's "Wedding Dress" and "I Need A Girl", "End of the Road" by Boys 2 Men, and "Someone Like You" by Adele. He also once auditioned in SM Entertainment when he was in high school, but he didn't get in. He didn't give up, though, and continued uploading YouTube videos. One time, a JYP representative called him after watching his cover songs and suggested that he should go to a JYP audition in New York. However, he decided not to audition because during that time, he still had to focus on his studies. On June 13 of 2011, he posted a cover song of Lonely by 2ne1, and soon discovered by a Korean broadcasting company, MBC. After MBC watched his YouTube audition, he was flown out to Korea for an audition in person.