| Yoo Jae-ha | |||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 6 June 1962 | ||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea[1] | ||||||||||||
| Death Place: | Seoul, South Korea | ||||||||||||
| Occupations: | Singer, songwriter | ||||||||||||
| Years Active: | 1984–1987 | ||||||||||||
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Yoo Jae-ha (;[2] June 6, 1962 – November 1, 1987)[3] was a South Korean singer and songwriter.[4] His first and only album, Because I Love You was released through Seoul Records in 1987.[5] Yoo died in a car accident months later from the album release at age 25.[6] Even though he died with only one album, Yoo Jae-ha's music has a great legacy in South Korea, and it is credited with exerting tremendous influence in Korean popular music.
Yoo was born in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea.[1] He attended Hanyang University, where he studied music composition and began playing the keyboard for Cho Yong-pil's band, The Great Birth in 1984.
After graduating from college, he worked with Kim Hyun-sik for Kim's first album Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter, and in 1986, he wrote the song "Hidden Road" from Kim's 3rd album, which contributed to the creation of Kim's early alum. The following year, in 1987, he released his first and only album, Because I Love You, and then died in a car accident on November 1 of the same year at the age of 25.
Following Yoo's death in 1987, his family established the Yoo Jae-ha Scholarship Foundation, followed in 1989 by the Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest. Winners of the contest include You Hee-yeol, Kim Yeon-woo, and Bang Si-hyuk.[7]
As of 2011, Because I Love You has sold more than 2 million copies.[8] The album was remastered and re-released on vinyl in 2014.[9] In 2013, Mnet ranked Yoo at number one on their Legend 100 list of the most influential musicians in South Korean history since the 1960s.[10] In 2018, Because I Love You was ranked the best pop album in South Korean history by a panel of music critics and music industry experts in collaboration with The Hankyoreh and Melon.[11]