'I considered quitting everything': Shinee's Key opens up about his reaction to Jonghyun's death
Shinee’s Key shared that he would miss Jonghyun very much during the latter’s birthday or death anniversary every year.
PHOTO: Instagram/Key
PUBLISHED ONFebruary 14, 2025 8:50 AMByYeo Shu HuiThe death of Shinee's Jonghyun in 2017, when he was just 27, left the other members of the South Korean group — Onew, Minho, Key and Taemin — in shock.
Besides losing a comrade, they had also lost their close friend.
Key spoke about Jonghyun in the latest episode of the talk show Yoo Quiz on The Block, which aired on Wednesday (Feb 12).
The 33-year-old shared: "At that time, I was really shocked. I wondered, 'What's the meaning of living?' I considered quitting everything."
On Dec 18, 2017, Jonghyun was found unconscious in an apartment in Gangnam with a suicide note. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he eventually died. During his funeral, Minho led the procession, while Onew, Key and Taemin were his pallbearers together with Super Junior members.
Key shared in the episode that he and the other members of Shinee felt that their life had fallen apart, but decided to keep supporting each other during the period by facing it together.
"We did our concert at Tokyo Dome. If there was no place for us to honour our togetherness, it would've been difficult. We want to send Jonghyun off that way, his brilliant and short youth," he said.
He also said that he would miss Jonghyun very much during the latter's birthday and death anniversary every year.
Key added: "Whenever we record new songs, I would think, 'if Jonghyun sang this, he would've done so well.' He visited my dreams often when we were practising. He doesn't say anything. If it's a concert meeting, he would just sit with us and stay beside us while we practise.
"That's when I realised, we've always been together, it has always been five of us."
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