PSY

One of the unlikeliest musical phenomena of all time, Psy introduced the world to Korean pop in 2012 and had everyone from Britney Spears to General Secretary of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, performing the Gangnam Style dance. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park Jae-Sang (aka Psy) was inspired to take up music after seeing concert footage of Queen playing at Wembley Stadium as a 15-year-old and moved to America to study at Berklee College of Music. Returning home in 2000, his charisma, enthusiastic attempts at rapping and catchy dance tracks made him a star, but albums PSY from the PSYcho World! (2001), Sa 2 (2002) and PSY Five (2010) caused their fair share of controversy in a culturally conservative country. He topped the charts six times in Korea, but it was the Gangnam Style video and the crazy, infectious choreography that made Psy a huge viral hit and a worldwide sensation. The single became the most viewed of all time on YouTube and the first to receive over a billion hits, topping the charts in the UK and 20 other countries. The craze inspired millions of parody videos and his remarkable year included Psy joining Madonna on stage at Madison Square Gardens, a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live and a performance at the Oxford University Student Union.

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