Lee Je-no

2000–2013: Early life and career beginnings

Lee Je-no was born on April 23, 2000, in Incheon, South Korea, and grew up in Goyang.^[1] He began his career as a child model, frequently featured in advertisements for milk, phones, snacks, and insurance.^[1] In 2006, he appeared in Lee Cheol-ha's romance film Love Me Not.^[2]

2013–2024: SM Rookies and NCT

SM publicly introduced Jeno as a member of its official training team, SM Rookies, on December 3, 2013, via its social media accounts alongside his fellow trainees Seulgi and Taeyong.^[3] The agency's first program of its kind, SM Rookies allowed trainees to gain experience and public exposure before their debut, often grouping them by gender and concept into distinct units.^[3][4] As part of the team, Lee appeared in the 2014 variety show Exo 90:2014 with the boy band Exo and the 2015 South Korean revival of The Mickey Mouse Club (1995–1996) with Super Junior's Leeteuk, performing songs, dances, and comedy skits.^[5][6] Jeno also participated in the concert tours SM Town Live World Tour IV (2014–2015), featuring several SM artists coming together to perform under the musical collective SM Town, and SM Rookies Show (2015–2016), held in South Korea and Thailand, in which the team covered songs by SM artists.^[7][8]

In August 2016, SM announced that Jeno would join NCT, a boy band designed with a concept of unlimited members where smaller sub-units would debut independently and occasionally collaborate under the sub-unit NCT U.^[9][10] He debuted on August 25 with NCT's third sub-unit, NCT Dream, performing their first single, "Chewing Gum", on the television music program M Countdown.^[10] Initially established as NCT's teen unit, all members debuted as minors under a graduation system where they would leave the group upon reaching adulthood; however, the graduation concept was scrapped in 2020.^[9][11] Music critics described NCT Dream as the unit with the most compelling narrative, remarking on how their transition from teen pop to a blend of hip-hop and R&B music reflected the members' artistic growth from adolescence to adulthood.^[12][13] He contributed to the band's first full-group album, NCT 2018 Empathy (2018), and made his first appearance under NCT U with the track "Misfit", released in October 2020.^[14][15] Grammy.com stated that NCT became one of the most influential K-pop acts; in particular, NCT Dream achieved commercial success, recording ten consecutive million-seller albums.^[13][16]

In May 2018, Jeno began hosting the music program The Show alongside Yeeun and Jin Longguo, later stepping down in November 2019.^[17][18] In September 2018, Jeno and his bandmate Jaemin made a cameo appearance on the web romance series A-Teen.^[19] In August 2022, Jeno featured on Key's song "Villain".^[20]

2025–present: Acting and NCT JNJM

In January 2026, Jeno and Jaemin starred as Woo-jin and Tae-hee in the coming-of-age short-form drama Wind Up, released on the mobile app Kitz.^[21][22] Jeno played a baseball player unable to throw strikes due to past trauma, who receives an offer to be managed by Jaemin's character.^[22] Wind Up recorded approximately 30 million views across the app and other social media platforms, leading to the exclusive release of an edited theatrical cut in CGV theathers in July.^[21][23] The series was also selected to be screened at the 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.^[21] In January, SM also announced that Jeno and Jaemin would form a new sub-unit, NCT JNJM, citing the strong synergy they had shown since they were trainees.^[24] The duo released their first extended play (EP), Both Sides, on February 23 to commercial success.^[25] Later that August, ten years after his debut, it was announced that Jeno had renewed his exclusive contract with SM.^[26]

Fashion and endorsements

In September 2022, Jeno became the first K-pop artist to open a runway show at the New York Fashion Week, wearing the first look for Peter Do's show.^[27] After he attended Ferragamo's fashion show at the Milan Fashion Week in February 2023, Jeno was appointed by the fashion house as its first global male brand ambassador the following May.^[28] In February 2025, he became the global brand ambassador for the South Korean cosmetics brand A'pieu.^[29] In March 2026, the South Korean fashion brand Matin Kim appointed him as its first male brand ambassador for that year's summer season.^[30]

Philanthropy

In May 2019, Jeno and Jaemin volunteered with children living in an Indonesian slum through the non-governmental organization Good Neighbors; their activities were featured in an MBC TV documentary.^[31] In June 2020, Jeno and his bandmate Jisung became ambassadors of an awareness campaign organized by Maeil Business Newspaper to prevent illegal filming and digital sex crimes.^[32] In March 2025, Jeno donated ₩100 million to the Community Chest of Korea to aid recovery efforts for the wildfires that broke out that month.^[33]

Singles

Other charted songs

Writing credits

Film

Television

Web

Listicles