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Super Junior vocalist Eunhyuk, or Lee Hyuk-jae, recently gained attention for his retirement joke if his latest solo song UP N DOWN won first place on a music show, and he eventually ended up winning it. On February 7, 2025, Eunhyuk performed his solo track for the first time at KBS’ show, Music Bank.
Before his performance, when he was asked about his "victory pledge" if he won first place along with the Music Bank trophy for the week, he amusingly responded that he would retire as a solo artist.
However, following the performance, UP N DOWN received the maximum votes against REBEL HEART by the girl group IVE. Eunhyuk was joined on stage by his fellow Super Junior member Donghae, and both appeared to be shocked by the results. While Eunhyuk expressed his gratitude towards the fans, he also clarified that he was joking about the retirement.
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Furthermore, Donghae also celebrated this moment by holding a sign that said, ‘Retire.’ Fans were amused by this hilarious incident and shared their thoughts on X.
"First and last album as solo," a fan said.
"These new gens *sighs Dramatically* Want to retire after 2 weeks of debut. Did you know some second gen groups are celebrating 20 years this year. I hope this rookie Hyukjae can learn from Eunhyuk," one fan joked.
"Bro truly did not have an ounce of faith in our voting and streaming skills i can't breathe," a user stated.
Fans also reacted to Donghae's 'Retire' sign, Notably, besides being a fellow Super Junior member, Donghae is also the co-CEO of Eunhyuk's agency, ODE Entertainment.
"When he won Donghae was holding the board. How are they still so brazenly chaotic," a netizen mentioned.
"Not at CEO Lee Donghae bringing that huge banner "retire" for his solo debut most precious artist Eunhyuk 1st win stage. The suju brain cell is a crazy. Cannot retire until you two become grandpas," a fan commented.
"Lee donghae is just happily dancing with the word 'retire' while celebrating the first win of eunhyuk," another fan added.
Furthermore, fans shared words of appreciation for Eunhyuk's first music show win as a solo artist.
"Eunhyuk has been through so much and continued to work so hard. I’m so happy for him. 20 yrs and he’s still achieving new accomplishments. He’s an inspiration to idols who want to have a long successful career," a fan wrote.
"THE OG KPOP ACE HAD HIS SOLO DEBUT AFTER 20 YEARS OF HIS CAREER, AND HE GOT HIS 1ST WIN TODAY. I AM SO HAPPY FOR HIM HE DESERVES THIS SO MUCH," one X user mentioned.
"Just realized how this win will also impacting those idols behind him bcs this will show them that it is possible to have debuted for 20 years and still succeeded," a netizen said.
Eunhyuk expresses gratitude towards Super Junior members after winning first place on KBS’ Music Bank
Super Junior member Eunhyuk marked his return as a solo artist with his debut EP EXPLORER and the song UP N DOWN on January 27, 2025. The singer has been promoting the record on South Korean music shows, and he emerged as the winner at KBS’ Music Bank on February 7.
He subsequently shared photos with the trophy on Instagram, expressing his gratitude towards each person who had contributed to the creation of the album as well as his fans.
In the caption, he also thanked the Super Junior members, writing (translated),
“Thank you so much to Super Junior members who heard that I am debuting solo and supported me in their own way. It's our 20th anniversary this year, and I'm really stoked that I was able to kick off the year with such a great thing! My goal for this promotion was to work hard and energize before the release of Suju's 20th anniversary new album.”
Furthermore, he ended the caption with a note about his retirement joke.
He said,
“And retirement is cancelled. Can I do it?”
Meanwhile, Eunhyuk's album EXPLORER consists of seven songs, including the title track UP N DOWN, A-yo, TRAP, You & I (featuring Kyuhyun), Step By Step, Second Chances, and the special track EMPTY. EXPLORER is available to stream on all major music service platforms worldwide.
