Niel is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor. He was born Ahn Daniel on August 16, 1994, in Anyang, Gyeonggi. His journey in the entertainment industry began in 2004 with appearances in television series like Children's Chorus and 641 Families. His career as an actor continued to gain traction with appearances in the film Eleventh Mom (2007) and various TV series, including a cameo in I Am Legend (2010) and a main role in Do You Know Taekwondo? (2012). He kicked off his music career in 2010 when he joined the group Teen Top with whom he recorded the albums No. 1 (2013) and High Five (2017). Teen Top was a very successful group that released several chart-topping singles and toured all over the country. In the meantime, Niel was also pursuing a solo career. In 2013, he appeared in the Fanta advertisement song "Fanta Time" with A Pink's Eun-ji and Lee Kwang-soo. Niel made his official solo debut in 2015 with the release of the EP oNiely, which managed to reach the top spot on the Circle charts. He followed this success with a reissue of the EP titled oNiely 'Spring Love in 2015. During this time, he received nominations for Song of the Year and Best Dance Performance – Solo at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards. His following extended play, Love Affair... (2017), peaked at number 3 in South Korea. Despite announcing his departure from TOP Media on December 28, 2021, Niel remained a member of the group Teen Top. He signed with New Entry in 2022 and made a comeback with his EP A to Z in 2022. Featuring the tracks "Parting Path" and "Loved XX," the single album Parting Emotion was released in 2024 and reached number 16 on the K-pop Albums Chart Top 100.
