(Top – “Turtles,” from the left, Z-E, Turtleman, and Keum Bi. Bottom left – Turtleman, Bottom right – Z-E and Keum Bi in Turtleman’s funeral chapel. Photo from www.joynews24.com)
The lead singer of “Turtles” (Goboogie), “Turtleman” (Sung-hoon Im) suddenly died of myocardial infarction on Apr. 02, 2008. “Turtles” is a famous Korean pop group debuted in 2001, composed of three member; Turtleman, Z-E and Keum Bi and released five albums up to now. According to a police officer, “Turtleman” was found dead by his manager in his house one hour later after death and took him to a funeral chapel in Sun-cheon-hyang Hospital. After the announcement of his death, the Korean entertainment industry was really shocked and many celebrities are going to his funeral chapel to pay homage to him.
On January, 2008, “Turtles” released their fifth albums, “OhBangGanDa,” and actively played on mass media. However, his death slammed the brakes not only on the life of “Turtles” as a pop group, but also on the other members’ personal activities. In this situation, the other members of “Turtles,” Z-E and Keum Bi, have no choice. They need an interval of silence to show respect for his dead and commend his soul to god for a while. However, “Turtles” should not stop their activities as “Turtles.” For him who really loved his life with music and had a passion for “Turtles,” the other members have to go on their activities with the fifth released album.
Even though “Turtles” could not sing on the stage any more without him in this situation, they can cherish his memory by widely distributing their fifth albums among the fans. This might be same as what he thinks now in the afterworld. And then, the other members would produce a new memorial album for him. This can make the fans keep his memories in their mind and the profits from the memorial albums should be used to help his family and other activities for his memory. Although the other members get lose their time or opportunity for their personal activity, they need to show their humanity. These activities would enable the other members to have more gained than lost, if they look father forward into their future.
Filed under: Celebrities, Music
