Every Day And Today Is Wendy!

Red Velvet’s Wendy is literally everywhere. Except for that one time when Wendy went “intentionally missing’ from the quintet’s Chill Kill comeback mood samplers temporarily. It turned out that, it was giving us a hint about Wendy’s role as the murderer in Red Velvet’s music video. It was so impactful that it even gained America’s giant fast-food chain Wendy’s attention, themselves. They also posted on their official social media account asking, “WHERE IS WENDY”, leading to comical reactions, and hinting at potentially who their bias is in the group. Ranging from being Red Velvet’s main vocalist, soloist, Youngstreet’s official radio DJ, leading cast on Rebecca’s musical revival to currently a vocal judge, how many identities does she have? Let’s take some time to appreciate what Wendy has given to us and Red Velvet.

WHERE IS WENDY https://t.co/T6vodzNaUy

— Wendy’s (@Wendys) October 24, 2023

Not only are we excited for Wendy’s upcoming birthday on 21st February (born in the same year as fellow member, SeulGi, in 1994), Luvies are more than thrilled for her solo comeback! SM Entertainment has confirmed that Wendy will have her 1st solo comeback sometime in March this year. There is much anticipation for Wendy’s next album from everyone, including Joy, that gave us a spoiler confirming that Wendy was indeed filming for her music video currently (clearly someone is really thrilled about it too). The only clue given to us was that it will be of a different vibe compared to her previous album Like Water, increasing everyone’s curiosity on what Wendy will add to our ever-growing music playlist. One thing’s for sure, it’s that Wendy will always deliver with whatever project she gives us and Luvies are seated for it.

👤: how many songs are you going to perform at smtown japan?
💚: i still don’t know yet, we (red velvet) haven’t had a practice together and wendy unnie is working hard on her solo album, please look forward to unnie’s solo albumpic.twitter.com/b8u6zwWCl6

— t (@joyisthetics) January 31, 2024

It’s been 3 years since Wendy first dropped her award-winning ballad “Like Water” from her 1st solo mini album Like Water! Wendy’s album won for best ballad at the 31st Seoul Music Awards! Wendy is Red Velvet’s main vocalist and backbone when it comes to their songs. From the recording studio, practices, live stages, and their performances, Wendy is mainly in charge of handling Red Velvet’s famously acclaimed extensive discography, especially their high notes. Her ability to change and adapt her vocal tone and pitch according to the song is a remarkable feat. Wendy’s vocal powers has been continuously acknowledged by music critics worldwide. Wendy released “Like Water” alongside her other title track “When This Rain Stops” in the year 2021 and was the first soloist in Red Velvet. Other songs included in the album were: “Why Can’t You Love Me?”, “The Road”, and her duet with SeulGi “Best Friend”. NME gave Wendy’s album a 4-star rating as well, complimenting on Wendy’s soothing voice and ability to evoke comfort to those that listen to her. Till today, both senior and junior fellow artists have recommended songs from Wendy’s solo album. Multiple covers have been done of Wendy’s fan favorite song “When This Rain Stops” by: NCT’s DoYoung, Kep1er’s ChaeHyun, (G)I-DLE’s MiYeon, and Kiss of Life’s Belle! “When This Rain Stops” has one of the most comforting lyrics in existence. It is the perfect song to sing to, especially if you are having a bad day. Wendy always reminds us that it’s perfectly ok to take break and look after yourself during the bad times, because “When this rain stops, we can just laugh again”. 

NME also posted a review of Wendy's 'Like Water' which you can read here.

Further testimony to Wendy’s vocal powers is her appearance on multiple music programs. As Wendy once said while at GOT7’s Bam’s House, “I will keep singing until I have no voice”. True to her words, Wendy just recently guested on MBC’s new program Song Stealer! It’s a new pilot program, whereby artists on the show will “steal” another artist’s song, they will be competing to see who sung it best. The esteemed guest list included: veteran singer SunWoo Jung-a, CNBLUE’s Jung YongHwa, F.T. Island’s Lee HongKi, Lee MuJin, and Lim JungHee. Indivdually, Wendy went up against her “sunbaenim” idol, SunWoo Jung-a, and successfully managed to steal her non-album single “Fine”. Wendy’s new rendition of the single earned continuous praise from SunWoo Jung-a, herself, and the audience present. SunWoo Jung-a chose to take on Red Velvet’s killer title track “Psycho” and stole the song too. But what surprised Luvies and Wendy, herself, is her unique and jazz-like take on the song, giving it a renewed breath of fresh air. Wendy presented her solo version of “Psycho” as well, including short snippets of beloved B-side “Oh Boy” and title track “Feel My Rhythm”.

As mentioned previously, you need to be a good and well-respected singer for people to want to cover your own songs. Lim JungHee mentioned Wendy’s title track “When This Rain Stops” as her favorite song from her discography (and sang a short segment of it, without music backing too)! Additionally, on the 2nd episode of Song Stealer, artist would then pair up to steal the other groups’ famous songs. This gave Wendy a chance to pair up and sing a duet with her idol SunWoo Jung-a! Luvies are fully aware of how much Wendy looks up to her, especially when she came on as a guest on Wendy’s YoungStreet, while she was a DJ. Lim JungHee teamed up with Lee MuJin to sing Red Velvet’s “Feel My Rhythm”, while Wendy and SungWoo Jung-a sang a duet of CNBLUE’s hit single “Intuition”. Both Wendy and SungWoo Jung-a managed to steal that song as well! Song Stealer was a wonderful feast for Luvies, as it gave Wendy a spectacular platform to display her vocal abilities as not just a soloist, but also as Red Velvet’s main vocalist. 

Luvies did not expect Wendy to take on a musical role, especially as one of the lead casts of the revival of the musical Rebecca, to celebrate its’ 10th anniversary. It certainly came as a delightful surprise to see Wendy’s live acting skills and ability to sing in a musical theater setting. Her efforts and training have paid off, as both her fellow band members and the audience could hear the dramatic improvements in Wendy’s vocals and singing abilities. Her live performances are brilliant, and one can appreciate the stability in Wendy’s voice, while singing on stage. Wendy played “I” in Rebecca and alongside the entire cast, they received 5 stars from the Press Review for their performance! Critics praised the cast for their vocal delivery of the setlist and their stellar acting, which left a lasting impression on the audience.

Let’s put singer Wendy aside temporarily and let’s talk about Wendy as a vocal judge instead! As further evidence to Wendy’s name as one of the esteemed vocalists of the 3rd generation of K-pop, she is currently one of the main judges of Mnet’s Build Up: Vocal Boy Group Survival program! A competition to create the best 4-member vocal boy group that would promote for 2 years after debuting. Wendy joins the ranks of famous and well-established singers in the music industry such as: SG Wannabe’s Lee SeokHoon, Baekho, BTOB’s Seo EunKwang, MAMAMOO’s Solar, and Wanna One’s Kim JaeHwan (even Seventeen’s SeungKwan served as a special guest judge)! Luvies can get a glimpse of Wendy as a music critic and what she values in a singer. It is interesting to hear Wendy’s professional views and opinions about what makes a great vocalist. We are not quite sure what kind of an auspicious date the 21st of February is, because apparently Wendy shares the same birthday as both Solar and Lee SeokHoon! If anything, it’s probably the date whereby the best singers are born!

240209 Judge Wendy for Mnet <Build Up: Vocal Boy Group Survival> #3 💙#WENDY #웬디 @RVsmtown pic.twitter.com/cPHdMvEEVM

— WENDY INTL | Wish You Hell 🙏 (@sswexplore) February 9, 2024

Did you know that Wendy used to be a DJ at SBS Power FM’s Wendy’s YoungStreet? Not only that, Wendy also won the Radio DJ award at SBS Entertainment Awards in 2022! Talk about multi-talented indeed! Not only did Wendy promote many groups and individual artists’ comebacks (including Red Velvet’s “Queendom”, “Feel My Rhythm” and “Birthday”), Wendy made people’s day as one of the best DJs. She serenaded us with multiple covers of different songs on the radio, gave song recommendations for various occasions, and even engaged listeners to brighten up their day after a hard day’s work. Wendy used her DJ job as an opportunity to meet Luvies on her way to work as well. One would see Wendy hurriedly running towards fans to accept their heart-felt written letters and to hold small conversations with them, even if it might only be a few minutes or so. Despite her busy schedule, Wendy has always been known to go the extra mile to make her fans’ day. Currently, Wendy has quit her job as a DJ to focus on her other endeavors, but we still missed this side of Wendy. 

Besides being the main vocalist and one of the driving forces behind Red Velvet’s remarkable music career, Luvies know how precious and beloved Wendy is to her fellow Red Velvet members. From Red Velvet’s leader, Irene, all the way down to their maknae, YeRi, Wendy holds a special place in all their hearts. Wendy and Irene have a special connection to each other, they are each person’s solace and comfort. Irene has always been the supportive “unnie” that Wendy looks up to and often seeks advice from. Wendy mentioned numerous times of how Irene always looks out for them and is one of the wisest people to seek help from because of her experiences. In return, most often you would see Wendy being extremely protective of Irene. Be it of emotional support in the form of giving many handwritten letters to Irene (which is Irene’s favorite), to always looking out for Irene when she’s not well (as seen in SMTOWN’s Jakarta concert 2023), Wendy is ever so attentive to Irene. It is worth to note that Irene’s favorite butt to tap is Wendy’s (literally), even during their live performances! One would always spot Irene running from one end of the stage to another just to be by Wendy’s side and hype her up, whenever she is about to sing her high notes.

irene running to wendy 💗💙
she’s really the best unni 🥰 pic.twitter.com/7w7c13a7O5

— waterbearies (@thebluebearies) June 15, 2023

Have you seen a more dynamic pairing besides our 94-liners, Wendy and SeulGi? The duo that are both best friends and also business friends. Wendy personally mentioned that she could not have debuted successfully without SeulGi’s help, and SeulGi desperately wanted to keep Wendy by her side since their trainee days. Although they don’t live together anymore, these 2 comedians still find the time to have nearly 2-hour conversations with each other over the phone. Despite the fact, they could have just met up instead. They are literally stuck to each other and are the pair that brings the most laughter to Red Velvet as a whole, because of their antics. From turning their traveling trip to Austria for Battle Trip into a “romantic” one, singing a song that made them cringe “Best Friend”, guesting together on shows like GOT7’s Bam’s House, to even getting their Lasik procedures done together simultaneously, they are the true definition of best friends indeed.

Joy is Wendy’s biggest fan. Period. If you think you are the biggest Wendy fan, get in the growing line because Joy will be at the front. We also know that Joy is Wendy’s favorite member in Red Velvet. Only Joy will be able to get away with splashing seawater onto Wendy to even secretly eating her stash of favorite frozen persimmons. Wendy even knew about it and kept restocking them because Joy liked it, while teasing about Joy probably having constipation from eating too much of it. Joy always hyped Wendy up and encouraged her of whatever endeavors that she embarks on. Joy said that Wendy is the best person to calm her down when it gets overwhelming for her personally. Put it simply, for Joy to continuously praise Wendy, all Wendy needs to do is breathe. Check it out below if you still don’t take my word for it.

There’s always a “Tom and Jerry” pairing in almost every K-pop group. In case if you were wondering that title belongs to Wendy and YeRi. Wendy always seems to be at the receiving end of YeRi’s jokes, pranks, and “unfortunate” friendly crossfire (throwback to towel throwing YeRi that was aiming for SeulGi but Wendy ended up taking the direct hit instead). You would often catch the 2 of them “fighting” with each other even while on-air live, that requires Irene to hilariously break them up or roar in laughter at them both. Don’t let it fool you though, YeRi is one of Wendy’s best champions and loudest supporters. From telling Wendy to not be bullied by others, to surprising her at her solo music show performance, and openly stating on live that despite being in a competitive field like K-pop, as trainees, YeRi said that Wendy was one of few trainees that was the most authentic and caring person she ever encountered. YeRi might forever be Red Velvet’s ‘maknae’, but Wendy will tell you that YeRi has grown to be even more mature than them at times and they could not be prouder than ever of YeRi today.

With reassuring confirmation from Wendy, herself, that she would have a belated birthday party (much to Luvies’ relief), even though she had to “fight her company” for it. There is much in store for Luvies to expect from Wendy. Everyone is anxiously waiting for Wendy to drop her solo comeback teasers and to finally get original music from her after so long. We will be seeing Wendy do her promotions on music shows and variety programs soon. Therefore, here’s to more of what Wendy will show us yet because every day (today) is Wendy day! Happy Birthday Wendy!