Kim Tae-woo (; born May 12, 1981) is a South Korean singer, best known as the lead vocalist of boy band g.o.d. He debuted in 1999 as a member of g.o.d and continued as a solo artist after the group went on hiatus in 2006. In addition to his solo career, Kim has also sung the OSTs of award-winning popular dramas and performed in musicals. Background Kim was born in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, the only son and youngest of three children. Despite not having a musical background, Kim dreamed of becoming a singer as a teenager, especially after watching HOT, and sent in a demo tape to Park Jin-young, who was recruiting a final member for the project group that would become g.o.d. He bought a one-way ticket to Seoul after being called in for an audition and eventually signed with Park's company JYP Entertainment. He studied Postmodern Music at Kyung Hee University. Career 1998–2005: Early years and g.o.d From 1997 to 1998, Park Joon-hyung and Park Jin-young had been holding auditions and putting together a six-member mixed group. Danny Ahn, Son Ho-young, Yoon Kye-sang and Kim Sun-a had already been recruited for the project group, which was planned to be called "GOT6" but Kim Sun-a eventually left to pursue acting. In July 1998, he was the youngest and final member added after passing his audition. Kim's bandmates later stated that they had resented Kim up until their debut due to the change in line-up and Kim's relatively short training period compared to them. Eventually the group became g.o.d, an acronym for "Groove Over Dose". Despite a lukewarm response to their debut performance in January 1999, g.o.d went on to establish themselves as one of the most popular first-generation K-pop groups. Yoon left the group in 2004 and g.o.d continued as a four-man group before going on hiatus in late December 2005. 2006–2014: Solo career With g.o.d having gone on hiatus, Kim and the remaining members at JYP Entertainment left for other agencies. Although he did guest vocals for other artists, Kim did not release his own solo album until October 26, 2006. He enlisted in the army on March 20, 2007 for mandatory military service and was discharged on February 25, 2009. After his discharge, Kim returned to the entertainment industry, joining the KBS Variety Show, Invincible Youth as a permanent cast member. He left after the first