'I started music to survive — and it became my life': Yoon Hang-gi's 65 years

"I started music not because I loved it, but to put food on the table. Looking back, though, music was my life. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that even after I leave this world, the music will remain."

Yoon Hang-gi, 84, a pioneering singer-songwriter widely credited as the father of Korean group-sound music, reflected on his six-and-a-half decades in the industry ahead of a tribute concert being staged in his honor by younger artists.

Yoon held a press conference Wednesday morning at the Korea Arts College of Practical Studies in Namhak-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, for the tribute concert "I Am Happy Thanks to You," marking his 65th anniversary. "It will be almost the first time I watch another singer perform my songs on stage," he said. "I think it will be a time to look back on the years gone by and feel grateful." Singers Jo Hang-jo and Yoo Hyun-sang, who helped organize the tribute, joined him at the event.

Yoon made his debut through the US 8th Army's A-One Show in 1959, meaning he is technically in his 68th year as a performer — yet the concert carries a 65th-anniversary title. He explained that two years ago, close juniors including Choi Baek-ho, Jo Hang-jo and Yoo Hyun-sang had proposed staging a 65th-anniversary tribute, but his health at the time was not good enough to proceed.

He said he suggested waiting two more years and holding a 70th-anniversary show instead, only for his younger colleagues to talk him out of it. "They said, 'At our age, how can you guarantee there will be a next year?'" he recalled. "I'm 85 in Korean age. I thought, 'You know what, I really can't be sure about next year.' So I shaved off two years and decided to go ahead with the 65th anniversary this year."

The brother of musical actor and singer Yoon Bok-hee, Yoon Hang-gi's life and music have unfolded alongside the history of Korean popular music. He recalled enlisting in the Marine Corps band because he was told it would give him a grounding in music. When he later formed the Key Boys, he could not afford a drum kit, so he bought a banjo and a shaman's cymbal from a junk dealer in Cheonggyecheon and welded them onto a washbasin stand to build one himself.

"In 1964, the Beatles crossed over to America and set off a band boom, and we rode that wave right along with them," he said, laughing. "Under the conditions of that era, we were even more popular than BTS."

For this tribute concert, Yoon said he plans to take the stage in a far more relaxed frame of mind. "In the past I performed for myself, but this time it's a gift my juniors are giving me," he said. "I want to enjoy it both on stage and from the audience — with excitement and ease." Jo Hang-jo paid tribute to his sunbae: "Yoon Hang-gi opened an entire era of Korean popular music. It is because of him that we younger artists can stand on stage today. Just being part of this tribute concert is deeply meaningful, and I am grateful."

The Oct. 24 concert will feature 10 acts spanning multiple genres — Seo Yu-seok, Jang Mi-hwa, Choi Baek-ho, Kim Su-hee, Jo Hang-jo, Yoo Hyun-sang, Jeon Young-rok, Insooni, Choi Hee-sun and So Chan-whee — each reinterpreting one of Yoon's signature songs as a tribute performance. Choi Baek-ho composed and wrote the lyrics for a new song, "Even at This Age," as a personal gift for the occasion. The Kim Ki-pyo Pops Band will provide musical backing, with director Yoon Shin-ho overseeing the production. All proceeds will be donated to a fund supporting war orphans and multicultural families.

After a long career, Yoon stepped away from performing in 1986 following "Welcome to Korea" and spent more than 30 years as a pastor. He returned to active performing in 2014, releasing a 55th-anniversary golden album that included the new track "Don't Worry."

"There are many sad and regretful memories, but looking back now, I find that even those have become a great source of happiness. People may think a tribute concert means a retirement concert — but as long as I can sing and my voice holds out, there is no retirement."