Eric Nam

Eric Nam was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and is the eldest of three boys. His parents are from South Korea, and his brothers are named Brian and Eddie. He graduated from Boston College in 2011 with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Asian Studies.

Before entering entertainment, Nam worked as a business analyst at Deloitte Consulting in New York City. He had also deferred an opportunity to participate in microfinance initiatives in India before deciding to pursue music.

A cover song that Nam posted on YouTube attracted media attention and led South Korean broadcaster MBC to invite him to compete on Star Audition: Birth of a Great Star 2. He finished among the competition's top five contestants, which launched his career in South Korea. He signed with B2M Entertainment in 2012.

Nam made his official music debut in 2013 with the extended play Cloud 9 and its lead single "Heaven's Door." He also became a host of Arirang TV's After School Club, a role he held until 2016. His work on the program and on Section TV Entertainment Relay established him as a prominent interviewer of international celebrities in South Korea.

Nam's second EP, Interview, was released in 2016 and included the single "Good For You." That year, he also recorded "Spring Love" with Red Velvet's Wendy, released the KOLAJ collaboration "Into You," and issued "Can't Help Myself," written with Epik High's Tablo and featuring Loco. His collaborations have also included Gallant and Tablo on "Cave Me In," Park Ji-min on the charity single "Dream," and Armaan Malik and KSHMR on "Echo."

His EP Honestly was released in 2018 and reached number six on the Billboard World Albums chart. The project was followed by a 15-show North American tour across 14 cities. Nam released his first English album, Before We Begin, in 2019, followed by the Korean EP The Other Side in 2020 and the English album There and Back Again in 2022.

Nam's major concert runs have included the Honestly Tour, the Before We Begin World Tour, the There And Back Again World Tour, and the House on a Hill World Tour. He released There and Back Again (Reimagined) in 2023 and House on a Hill later that year. The latter included four music videos and a short film that marked his directorial debut.

Nam has hosted or appeared on programs including Yang and Nam Show, No Oven Dessert 2, Saturday Night Live Korea, Battle Trip, Somebody Feed Phil, and Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi. He was also a cast member of the virtual marriage program We Got Married alongside Mamamoo's Solar and received a Best Couple award with her at the 2016 MBC Entertainment Awards.

His podcast K-Pop Daebak w/ Eric Nam was named among Apple Podcasts' Best Listens of 2019, while I Think You're Dope w/ Eric Nam reached number one on music podcast charts in more than 25 countries. Nam is fluent in English, Korean, and Spanish, and is conversational in Mandarin.

Nam co-founded DIVE Studios and served as its creative director. Through the company, he helped launch the Mindset mental wellness and self-care app. His mental health advocacy earned him a 2023 TIME100 Impact Award and the Voice of Mental Health Award from The Jed Foundation.

Nam made his feature-film acting debut as Jonah Yoon in the psychological thriller Transplant. The film received the Best International Feature Award at the Manchester Film Festival. He later recorded the voice of adult Aang for the animated film Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender and was cast as Kevin Park in the Paramount Pictures and HYBE America production K-Pop: The Debut. He also completed filming for the thriller Loser.

In the United States, Nam joined the fourth season of The Traitors US. He entered the competition as a Faithful, was recruited as a Traitor during the season, and finished in third place behind Maura Higgins and Rob Rausch.