Jung Joon-young was a South Korean musician, singer, and television personality who rose to prominence through a musical reality competition before his career ended in one of the country's most high-profile criminal scandals. Born on February 21, 1989, in Seoul, South Korea, he first gained public recognition as a contestant on the 2012 season of the musical reality competition television show Superstar K, where he finished in third place. That exposure launched him into the entertainment industry and set the stage for a multifaceted career spanning music, broadcasting, and film.

In October 2013, he released his debut mini album, 1st Mini Album, which earned him the "New Male Solo Artist" award at the 3rd Gaon Chart Music Awards. He followed this with his self-produced second mini album, Teenager, released on June 26, 2014. On February 7, 2017, he released his studio album The First Person. From 2015 until March 2019, he served as the lead vocalist of the rock band JJY Band, which was renamed Drug Restaurant in 2016.

His television career expanded significantly in 2013 when he joined the KBS2 variety show 2 Days & 1 Night as its youngest member, a role he held until 2019. He also hosted his own radio program, titled Jung Joon-young's Simsimtapa, on MBC FM from 2014 to 2015, and made his film debut in Love Forecast in 2015. These ventures cemented his status as a recognizable figure across multiple entertainment mediums in South Korea.

In March 2019, developments in the Burning Sun scandal led to the public reveal of the Jung Joon-young KakaoTalk chatrooms. In the aftermath, he retired from the entertainment industry, admitting that he had filmed women without their consent and shared the material. On November 29, 2019, he was sentenced to six years in prison for the rape of multiple intoxicated and unconscious women and for non-consensually filming and sharing sexual images of his victims. In May 2020, the Seoul High Court reduced the sentence to five years. His conviction marked one of the most consequential outcomes of the Burning Sun scandal and effectively ended his career in entertainment.