Byun Jin Seob debuted as a singer through a singing contest in 1987. His debut studio album [홀로 된다는 것 (Being Alone)] was released in 1989 and became the nation’s first million-seller record. It also made Byun the only Korean singer to win both the New Artist Award and the Golden Disk Award in the same year. He went onto become one of the country’s top balladeers in the early 1990s, winning the nickname “Ballad Emperor” after Lee Moon Sae.