Beginnings Ahn's professional career began with his debut in the
K-pop industry as a rapper for singer
Uhm Jung-hwa. He was also part of a mixed-gender project group along with his friend
Son Ho-young,
Shoo and Kim Hwan-sung but it fell through; Kim was later recruited as the final member of
NRG and Shoo joined
S.M. Entertainment where she would debut as part of girl group
S.E.S. In 1997 Ahn was recruited by his cousin Joon for a project group he was forming. Between 1997 and 1998, Son,
Yoon Kye-sang and
Kim Sun-a were recruited through auditions while
Park Jin-young joined the group as their producer and mentor. However, Kim Sun-a left to pursue acting and was replaced with
Kim Tae-woo, then still a high school student. The group eventually became a five-man boy band and named
g.o.d, short for "Groove Over Dose".
1999–2005: Success with g.o.d After a lukewarm response to their debut performance in January 1999, the group went on to become one of the most popular
K-pop groups in the 2000s. Ahn occasionally composed his own rap lyrics. The group later switched from SidusHQ to
JYP Entertainment, with two members switching agencies while Ahn and Yoon renewed their individual contracts at SidusHQ. In 2004, Yoon left the group and g.o.d continued as a quartet until December 2005.
2006–2013: Solo activities and projects Ahn ventured into the radio industry prior to g.o.d going on hiatus in late December 2005. He became as a radio DJ on
KBS Cool FM and was the first host of
Kiss the Radio before taking over
Lee Soo-young as host of the long-running afternoon program
Music Show. He was invited back to be a guest DJ for the "Homecoming Day" special in 2015, in honor of
KBS Cool FM's 50th anniversary. Ahn released his solo single album on May 28, 2007 "If It Were A Dream", which featured a cappella group
Sweet Sorrow. He has since largely done guest vocals for other artists such as
Rain, his bandmate
Kim Tae-woo,
SG Wannabe and
Kim Dong-wan of fellow first-generation group
Shinhwa. Alongside his music career, Ahn also took roles in TV shows and films. In 2008, he appeared in
Crazy Waiting, also known as
The Longest 24 Months. He appeared as Baek-ho in the KBS drama,
The Slave Hunters. He appeared in KBS ''
Let's Go Dream Team! Season 2, and was the leader of the team. He also appeared as Manager Baek Nam-jung in The Fugitive: Plan B alongside Rain, Lee Jung-jin, Daniel Henney and Lee Na-young, and in The Innocent Man'' with
Song Joong-ki and
Moon Chae-won. He was a permanent guest on SBS's talk show
Strong Heart. Despite g.o.d going on hiatus, Ahn has reunited with his bandmates several times for collaborations. Ahn,
Son Ho-young and
Park Joon-hyung were featured in the song "Memories and Remembrance", from
Kim Tae-woo's mini album
T-Virus. He also joined Kim and Son to perform their song "
Lies" on the
Music Bank special celebrating 600 episodes and at the 2012
Korean Music Festival in Los Angeles. In May 2012, Ahn starred opposite Dave K. Wong as Gye Dong-hee, a friend to Ryu's Seung-hyuk in Channel A's
Goodbye Dear Wife. He served as a commentator/host on
We Got Married along with Lee Ji-hye, with hosts
Park Mi-sun and Kim Jung-min before leaving the show on May 31, 2014. In 2013 he joined
Top Gear Korea to host the fourth season. Ahn was part of a project group called HOTSechgodRG, which comprises himself and four other members of
first-generation idol groups who were born in 1978. The group was first conceived after former
H.O.T member
Moon Hee-joon invited Ahn,
Tony An (H.O.T),
Eun Ji-won (
Sechs Kies) and
Chun Myung-hoon (
NRG) to create a reality show version of the television series
Reply 1997 in which they would meet up at a rented house to chat and reflect on their heyday. The show was called
Handsome Boys of the 20th Century and also featured special guests, mainly their former bandmates and contemporaries. The group has also launched a music video and performed on
Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend. The following year, in 2014, they starred in
Where is My Superhero? on
OnStyle.
2014–present: g.o.d reunion and other activities Ahn's contract with his previous agency
SidusHQ expired, and he signed with Box Media in March 2014. He reunited with his
g.o.d bandmates to prepare for their
eighth album to celebrate the fifteen anniversary of their debut. Following the release of the album in July, the group embarked on a nationwide concert tour. Ahn starred in the SBS drama ''
Witch's Castle, in which he portrayed the antagonist. His appearances on television are largely on variety shows such as Infinite Challenge, Fantastic Duo, King of Mask Singer and The Friends in Chiang Mai''. He reunited with HOTSechgodRG members
Chun Myung-hoon and
Tony An on
Eun Ji-won's new travel reality show
Plan Man. The group, except Eun, most recently met up at
Moon Hee-joon's
bachelor party, part of which was shown on
My Little Old Boy, the reality show Tony An was participating in. In July 2018, Ahn re-signed with former agency SidusHQ. He had joined New Able Entertainment in 2016 but it was acquired by SidusHQ and he was one of several artists who opted to transfer to SidusHQ. From August 2019 until January 2023, Son and Ahn have co-hosted a radio-style talk show ''g.o.d's Lunch Attack'' which aired on
Naver's streaming app
Naver NOW. at noon on weekdays. In June 2022, Ahn renewed his contract with Cuz-9 Entertainment. In June 2024, he and fellow g.o.d member Kim Tae-woo signed with Gemstone E&M. ==Personal life==