2007–2012: Career beginnings and Super Junior-M Henry appeared as a violinist in South Korean group
Super Junior's music video for "
Don't Don" in September 2007. The song features a violin part, which is performed by Henry. In October 2007,
SM Entertainment announced that he would debut as a member of a Super Junior China sub-group,
Super Junior-M, the following year. The announcement caused controversy among Super Junior fans due to rumours that SM wanted to add Henry as the fourteenth member of Super Junior, which led fans to form an "Only 13" campaign. Henry described the situation as "if Backstreet Boys wanted a new Boy," and the backlash led to him "being on the sidelines for years." Together with the Super Junior-M members, Henry made a cameo appearance in the
CCTV2 drama
Stage of Youth in 2009. A year and a half after debut, Super Junior-M made their sophomore release with the mini-album,
Super Girl, on September 23, 2009. The mini-album won many awards and even earned the group a nomination for 'Best Vocal Group' at the
21st Golden Melody Awards, the Chinese equivalent of the
Grammy Awards. He featured on the track "Love Me" () from label-mate
Zhang Liyin's first single album,
Moving On, which was released on October 29, 2009. He performed on Super Junior's second Asian tour,
Super Show 2, as part of Super Junior-M, and also performed a self-composed English solo song, "Sick of Love", which remains unreleased. In 2010, he took a brief hiatus to study music composition at
Berklee College of Music in
Boston, Massachusetts, where he learned to sing and produce music. At Berklee, he became friends with fellow student
Gen Neo, and convinced him to go to Korea to work with him. He composed a song with Super Junior's leader
Leeteuk called "All My Heart" (;
Revised Romanization:
Jinsim) for Super Junior's fourth repackaged album,
Bonamana, released on June 28, 2010. He was featured on
Jonghyun and
Jinho's duet titled "Don't Lie" from
SM the Ballad's first album
Miss You, released on November 29, 2010. Henry joined Super Junior on the
Super Show 3 Tour. Henry's solo song "Off My Mind" () was included in Super Junior-M's second EP
Perfection which was released on February 25, 2011. The lyrics to the song were written with Geo Neo while studying at Berklee. He toured with Super Junior as a member of Super Junior-M for their fourth tour,
Super Show 4. Together with fellow Super Junior-M member
Zhou Mi, he performed "
Santa U Are the One" on
SM Town's eighth winter album,
2011 SMTown Winter – The Warmest Gift, released on December 13, 2011. In March 2012, he featured on
BoA's single "
One Dream" alongside
Key which served as the opening song for
SBS's audition program
K-pop Star. The single was included in BoA's seventh Korean studio album,
Only One, released on July 22, 2012. He became a member of the project group Younique Unit with
Eunhyuk,
Taemin,
Kai,
Luhan, and
Hyoyeon, for a collaboration between SM Entertainment and
Hyundai. The same year, Henry was cast as the lead in his film debut,
Final Recipe, alongside Malaysian actress
Michelle Yeoh. The film tells the story of young aspiring chef Mark, played by Henry, who participates in an international cooking contest to save his grandfather's restaurant from going out of business. In preparation for the role, Henry studied under chef and practised cooking 3–4 hours a day for several months.
2013–2014: Debut as a soloist and variety shows Super Junior-M's second studio album,
Break Down, was released on January 7, 2013, along with the title track. The album includes two songs, "Go" and "It's You", that were produced by Henry's production team, NoizeBank. On February 6, he was confirmed to be a contestant in
MasterChef Korea Celebrity, the celebrity version of
MasterChef Korea. On May 30, 2013, it was announced that Henry would make his solo debut. He was SM Entertainment's first male solo artist in 13 years since
Kangta. His first solo
extended play,
Trap was released on June 7, 2013. The title track featured Super Junior's
Kyuhyun and
Shinee's
Taemin. The Chinese version of the
Trap EP was released on August 14. Follow-up promotions for the second single, "1-4-3 (I Love You)", which featured label-mate
Amber of
f(x), commenced on August 23. In February 2014, Henry joined the cast of the Korean military-variety show
Real Man with fellow celebrities
Chun Jung-myung,
Park Gun-hyung,
K.Will. He quickly became the break-out star and variety favourite because of his natural optimism and eagerness to learn Korean culture, despite being Canadian-born and completely unfamiliar with the Korean military. In addition, his appearance in
Star King along with his appearance in
Real Man propelled his rising popularity. This led to more variety show and
CF work, such as being chosen as the first guest in JTBC's
Crime Scene, and solo endorsements with KFC Korea and Sprite Korea. After almost seven months of production, his second EP,
Fantastic was released on July 14, 2014. Henry made his Japanese debut with the single album
Fantastic on October 8, which included Japanese versions of the songs "Fantastic" and "Trap". In December, he appeared in
tvN's classical music variety show
Always Cantare.
2015–2017: Television work and single releases In January 2015, Henry made his Korean acting debut in
Mnet's music drama ''''. He released two songs, "The Way#Lies" and "Love +" for the drama's original soundtrack, the latter being a duet with co-star
Yoo Sung-eun. Henry teased his upcoming album in February 2015 but the project was delayed for an unknown reason. In March 2015, it was confirmed that Henry had joined
We Got Married and was partnered with
Yewon. In June, he appeared in the second season of
Always Cantare. Throughout 2016, Henry became more active in China appearing in a slew of reality shows including
Sisters Over Flowers 2 and ''
, the latter of which he hosted with He Jiong.'' Henry co-composed the lead single of
Se7en's I Am Seven, titled "Give It To Me", which was released on October 13, 2016. Next, he collaborated with
Sistar's
Soyou on the song "Runnin'" which was released on October 14 through
SM Station. On October 26, 2016, Henry and
Mark released "I Want To Enter Your Heart" for the OST of
Sweet Stranger and Me; the track was written and composed by Henry.'' China's MAHB Awards in November 2017 Henry appeared on the Chinese reality show
Back to Field, which aired in January 2017, as one of the three fixed cast members alongside He Jiong and
Huang Lei. The same month, he guested on the popular South-Korean reality show
I Live Alone which shows the single lifestyles of celebrities. His appearance led to an increase in the show's ratings and he attracted attention for using
live loops to reinterpret "
Uptown Funk". Subsequently, Henry became a fixed cast member. During his appearance on the show, he composed a brief passage of a song which was then informally titled as "What should I do?". The song continued to garner attention through his appearance on ''
You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook for its beautiful melody and its eccentric "revolutionary" lyrics. The finished track, titled "Girlfriend" (; Revised Romanization: Geuriwoyo'') was officially released on March 18, 2017, and peaked at number one on multiple South Korean daily digital charts and number three on the Gaon Download Chart. The track is a soulful R&B piece that incorporates the sound of strings and piano. The lyrics expresses the heartfelt sadness and longing for a past lover, which correlates with the Korean title of the song "그리워요" (lit. Missing you). On April 29, 2017, he released the single "Real Love" (;
Revised Romanization:
Sarang jom hago sipeo) and its acoustic version on May 10. On June 23, he released the single "I'm Good" featuring rapper Nafla. In July 2017, Henry joined the
Naver TV variety show
Snowball Project, a collaboration between artists from
SM Entertainment and
Mystic Entertainment. He co-produced the song "Lemonade Love" with
Yoon Jong Shin, which was released by
Mark and
Parc Jae Jung. He also rearranged Yoon Jong Shin's 1996 song, "
Rebirth", for
Red Velvet and released the collaboration single "U&I" with
Sunny on the show. On August 30, he released "That One". In October, he released "It's You", which he co-composed for the original soundtrack of the drama
While You Were Sleeping (2017). The song became the most streamed Korean OST on
Spotify for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019.
2018–present: Independent label, acting roles, and Journey In January 2018, it was announced that Henry will arrange and perform a new version of the 1986 song "Daughter's Love" () for the soundtrack of the film
The Monkey King 3. In February, he released the soulful R&B single "Monster" in three languages - English, Chinese, Korean. On April 30, 2018, it was announced that Henry had completed his contract with SM Entertainment and had decided to leave the agency. He then set up his own studio in China. Henry joined second season of the busking variety show
Begin Again, which aired in May 2018. He returned for the second season of Chinese variety show
Back to Field, which aired from April to June 2018. The same year, he was cast in the lead role in the
Chinese film adaptation of the popular video game,
Zhengtu. The film, under its English title
Double World, was released globally on
Netflix in July 2020. In August 2018, Henry was cast as Trent in ''
A Dog's Journey, which was released in May 2019 and marks his American film debut. He was suggested to the filmmakers by Alibaba Pictures, which co-produced the film. On October 27, Henry held his first fan-meeting at Sangmyung Art Center in Seoul. In November 2018, Henry announced that he had joined Monster Entertainment Group, an agency based in South Korea that he founded with his brother, Clinton, to help build his brand globally. In December, Henry became a judge on the Chinese reality show for bel canto and classical singers Super-Vocal; the show earned high ratings. On December 26, 2018, South-Korean band g.o.d announced they would be releasing a special 20th anniversary album titled Then & Now'', which will feature a remake of the group's 2001 song "
Road," rearranged by
MeloMance's Jung Dong-hwan and sung by Henry,
IU,
Urban Zakapa's Jo Hyun Ah, and
Yang Da-il. He returned as part of the cast of
Begin Again for its third season, which was broadcast in July 2019. On May 9, 2019, he released "Untitled Love Song" (;
Revised Romanization:
Jemok eomneun Love Song), his first release under his new label Monster. He previously teased the song in April during an appearance in
Idol Room. In August, he released the R&B ballad "I LUV U" which he performed live for the first time in
Amalfi, Italy during the filming of
Begin Again. He released the single "Don't Forget" (;
Revised Romanization:
Hangangui bam) in October which was co-written by and features indie duo
Rocoberry. He released the Chinese version of his single "I LUV U" titled "But, I Love You" () in December. He also appeared as a judge on the Chinese reality shows ''
and Miss Voice'' in the last quarter of the year. In February 2020, Henry released the single "Thinking of You" and its accompanying music video in collaboration with
Atelier Cologne. The same month, he featured alongside
AlunaGeorge on the
electropop track "Nice Things" produced by
Far East Movement. In May, he was announced to participate in the fourth season of
Begin Again (the first season to be held in Korea due to the pandemic), which aired from June to September. In August, he was selected by
Forbes Korea as a '2020 Korea Power YouTuber' for spreading "positive influence" through his YouTube series 'Henry Together' where he collaborates with young musical prodigies. On September 17, 2020, Henry featured in "Take Over", the official song of the
2020 League of Legends World Championship, alongside
Jeremy McKinnon and
MAX. In October, he was confirmed to play the male lead in the second season of the American series
Dramaworld, which was released on
Lifetime in April 2021. On November 18, 2020, Henry released his third EP,
Journey, alongside its lead single "Radio". The album peaked at number one on the Gaon Album Chart.
SeoulBeats described the album as "captivating" in their review and noted that it "[gives] nods to his complicated musical past", being a multi-instrumentalist and idol turned singer-songwriter. The writer notes Henry's "penchant for interesting instrument choices, loop , and electronic mixing" that makes
Journey "[stand] out from most other solo releases as of late". Henry was awarded the '2020 Art Patron of the Year' in December by the Arts Council Korea in recognition of his furtherance of arts through his original YouTube series 'Henry Together' and his role as the ambassador of Orchestra of Dream. In August 2021, he joined the fourth season of
Street Dance of China as one of the four team captains alongside
Wang Yibo,
Lay Zhang, and
Han Geng. The same month, he released the collaboration song "Home" with
Roy Wang, a track he co-composed for Wang's album
Summer Time. == Musicianship ==