SHINee have made an emotional return to the stage for the first time without their bandmate Jonghyun.
Onew, Minho, Taemin and Key made the decision to keep the tour dates they announced before Jonghyun’s death in December.
And they performed for the first time as a four-piece in Osaka, Japan, speaking about their late bandmate throughout the show.
Onew said: ‘Everyone, it’s been a while [since we last met]. I’m very nervous to be seeing you after so long. We’ll do our best till the end, so please watch over us.’
Key added: ‘The members all worked hard in the short amount of time we had for this show. We may be lacking in some aspects, but we will work hard till the end.’
SHINee performed their hits including Sherlock, Juliette and Diamond Sky, and also an unreleased Japanese song which features Jonghyun’s vocals.
Taemin introduced the new song, saying: ‘This is our new song that all of the SHINee members sang together.’
At the end of the concert, the band shed tears as they talked about Jonghyun, who took his own life at the age of 27.
According to AllKPop, they left a space on stage for where Jonghyun would usually stand, with a microphone with a rose on it marking his place.
Taemin said: ‘The memories of my time with Jonghyun are precious to me. He’s like family to me, so I will never forget him and I will always keep him in my heart. From now on, I will try to be a stronger Taemin, and we will try to be a stronger SHINee.’
And Minho said: ‘To be honest, I was very scared and anxious about today. But I was able to overcome that because I’m not alone, we’re here with all of you. We hope to keep approaching every stage like all five of us are standing there.
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‘Will you promise us one thing? Please keep your memory of Jonghyun alive forever. I can’t put in words how precious Jonghyun is to us.
‘Our time with you today has been such a happy moment for us. Thank you so much. You are our hope.’
SHINee will play a second date in Osaka tomorrow night, before continuing to Tokyo on 26 February.
MORE: BTS’s Suga ‘wants to create an environment where people can ask for help’ after Jonghyun’s death
MORE: SHINee’s Key calls Jonghyun’s final album a ‘precious gift’
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