Entertainment

Here's What To Know About Lay Zhang, The K-Pop Star Going Viral On The Grammys Red Carpet

The 2019 Grammys are off to a strong start as celebrities start to arrive to the red carpet. In addition to American musicians and their guests, this year's Grammys awards is featuring and hosting popular K-pop stars like Lay Zhang from EXO. Who is Lay Zhang? He has a close connection to the Grammys and is blowing up on Twitter after his Grammys debut.

Lay Zhang is a Chinese singer-songwriter who is part of the Korean-Chinese K-pop group Exo. He was officially invited to the 61st Grammy Awards as an ambassador of FM Dongguan 101. The invitation was announced by China Music Vision, a Chinese partner of the The Recording Academy for GRAMMY-branded entertainment and educational initiatives. On the red carpet, Zhang kept his look simple, rocking all black and a delicate piece of jewelry ahead of the award show. Ahead of the event, Zhang posted a photo of his outfit on his personal Instagram account and wrote, "Excited for the #grammys."

Needless to say, K-pop fans on Twitter are loving his American award show debut. Twitter user @_baektohyun shared a video of Zhang at the Grammys and wrote, "He’s a definition of successful...So proud of him!" Another Twitter user, @SweetLies0508 wrote, "Lay, you're such a inspiration for all of us."

If you missed him on the carpet, check out Zhang's sophisticated and chic Grammys look, complete with an unbelievably adorable dimple. Heart eyes much?

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Here are some more tweets showing support for the Zhang, who fans also refer to as Yixing, after his first-ever Grammys moment.

EXO is a Seoul-based K-pop group with nine members: Suho, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun, Xiumin, Lay, and Chen. The boys write and perform songs in Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese, making them unique in the K-pop world. An interview with Dazed in 2016 revealed just how hard the boys work to make music. Zhang talked about balancing work, life, and downtime and told Dazed:

I recharge by working on the songs I’d like to present to the fans. It really feels great when I see them enjoying songs I worked hard on, which gives me the strength and energy to keep going. That’s why I want to keep expanding my career into other fields and show a variety of music in the future.

Asian website Asia One recently reported that 2019 might be a big year for Zhang in America. Steve Aoki, who has collaborated with Zhang, told the South China Morning Post that the EXO member would have a significant pull in the United States because of his vibrant personality, talent singing and writing music, and ability to perform well on stage.

Zhang isn't the only K-pop star at the Grammys this year. World renowned K-pop group BTS will be presenting an award at the show and were absolutely adorable on the red carpet and during their interview with E!'s Ryan Seacrest.

Here's to more K-pop and American music award crossovers in the future!