K-pop star Rain on Sunday held his last concert before the start of his military service, on Yeongdong Boulevard, Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. Rain joins the army on Oct. 11.

The two hour-concert in front of the Korea Electric Power Corporation building was free of charge with seven of Yeongdong Boulevard’s 14 lanes closed for the show, titled “Last of the Best.” Roads around the venue were totally jammed as over 20,000 fans from various Asian countries gathered to see their beloved star.

“How do you like my new hair? Pretty? I cut it yesterday. This is the first time I had such a short hairdo since middle school,” said the singer, scratching his head. 

“It has already been 10 years since my debut, and time flew by. A lot has happened. But as I always say, life is like a highway. I have been running very well, so far, and now is time to stop by at a resting place. I will return as a more mature Jung Ji-hoon,” said the Korean heartthrob who also acts under his real name, Jung Ji-hoon.

Opening the stage with “Hip Song,” Rain belted out about 20 of his hit songs including “Rainism,” “I’m Coming” and “Party Time.” His performance had the audience going wild as usual.

Rain is considered one of the most successful Korean celebrities both at home and abroad. The 29-year-old has released seven albums and 19 singles since his debut in 2002. He also debuted as an actor in 2003 through a local TV drama series, “Sangdoo! Let’s Go to School!” and also starred in KBS’ hit series shows “Full House” (2004) and “A Love to Kill” (2005).

The concert was held as the finale of the Gangnam District Office’s “Gangnam Hallyu Festival.” Rain was nominated as the Goodwill Ambassador of Gangnam-gu in May.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)