Rain (Korea) Cancels US Tour Due To Legal Battle

Agence France-Presse
SEOUL -- South Korean pop idol Rain has postponed his scheduled tour of the United States due to a lawsuit involving a US band and recording firm with the same name, organizers said Tuesday.

Star M Entertainment, organizer of the singer and hip-hop dancer's world tour, said the US plaintiff demanded that he not use the name Rain during his US concerts originally scheduled to start this week.

"We have postponed the US tour. We will push for it as soon as the legal case is settled," a Star M Entertainment spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

The singer had planned to perform in Hawaii, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles from June 15 to 30.

But Rain Corporation, which works with a US band also called Rain, filed a legal action with a Nevada court in February against the South Korean singer's use of the name for concerts in the US, the spokesman added.

Since his debut in 2002 the 25-year-old singer, whose name is Jung Ji-Hoon, has called himself Rain at every concert at home and abroad.

Riding on the "Korean wave" of pop music, films and TV dramas sweeping across Asia, he has become a pan-Asian heartthrob under that name.

Since late 2006, he has been on a six-month tour of 11 countries and territories as a warm-up before entering the US market, organizers said.

Rain this year became the first South Korean entertainer to make People magazine's annual "100 most beautiful people" list. He was also named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2006.