BoA Pays Tribute to Late SHINee's Jonghyun with Emotional Ballad: 'An Empty Space Was Left'

BoA soothed the soul of fans and artists left behind by the late Jonghyun in a moving cover of his track, "End of a day."

During the two-day concert SMTOWN Live 2025 in Seoul, held on Jan. 11-12, a remake cover stage was prepared by SM's artists, where seniors and juniors remade each other's hits.

Among the performances, the highlight came when BoA, known for her moniker "Mother of K-pop," served a touching version of "End of a day," one of the SHINee member's masterpieces.

READ ALSO: SMTOWN Live 2025: EXO's 'Love Me Right,' SNSD's 'Run Devil Run,' More To Be Remade At the Concert

After he died in 2017, the song became a source of comfort not only to Shawols (SHINee's fandom) but to his idol friends who wanted to remember and honor his vibrant and warm heart.

In fancams released following the concert, BoA's beautiful interpretation of the song made the spectators cry, proving that she delivered the message well. The icon herself couldn't stop herself from shedding tears as she sang one of the songs created by one of his closest friends and juniors.

Shawols became emotional when the stage put a spotlight in front of BoA, rather than directly on her, seemingly a reminder that the late singer will always be with them despite the empty space he'd left.

Initially, Jonghyun's fans were skeptical about the decision to release a remake of any of his songs, and even called out SM for it despite not restocking his albums and not releasing his concert movies.

But with BoA's performance, Shawols were grateful that she did justice to the song and felt the sincere emotions she poured into it.

"I had to take my time with this because it was so touching. Singing a song of your late friend takes a lot and BoA did it with grace, respect, beautifully, and without a circus," a fan wrote on X, adding, "Just an angel singing to an Angel. Hope he enjoyed it where he's resting."

"Jonghyun were you watching? I really can't stop crying," added another Shawol.

RELATED ARTICLE: SMTOWN Live Will Include a Remake of SHINee's Jonghyun's Song, But Fans Aren't Happy