IU

Lee Ji-eun (born May 16, 1993 ), also known by her stage name IU, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, composer, and actress.

IU was born Lee Ji-eun on May 16, 1993, in Songjeong-dong, Seoul, South Korea.

According to IU, she was born into the Jeonju Yi clan, the same clan as the former Korean monarchy.

At an early age, IU showed interest in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry and began attending acting classes.

Following her elementary school years, her family's financial situation deteriorated, and they eventually moved to the nearby Uijeongbu, in Gyeonggi Province.

She and her younger brother lived apart from their parents in a studio room with their grandmother and cousin for over one year in conditions of great poverty.

IU had little contact with her parents over this period of time, but felt reassured under her grandmother's care.

During her middle school years, IU found her passion for singing and decided to become a singer after being applauded for a performance she gave at her school's sports competition.

She attended 20 auditions but failed to succeed in any of them, and was also scammed by fake entertainment companies.

She later trained at Good Entertainment with Uee, Yubin, Heo Ga-yoon, and Jun Hyo-seong.

She signed with LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao Entertainment) in 2007 as a trainee and debuted as a singer at the age of fifteen with Lost and Found (2008), her first extended play (EP).

After signing with LOEN Entertainment in 2007, she moved to Bangbae, Seoul.

Due to her poor living conditions at the time, IU stated that she "loved being at the studio", where she could eat as much as she wanted and had a place to sleep.

Her burgeoning career led to her decreased attendance at school and declining grades, with the exception of Korean literature.

After training for ten months, IU made her debut in 2008 under her stage name, conceived by LOEN to mean "I and You become one through music."

She performed her debut single, "Lost Child" (미아), live for the first time on the music program M Countdown on September 18, 2008, making it her debut performance as a professional singer.

IU recalled the crowd had hurled insults at her during the performance and initially felt discouraged by it, although she now considers it a beneficial experience.

"Lost Child" is the lead single from her debut extended play (EP) Lost and Found, which was released on September 24, 2008.

For the album, IU was awarded the "Rookie of the Month" by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in November that same year.

However, the album did not do well commercially.

Although her follow-up albums, Growing Up and IU...IM, brought mainstream success, it was only after the release of "Good Day", the lead single from her 2010 album Real, that she achieved national stardom.

The album was ranked number two on Billboard 's "25 Greatest K-Pop Albums of the 2010s" list.

IU subsequently exerted more creative control over her music; Chat-Shire marked the first time she was credited as the sole lyricist of her own album.

With the success of her 2011 albums, Real+ and Last Fantasy, IU established herself as a formidable force on the music charts of her native country and further cemented her girl next door image as Korea's "little sister".

2011 also saw her first foray into songwriting with "Hold My Hand", which was written for the television series The Greatest Love.

Following her supporting role in teen drama Dream High (2011) and minor appearances in several television series, she was cast in leading roles in television drama series You Are the Best! (2013), Pretty Man (2013–14), The Producers (2015) and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016).

She has been included five times in the top ten of Forbes magazine's annual Korea Power Celebrity list since 2012 and attained a peak ranking of number three that year.References for Forbes magazine's Korea Power Celebrity 40:

After graduating from Dongduk Girls' High School in 2012, IU decided not to pursue post-secondary education in tandem with her singing career.

IU's third studio album, Modern Times (2013), showcased a more mature musical style that marked a departure from her earlier girlish image, with several tracks reaching the top 10 on the Gaon Digital Chart.

IU's fourth studio album, Palette (2017), became her first to reach number one on Billboard's World Albums chart.

While her following records Love Poem and Lilac continued to deviate from mainstream K-pop styles, exploring and mixing various music genres, IU consistently retained her dominance on South Korean music charts.

IU's role as a desperate office worker in My Mister (2018) received critical acclaim, and she earned her first Best Actress in Television nomination at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards.

"Good Day" went on to spend five consecutive weeks at the top of South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, and in 2019, it was ranked number one on Billboard's "100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s" list.

In 2019, she starred in anthology film series Persona and fantasy television series Hotel del Luna, the latter of which led to her second Best Actress nomination at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

In 2022, IU starred in Hirokazu Kore-eda's film Broker alongside Song Kang-ho, Bae Doona and Gang Dong-won.

IU has released a total of five studio albums and nine EPs, five of which have reached number one on the Gaon Album Chart, and thirty number-one singles, making her the artist with the most number-one songs in South Korea.

One of the best-selling solo acts in the group-dominated K-pop industry, IU became the first solo female K-pop act to perform at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena during the Seoul leg of her 2019 Love, Poem concert tour and also the first Korean female artist to hold a solo concert, The Golden Hour, at Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul on September 17 and 18, 2022.

Rolling Stone named her the 135th greatest singer of all time in a 2023 ranking.

Her 2020 single "Eight" became her first to reach number one on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.

Aside from her music career, IU has ventured into acting and hosting radio and television shows.