Lee Ji-Eun (born May 16, 1993) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress better known by her stage name IU. She enrolled as a trainee with LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao Entertainment) in 2007 and made her singing debut at the age of fifteen with her first extended play (EP), Lost and Found (2008).

Although her subsequent albums, Growing Up and IU…IM earned widespread acclaim, she did not achieve national stardom until the release of “Good Day,” the lead single from her 2010 album Real. “Good Day” went on to spend five weeks at the top of South Korea’s Gaon Digital Chart, and it was named first on Billboard’s list of the “100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s” in 2019.

With the success of her 2011 albums, Real+ and Last Fantasy, IU consolidated her girl-next-door image as Korea’s “little sister” and established herself as a formidable force on the music charts of her native nation. Her first effort into songwriting came in 2011 with “Hold My Hand,” which she wrote for the television series The Greatest Love.

Modern Times (2013), IU’s third studio album, had a more mature musical style that signified a break from her prior girlish image, with numerous hits reaching the top 10 on the Gaon Digital Chart. Billboard’s list of the “25 Greatest K-Pop Albums of the 2010s” put the album second.

IU eventually gained more creative control over her music, with Chat-Shire being the first time she was acknowledged as the sole lyricist on her own album. Palette (2017), IU’s fourth studio album, is her first to debut at number one on Billboard’s World Albums chart.

While her subsequent albums, Love Poem and Lilac, deviated from standard K-pop patterns, exploring and mixing diverse music genres, IU maintained her supremacy on South Korean music charts. Her 2020 single “Eight” was her first to top the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.

She is set to star in Lee Byeong-heon’s upcoming film Dream. In 2022, she starred in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film Broker alongside Song Kang-ho and Bae Doona.

In the group-dominated K-pop business, IU is one of the best-selling solo acts. She has so far recorded five studio albums, nine EPs, and thirty number-one singles. In 2014 and 2017, she was selected Gallup Korea’s Singer of the Year.

What K-pop group is IU from?

IU enrolled as a trainee with LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao Entertainment) in 2007 and made her singing debut at the age of fifteen with her first extended play (EP), Lost and Found (2008).