Lee Ji-eun (Korean: 이지은; born May 16, 1993), also known by her stage name IU (아이유), is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actress. She signed with LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao Entertainment) in 2007 as a trainee and debuted as a singer at the age of fifteen with the EP Lost and Found (2008). Although her follow-up albums brought mainstream success, it was only after the release of "Good Day", the lead single from her 2010 EP Real, that she achieved national stardom. "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.
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". Her musical style matured and evolved with subsequent releases, deviating from mainstream K-pop styles, exploring and mixing various music genres, with IU exerting more creative control over her music, both as lyricist and producer, at the same time consistently retaining her dominance on South Korean music charts. Her 2020 single "Eight" (prod. by Suga) became her first to reach number one on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart.
Aside from her music career, IU has ventured into acting and hosting radio and television shows, starting with a supporting role in the hit teen series Dream High (2011). IU's roles in My Mister (2018) and When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025) received critical acclaim, and she earned her first Best Actress in Television nomination at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards for the former.
IU has released a total of five studio albums and twelve EPs, five of which have reached number one on the Gaon Album Chart, and thirty-one 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 2018 dlwlrma concert tour for her 10th anniversary 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. She has been included six times in the top ten of Forbes magazine's annual Korea Power Celebrity list since 2012 and attained a peak ranking of number one in 2025. In 2014, Billboard recognized IU as the all-time leader of its K-pop Hot 100 with the most number-one songs and the artist with the most weeks at the number-one position on the chart. She was named Gallup Korea's Singer of the Year in 2014, 2017 and 2025. In 2024, media outlets such as NME and Billboard referred to IU as the "Queen of K-pop", highlighting her widespread influence and consistent success in the industry. In 2025, Forbes Korea referred to IU as the "Queen of K-pop and K-drama", noting her influence and success in both the music and acting industries.
Early life
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.
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. 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 graduating from Dongduk Girls' High School in 2012, IU decided not to pursue post-secondary education in tandem with her singing career.
Career
2008–2009: Career beginnings
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" (Korean: 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. During an interview in 2011, IU said, "My first album failed, but I'm grateful for that. If I had become successful as soon as, I made my debut, I wouldn't appreciate my staff members and the popularity that I'm enjoying now".
On April 23, 2009, IU launched her first studio album, Growing Up, with the lead promotional single, "Boo". She began her album promotion the next day, performing "Boo" on KBS2's Music Bank. The song was noted for its stark contrast in musical style to "Lost Child", which was described as a "heavy" and "dark" ballad compared to the 1980s "retro sound" of "Boo". Deemed as a "strategic" transformation, the dance choreography, stage costume and hairstyle shown in live performances were used to emphasize her youthfulness and project a "cute" image. Although it drew a favorable response from the public, IU, who was fifteen years old at the time, admitted that the image made her feel awkward. Several songs from Lost and Found were featured on her debut studio album Growing Up, including "You Know" (있잖아); a new rock-style arrangement of the song was released as the follow-up single to "Boo". Towards the end of 2009, IU released her second EP, IU...IM. She began promoting its lead single, "Marshmallow" (마쉬멜로우), on music programs from November 13, 2009. Recalling the performances, IU stated on a 2013 episode of Happy Together that she disliked having to wear the girlish costumes and hairstyle fashioned for the song promotions. The performances were well-received and were once again labelled "cute", reminiscent of reviews for "Boo".
As her popularity began to rise, IU made more frequent appearances on variety shows, performing on Star Golden Bell, Kim Jung-eun's Chocolate, and You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook. Her acoustic covers of other artists' songs such as Girls' Generation's "Gee", Super Junior's "Sorry, Sorry", and BigBang's "Lies" featured in these live performances gained tremendous interest online. In late 2009, she became a television presenter for the first time, hosting a weekly music chart show on Gom TV, while appearing as a fixed guest on multiple radio programs such as Kiss the Radio, Volume Up, MBC Standard FM's Starry Night and MBC FM4U's Best Friend Radio.
2010–2011: Rising popularity and acting debut
On June 3, 2010, IU released "Nagging", a duet with 2AM's Lim Seul-ong. The single debuted at twelve on the Gaon Digital Chart and shot up to the number-one position the following week, where it remained for three weeks. Written by Kim Eana and composed…