IU ♡ 아이유

♡ IU: biography (#1)

IU, was born as Lee Ji-Eun on May 16, 1993. She is managed by LOEN Entertainment. IU works as a singer and actress in South Korea. Her stage name "IU" is derived from "I and You" - to become one, you and me, with music.

IU released her first mini-album "Lost and Found" on September 24, 2008. Her debut was made on Mnet's "M Countdown" on September 18 with the song "Miya". She gave her TV performance on MBC's "Music Core" on September 20, 2008. On April 23, 2009, IU released her first album "Growing Up". On November 12, 2009 IU released her second mini-album "IU...IM" with the track "Marshmallow" becoming popular. IU released her third digital single "Jansori" (lit. translate "nag") on June 3, 2010. She received favorite or top award on SBS music show "Inkigayo" and KBS show "Music Bank". On December 9, 2010, IU released her third mini-album "Real." The track "Jongeun Nal" ("Good Day") topped the Korean music charts and was played extensively throughout South Korea. The song ranked top on SBS music show "Inkigayo," KBS music show "Music Bank," Mnet music show "M Countdown," and Korean music chart. IU's single "REAL+" was released on February 9, 2011. Track "Naman Molratdeon Iyagi" ("The Story I Didn't Know") topped the daily charts in one day.

On January 24, 2012, IU held a live showcase at Tokyo's Bunkamura Orchard Hall. At the time of the showcase, it was noted that she was the youngest Korean singer ever to perform at the Hall. On September 16, 2013, LOEN Entertainment revealed two teaser images for her upcoming 3rd full album, "Modern Times." The full album was released on October 7, 2013 and quickly topped several Korean music charts as well as Korea's major music programs. A repackaged version of "Modern Times", with two additional tracks("Friday", and "Crayon"), was released on December 20, 2013. Her self-composed title track, "Friday" achieved a perfect all-kill on the South Korean music charts. This was IU's second perfect all-kill of the year, following her success with 'The Red Shoes' in October. Also, "Friday" reached number one on all three of Korea's major music programs without any live performance.

She also collaborated with the new vocal group High4 for their debut song, "Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms", which was released on April 8. Having reached No. 1 on May 10, 2014 in Billboard's K-pop chart with this song, IU became Billboard's official K-pop all time chart leader with 5 No. 1s since K-pop Hot 100 was introduced in September 2011. IU is also the holder for most weeks at No.1 (14) in the chart. The track, "My Old Story", reached the perfect all-kill status 3 days after the album's release. On October 2 2014, IU released her version of the song "Sogyeokdong", part of a collaboration project with Seo Taiji.

On March 9 2015, it was confirmed that IU will be one of the leading female cast of KBS2's The Producers, where she will play a diva-like singer. On May 17, IU released her self composed song "Heart" as a gift to her fans, which achieved a perfect all-kill the next day.