IU

Korean: 아이유

Hometown:

Seoul

Country:

South Korea

Full name:

Lee Ji-eun

Native name:

이지은

Birthday:

May 16, 1993

Age:

28 years old

Blood type:

A

Height:

5'4" (162 cm)

Weight:

103.6 lbs (47 kg)

Introduction to IU

IU (아이유) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actress currently under EDAM Entertainment. She debuted on September 18, 2008 with a stage on M Countdown for the song "Lost Child".

Her stage name is derived from the phrase "I and You", symbolizing that people can become one through music.

IU decided to become a singer when she was 14 after singing at her school's sports competition, as she felt happy receiving the audiences' applause. She started to attend auditions, but failed all 20, and she was also scammed by fake entertainment companies. When IU was in her seventh grade, her family started to have financial problems due to the failure of her father's project. IU had to live apart from her parents in a studio room with her grandmother, younger brother and cousin for a year and a half, in conditions of great poverty.

IU debuted on Mnet M! Countdown on September 18, 2008 with her debut single "Lost Child". It was later released as the title track for her debut mini album Lost and Found on September 24, 2008. However, she did not gain mainstream popularity until her follow-up and debut studio album Growing Up.

On April 16, 2009, IU launched her first full album, titled Growing Up, with the lead promotional number "Boo". Within three weeks, "Boo" went up to the No.1 contenders for SBS Inkigayo, and her name also went up twice on Take 7 together with other notable artists like SG Wannabe and Younha. The song also did well on KBS Music Bank K-Chart, on Mnet M! Countdown chart, and on various online music charts.

Kakao M:

September 18, 2008 - January 1, 2020

FAVE Entertainment:

December 31, 2012 - January 1, 2018

EDAM Entertainment:

January 6, 2020 - present

Debut:

September 18, 2008

Debut to 1st win:

647 days

Active years:

2008-2021

Zodiac-sign:

Taurus

Language(s):

Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese

Training period:

2007 - 2008

Education:

Dongduk Women’s High School

MBTI:

INFP

Kpopping rank:

3rd

Fandom:

Uaena

Fandom color(s):

Lime-Green

84 awards

256 pics

1.4K videos

28 albums

7.8K viewed

1.7K added

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Fun Facts about IU

1

IU failed an audition at JYP but got into Leon Entertainment. Later JYP said that he was going to fire whoever let IU go

2

IU’s real name is ‘이지은 (Lee Ji Eun)’. ‘Eun’ can mean ‘silver’ as well and she mentioned during the Palette Epilogue film screening that her friends used to call her ‘이지금은통 (Lee Ji Gold Silver Bronze)’ when she was young, so that’s how she came up with the name ‘이지금 (Lee Ji Gold)’ for her instagram. ‘이지금’ also has a double meaning of ‘right now’, so it was used as the song title for one of her tracks on the Palette album

3

Her company gave her name, IU which has the meaning ‘You’ and ‘I’ will become one through music.

4

IU is an ambassador for South Korea's National Police Agency in their anti-bullying campaigns. She was made an honorary member of the police force in 2013

5

In 2018 IU provided ₩20,000,000 ($18,000 USD) in financial aid to five college students, helping cover their room and board

6

IU established a scholarship at her high school alma-mater in 2016 and regularly donates there. The scholarship is dubbed the "IU Scholarship" designed to help graduates from underdeveloped families.

7

Starcraft 2's Void ray is nicknamed the IU ray because during its charge up is in sync with IU's 3 high notes in "Good Day"

8

IU is best friends with Suzy, Jiyeon and actress Yoon In Na

9

in 2015 and later in 2018 IU has made two seperate donations of ₩100,000,000 (roughly $90,000 USD) to the Green Umbrella Children's Fund

10

IU said that in the past, she struggled with Bulimia.