Lee Su-hyun (Korean: 이수현; born May 4, 1999), is a South Korean singer. Following her appearance on the SBS audition program K-pop Star 2 alongside her brother Lee Chan-hyuk, she debuted as the vocalist of the sibling duo AKMU on April 7, 2014, under YG Entertainment after winning the show. She was also part of the duo Hi Suhyun - formed in 2014 with Lee Hi. She debuted as a solo artist on October 16, 2020, with the digital single "Alien".
Lee Su-hyun was born on May 4, 1999, in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. She and her older brother, Lee Chan-hyuk, moved to Mongolia at the Korean age of 10 and 13 respectively with their missionary parents. Describing her childhood, she explained: "We liked going out to explore nature in Mongolia. Just beyond the city, there would be vast grasslands and cloud-filled skies."[1] Due to her family facing financial difficulties, the two siblings were unable to go to school for education and instead were home-schooled by their mother.[2]
Her experience in Mongolia helped her brother and her to discover their talent for music, as sheer boredom from being home-schooled prompted them to start making music together. Lee then learned the piano while her brother learned the guitar. Additionally, while watching SBS variety program Star King, she found the voice of a girl named Shannon intriguingly beautiful, also triggering her to pursue music. After residing in Mongolia for almost five years, Lee temporarily moved back to South Korea due to an issue with her visa. During her stay, she took part in an audition and decided to remain there, her brother soon followed suit.[3]
In August 2012, she and her brother auditioned for SBS' K-pop Star 2 as AKMU, soon finishing in first place and later signing under YG Entertainment.[4] In April 2014, they debuted with studio album, Play alongside three lead singles, "200%", "Give Love" and "Melted".[5] The digital single, "Time and Fallen Leaves", released in October also spawned to number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, solidifying their instantaneously commercial success.[6] They acquired multiple awards that year including "Best Pop Album" at the Korean Music Awards and "Song of the Year (April)" at the Gaon Chart Music Awards.[7][8] In September 2017, Chan-hyuk enlisted in the Korean Marine Corps, thereby AKMU going into hiatus.[9]
Lee performing at the SBS Gayo Daejeon in 2014
In November 2014, the project sub-unit Hi Suhyun was formed between Lee and her labelmate Lee Hi. The duo released the digital single, "I'm Different" featuring labelmate Bobby of iKon and soon topped all domestic charts upon release including the Gaon Digital Chart. They began promotions on November 16 through their first music show appearance on SBS' Inkigayo, and soon claimed their first win on November 23.[10] The duo were also nominated for multiple awards at the Seoul Music Awards including the "Bonsang", "Popularity Award" and Hallyu Special Award".
Following media outlets revelation of a new show on May 23, 2017, Lee joined as a fixed cast member of OnStyle variety program Relationship Appeal, where she was joined by labelmates Sandara Park of 2NE1 and Lee Hi.[11] Her addition to the line-up also marked her first fixed appearance on a television show since debut. Relationship Appeal consisted of 5 episodes and was aired within the time span of July to October 2017.[12]
On May 25, 2017, Lee created the beauty YouTube channel, MochiPeach, and publicly uploaded her first-ever video on June 3. Initially only uploading contents relating to beauty, she soon expanded her channel to cover materials including vlogs and music covers.[13] She first voiced her interest in opening a YouTube channel once she's older through My Little Television in 2016. She revealed on MBC's Omniscient Interfering View that upon seeing this, YG Entertainment formed a YouTube team for her as encouragement.[14] Lee received the YouTube Gold Play Button in July 2019.[15] In August 2019, she renamed her channel to Leesuhyun, and garnered a total of 1.4 million subscribers as of December 2019.[16]
Lee performing in May 2016
Through the Netflix television series Temporary Idol, Lee made her acting debut by joining the main cast as a character depicting herself. The web drama was joined by Kwon Hyun-bin, Kim Hee-jung, Hwang Seung-eon and Kwon Young-deuk through the joint production of YG Entertainment and Netflix. The show was aired through Netflix in November 2017 and soon on SBS in December 2017.[17]
On December 27, 2017, Lee was confirmed to be the newest addition of the second installment of JTBC reality program Begin Again.[18] Initially with the show split into two teams while filming overseas separately in different locations, she was placed in the team consisting of Lena Park, Hareem and Henry Lau. Begin Again 2 was filmed in areas located in Portugal and Hungary and began airing from March 30, 2018, to June 29, 2018.[19] Through her renewed appearance on the third installment of the Begin Again series, she became a series regular, remaining with her previous teammates alongside new addition, Kim Feel and Lim Heon-il. Begin Again 3 was filmed in areas located in South Korea and Italy.[20]
2018–present: Radio DJ, television appearances and solo debut
KBS Cool FM(89.1 MHz) welcomed Lee through an announcement on May 3, 2018, as their newest radio DJ for Volume Up.[21] She became the ninth official radio DJ for the show as a successor of her predecessor, Kim Ye-won. Her tenure on the show was from June 4, 2018, to January 5, 2020. Her role as a Radio DJ went on to earning her the "Radio DJ Award" at the 16th KBS Entertainment Award in 2018.[22]
Through the tvN historical melodrama Mr. Sunshine, Lee became the fourth artist to release a soundtrack for the television drama on July 29, 2018.[23] Domestically, the soundtrack peaked at number 74 on the Gaon Digital Chart and number 72 on the Billboard Korea K-pop 100 chart.[24][25]
Lee also made a featuring on Jannabi's digital single, "Made in Christmas", which was released on December 25, 2018.[26]
Lee Su-hyun at the 32nd Golden Disk Awards in 2018
Lee partook in JTBC audition program Superband as the youngest and only female judge. During a press conference held on April 11, 2019, in response to her role in the show, she answered: "As a person who has competed on an audition stage, the role of a judge is scary. So rather than thinking of myself as a producer, I am looking for charming people whom I want to be friends with and also work with."[27]
In September 2019, through AKMU's third studio album Sailing, Lee was credited as the arranger for the B-side track "Farewell" (작별 인사), marking her first-ever participation among their releases. Through the Naver Now radio show, Jukjae Night Time Studio, Lee revealed the process stating with minimal knowledge, she had difficulty creating a baseline, but was still able to create a detailed instrumental distribution after playing random chords for the first demo recording. She then recruited Jukjae and Hareem to record a more polished instrumentation, leading to the addition of their album.[29]
On June 6, 2020, Lee was invited to the 65th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony, held at the Memorial Plaza in Daejeon National Cemetery, and was broadcast on KBS, MBC and SBS. The occasion was hosted by the actor, Kim Dong-wook and announcer Lee Jung-min as well as attended by the South Korea president, Moon Jae-in. Family of the patriotic martyrs of the Korean war attended and read letters and stories of the late major Lim Chun-soo, who died in battle with a letter and picture of his family held close to his heart. She performed "Father", in which the lyrics stated: "father who protected me", and expressed her condolences.[30]
Lee Su-hyun at the Superband press conference in 2019
Through the tvN romantic drama It's Okay to Not Be Okay, Lee became the fourth artist to release a soundtrack for the television drama. Upon release, the original soundtrack, "In Your Time" (아직 너의 시간에 살아), spawned to number one on South Korean music streaming platforms including Genie and Bugs on July 14.[31] Domestically, the soundtrack also peaked at number 31 on the Gaon Digital Chart and number 33 on the Billboard Korea K-pop 100 chart.[32][33] The soundtrack was physically released within the It's Okay to Not Be Okay OST album on August 13.[34]
Upon receiving a call from Disney, Lee accepted the proposal to sing the Korean version of "Reflection" (숨겨진 내 모습) of the upcoming Disney live-action movie, Mulan. In response she stated: "As a Disney fan, I'm really happy to participate in a song that has long been loved by many people." The official soundtrack was released on August 31 ahead of the film's domestic release on September 10.[35] The music video released through the platforms, YouTube and Naver TV received attention garnering over 1 million views domestically within 2 days, and peaked at number 3 on the Naver TV top 100 popular videos chart while remaining within the top 10 for one week upon release.[36]
On September 4, media outlets reported Lee would make her official solo debut within fall that year, to which her label responded to anticipate an official announcement soon.[37] Previously through the JTBC variety program, Knowing Bros, she revealed despite her brother leaving songs for her to release during his enlistment, Lee revealed she refused to use music produced by him and instead would rather take time until she was fully satisfied.[38] Soon, YG Entertainment announced Lee would officially debut as a solo artist on October 16 with the digital single "Alien".[39]
Other ventures
Endorsement
In November 2018, Lee was chosen to be a model for Korean beauty platform Glow Pick. She also participated in composing and singing the song for the commercial.[40]
Goodbye Sun, Goodbye Moon: 2014년 48주차 Digital Chart [Digital Chart – Week 48 of 2014] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. November 16–22, 2014. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
The Benefits of the Heartbreak: 2017년 43주차 Digital Chart [Digital Chart – Week 43 of 2017] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. October 22–28, 2017. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
Sori: 2018년 31주차 Digital Chart [Digital Chart – Week 31 of 2018] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. August 4, 2018. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
In Your Time: 2020년 29주차 Digital Chart [Digital Chart – Week 29 of 2020] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. July 12–28, 2020. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
Alien: 2020년 43주차 Digital Chart [Digital Chart – Week 43 of 2020] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. October 18–24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
Sleepless in Seoul: 2021년 21주차 Digital Chart [Digital Chart – Week 21 of 2021] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. May 16–22, 2021. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
^2021년 04주차 Download Chart [Week 4 of 2021 Download Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
^2022년 19주차 Download Chart [Week 19 of 2022 Download Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
^악동뮤지션 YG행 "이하이 이어 양현석 품으로"...이유 들어보니. SBS CNBC (in Korean). SBS Contents Hub & SBS Business Network. May 24, 2013. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
^Jeong Hee-yeon (January 4, 2023). 청춘 리얼리티 '19/20' 규현X김지은XAKMU 이수현 MC [공식] [Youth Reality '19/20' Kyuhyun X Kim Jieun XAKMU Lee Suhyun MC [Official]] (in Korean). Sports DongA. Retrieved January 4, 2023 – via Naver.
^Ha Su-na (November 14, 2022). 정희' 악뮤 이수현 "휴가 떠난 김신영 대신 스페셜DJ, 션디로 불러 달라 ['Jeonghee' Akmu Lee Soo-hyeon "Please call me special DJ, Sean-D instead of Kim Shin-young, who is on vacation]. TV Report (in Korean). Retrieved November 14, 2022 – via Naver.
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