Read the whole article to learn about IU’s early life and net worth. Lee Ji-Eun, who goes by the stage name IU, is a singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress from South Korea.
She became a trainee with LOEN Entertainment in 2007 and released her first mini-album, Lost and Found when she was 15 years old (2008).
Even though her next albums, Growing Up and IU…IM was well-received, she became a national star when the lead single from her 2010 album Real, “Good Day,” came out.
“Good Day” stayed at the top of South Korea’s Gaon Digital Chart for five weeks in a row, and in 2019, it was named the best K-pop song of the 2010s by Billboard.
Early Life of IU
Lee Ji-Eun was born on May 16, 1993, in the area of Seoul, South Korea, called Songjeong-dong. When IU was young, she started taking acting classes because she wanted to work in the entertainment industry.
Soon after she finished elementary school, her family’s finances got worse, so they had to move to the nearby city of Uijeongbu in the province of Gyeonggi.
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IU and her younger brother lived in a studio room with their grandmother and cousin for more than a year without their parents. They had very little money.
During this time, IU didn’t talk to her parents much, but she felt safe with her grandmother. When IU was in middle school, she fell in love with singing.
She decided to become a singer after her performance at a school sports competition was praised. She tried out at 20 places, but none of them worked out.
Fake entertainment companies also took advantage of her. She then trained at Good Entertainment with See, Yubin, Heo Ga-Yoon, and Jun Hyo-Seong.
After signing with LOEN Entertainment in 2007, she moved to Bangbae, Seoul. IU said at the time that she “loved being at the studio” because she could eat as much as she wanted and sleep somewhere.
As her career grew, she missed less school and did worse in most classes, except Korean literature, where she did better.
After she graduated from Dongduk Girls’ High School in 2012, IU did not go to college. Instead, she worked on her career as a singer.
Career
After ten months of training, IU made her debut in 2008 under her stage name, which was made up by LOEN to mean “I and You become one through music.” On September 18, 2008, she sang her first single, “Lost Child,” live for the first time on the music show M Countdown. This was her first time singing on stage as a paid singer.
On June 3, 2010, IU and Lim Seul-Ong of the group 2 AM released a duet called “Nagging.” The single began on the Gaon Digital Chart at number 12. The next week, it jumped to the top spot and stayed there for three weeks.
As promotions for Last Fantasy and its lead single “You & I” went on in South Korea in 2012, IU started getting ready for her debut in Japan by playing two shows at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo, on January 24, 2012, in front of about 4,000 people.
You’re the Best, Lee Soon-shin was the first TV show that IU was in this year. She played the main character. This was her first time as the main character in a TV show. Her character was called a “loser,” and she seemed average in every way except for her bravery and optimism, which helped her get through hard times.
A Flower Bookmark is the first cover album and sixth Korean EP by IU. On May 16, 2014, it came out. The album has seven versions of songs from the 1980s and 1990s. There are ballads, dance songs, folk songs, and rock songs on the album.
IU starred in The Producers with Kim Soo-Hyun, Cha Tae-Hyun, and Gong Hyo-jin in 2015. This was two years after her last acting job. This was one of the most-awaited TV shows of the year in South Korea.
The fourth studio album from IU, called Palette, came out on April 21, 2017. She wrote most of the song’s lyrics and was in charge of making it. Before the album itself came out, there were three singles from it. G-Dragon from Big Bang was on the first single, which had the same name as the album. “Can’t Love You Anymore” and “Through the Night” were also out before the album.
On April 11, 2019, IU made her movie debut in the Netflix series Persona, which is a collection of short films. She had different roles in each of the four short films, which were written and directed by Lee Kyoung-mi, Yim Pil-sung, Jeon Go-woon, and Kim Jong-Kwan, all of whom have won awards and been praised by critics.
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Awards and Achievement
Since 2008, when her first album came out, IU has been nominated for and won more than 200 awards.
She has won 18 Melon Music Awards, 16 Gaon Chart Music Awards, 5 Korean Music Awards, 11 Mnet Asian Music Awards, 7 Seoul Music Awards, 8 Golden Disc Awards, and 1 Grammy Award.
As an actress, the singer has also won several awards. At the 2014 KBS Drama Awards, she won “Best New Actress” for her part in “You’re the Best, Lee Soon-shin.”
How Much Is IU Net Worth?
Many newspapers and websites say that IU’s net worth will be between $35 million and $45 million in 2022. At age 15, the diva’s first project for Kakao Entertainment was a short album called “Lost and Found.”
IU became well-known with the song “Good Day” from her 2010 album Real, which came out a long time after her first single. So far, IU has released five studio albums and nine extended plays.
Five of her albums were number one. Lee, on the other hand, is the first South Korean artist to have thirty number-one songs.
How Much Money Does She Make From Music and Tv Shows?
U is a big brand name because she is one of South Korea’s national treasures and helps spread Hallyu all over the world. People always think of the “Hotel Del Luna” star as a well-known person who promotes products like gadgets, appliances, sportswear, fashion wear, food, drinks, and more.
She also appeared in the front of many fashion magazines. Most of her physical albums sold out, and many of her songs were at the top of music charts in Korea and around the world.
Since most artists talk to each other on Instagram and YouTube, the “Producer” actress made accounts there. She makes a lot of posts and content.