14 years since her debut, “nation’s little sister” IU has face various struggles and losses

Debuted 14 years ago, IU now has a stable standing in the Korean entertainment industry 

Recently on the 17th and 18th of September, IU held two extremely grandeur concert nights to celebrate her 14th year in showbiz, and promptly became the first Korean female artist to ever sell out the Jamsil Olympic Stadium. 

In addition, IU’s concert is attended by an extremely impressive lineup of celebrities, raining from Kpop idols like BTS Jungkook to famous actors like Song Seung Hun, Kim Soo Hyun, and Lee Jun Ki. 

A difficult childhood and a dream to pursue music 

IU, whose real name is Lee Ji Eun, was born in 1993. With her small frame and adorable face, many people would think that IU grew up comfortably – but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. 

In reality, IU’s family went bankrupt, leading to the idol-actress living in poverty as a child. Since IU’s parents had a huge debt to take care of, they had no chance but to send IU and her brother back to their hometown, where they will live with their grandmother. 

IU once discussed the house she lived in after the bankruptcy, and described it as a cold and tiny space, where her family resided with barely enough food to eat. Her family’s only source of income was the money her grandmother earned from selling hair accessories at a market, and IU also barely got to meet her parents at the time. According to IU, she often felt lonely, and her grandmother’s presence was her only soothing grace through numerous nights. 

As IU grew up, she started to show a talent for singing, but her trainee period was just as difficult. At the young age of 14, the female idol had to seek various competitions and auditions to attend, and was turned down by over 20 of them. She was also scammed of all her savings by fake companies, and would later advice aspiring artists to never give their money to any agency. 

In the end, it was IU that saved her agency, LOEN Entertainment, having joined the company after various others rejected her. Here, she scored the mega hit song “Good Day”, and soon earned the nickname of “nation’s little sister”.

In just a year, IU brought to LOEN Entertainment around 10 billion won of profits, thus becoming the most influential figure in the agency in the past 10 years. 

Faced with various controversies and the losses of 3 close friends 

Fame always goes hand in hand with controversies, and IU is no exception to this trend. 

In 2013, the female idol faced what was perhaps the worst scandal of her life, after accidentally posting a photo with Super Junior Eunhyuk on social media. The photo showed IU wearing her pajamas, while Eunhyuk was suspected to be half-naked, leading to streams of criticisms and disdain from the public.

Later on, IU’s agency would explain that the photo was published by mistake, and clarified that IU and Eunhyuk were just “good friends”, and not at all in a romantic relationship. 

However, the public wasn’t keen on believing such an explanation, and IU – who at the time was known for her innocent and naive image, and Eunhyuk, were both buried in harsh comments.

Later on in 2017, Kpop fans from all around the world were drowned in sorrow after SHINee member Jonghyun passed away. As one of Jonghyun’s closest friends, IU was also pained and heartbroken. 

At the 32nd Golden Disc Awards, IU talked about her deceased friend, saying, “It has been a year since Jonghyun’s passing. He’s a close colleague, who shared the same dream with me. We endured similar worries and pressures, and experienced the same hardships in our careers. Unfortunately, I was unable to become a reliable support for him.”

2 years later, IU lost 2 more of her close friends – Sulli and Goo Hara. The actress was buried in grief, leading to many netizens worrying about her mental state. 

To make it worse, IU was criticized for not posting any condolences on Sulli’s passing. The ire only died down after it was revealed that IU spent 3 days by her friend’s side and assisted the grieving family with the funeral. 

IU and Goo Hara had an extremely close relationship

On the final night of her concert, IU was struck with the heartbreaking news of Goo Hara’s passing, and fans at the performance could hear the female idol’s voice breaking. During a song, tears even formed in IU’s eyes, close to a full-on bawl.

Source: K14