In September 2008, shortly after her debut, the sixteen-year-old IU, described as a “rising star,” said in an interview, “I learned the chords and fingering of the guitar, and through practice, I can play songs that I want to some extent. As for songwriting, I don’t study it formally, but I learn by watching and listening to composers around me. My dream is to become a singer-songwriter, so I’ll be back with songs that I wrote myself someday.” True to her words, the girl who was once a rising star grew into a singer-songwriter who began to describe others as stars and became an unparalleled figure in the Korean entertainment industry. Over time, she slowly evolved from the “nation’s little sister” to the “nation’s singer,” and eventually into a multi-entertainer who also embraced acting.
IU’s 17-Year Journey of Owning Her True Self
In September 2024, IU returned to her fans with the 2024 IU HEREH WORLD TOUR CONCERT ENCORE: THE WINNING at Seoul World Cup Stadium. As the first female artist to hold a solo concert at the venue, she drew a total of 100,000 spectators over just two days, even though it was an encore concert. With this, she broke her own record for the largest concert held by a Korean female artist, previously set during her 2022 tour, The Golden Hour: Under the Orange Sun.
IU’s 17-year journey has been marked by moments of self-surpassing growth. At the core of it all was her ability to stay objective. As a smart and intuitive artist, IU knew how to view herself through the eyes of others—through the perspective of the public. Sometimes she moved accordingly, and at other times, she stayed one step ahead with swift, deliberate action. All the while, she never lost sight of what she truly wanted. That sense of judgment and decisiveness is what shaped IU into the artist she is today.
Debuting in 2008, IU quickly rose to national stardom between 2010 and 2011 with a string of back-to-back hits: “Nagging,” “Good Day,” and “You and I,” which cemented her status as the “nation’s little sister.” While she could have comfortably settled into that image, IU chose instead to take a bold step forward. She redirected her focus toward the path she had long aspired to follow as a true artist. During her first nationwide tour, which combined the titles of her third mini album Real and her second studio album Last Fantasy, IU declared to her fans, “The fantasy is over. I’ll return with a more mature album.” Now, it was time to move a step ahead.
In 2013, IU’s third studio album Modern Times and its repackage Modern Times Epilogue offered the perfect opportunity to present a more mature version of herself to the public. From this point on, IU began to share more personal stories, fully embracing her image as a musician and artist. This marked the beginning of what would later be called her “age series.” Starting with CHAT-SHIRE in 2015, IU began producing her own albums. In an interview at the time, she remarked, “I think the first step is to figure out what my own color is. Once that’s clear, maybe I’ll feel confident enough to pursue producing too.” As it turns out, she had already discovered that color. Among these works, the title track “Twenty-Three” stands out for its sharp insight into how she, as a product, was being consumed by the public. This self-reflection intertwined with a duality: the desire to fulfill expectations as a “female celebrity,” and the determination to live as her authentic self.
This side of IU became even more prominent in her fourth studio album, Palette. At twenty-five, marking the year 2017, IU sings of her clearly defined tastes and identity in the title track “Palette (Feat. G-DRAGON).” The most striking lines in the song are undoubtedly “I know you like me” and “I know you hate me.” While they may sound like words directed at fans or critics, above all, they were addressed to herself—Lee Ji-eun. This becomes clear with the line that follows, “I think I now know a little bit about myself.” During a music show performance, IU drove this message home by delivering G-DRAGON’s rap part with new lyrics: “Ji-eun you need to run, time isn’t going to wait for you. You have to work hard but also be happy from time to time. Past twenty, not yet thirty, in between, right there. When I’m not a kid or an adult, when I’m just me. Whatever it is I can now bear it, was there a time where everything was good? Stand up bravely, in full bloom. The age I want to be forever is now.”
Singing, “Everything comes as they please and leaves without waving goodbye. I don’t want to love anyone if things go like this,” IU captured the emptiness and lethargy she felt at twenty-eight. Through “eight (Prod. & Feat. SUGA of BTS),” she reflected on a time when she had felt most free and truly happy. Eventually, she entered her thirties. With the song “LILAC,” she bid a graceful farewell to her twenties. At her concert The Golden Hour: Under the Orange Sun, IU introduced “Palette,” the song that once captured her twenty-five-year-old self, by saying she wanted to “send it off.”
“At twenty-five, I met a version of myself that I really liked. And now that I’ve turned thirty this year, I feel like I’ve met another good version of me. So I no longer feel the need to hold on to this song. I believe I’ll come across other songs that are just as meaningful to me. That’s why I want to give this song to the twenty-five-year-old Ji-eun and say a heartfelt goodbye to it here today, in front of 40,000 people. I’ll be singing it for the last time—putting myself back in the mindset of that twenty-five-year-old, and giving it my all, more than ever.”
In February 2024, after a two-year and two-month hiatus, IU returned with her sixth mini album, The Winning. It was her first release in her thirties, and its central theme was “victory.” In the liner notes for the double title track “Holssi,” IU wrote, “Now in my thirties, I’ve come to realize that there’s no reason—or need—for everyone to become a flower. I’d rather live like a drifting seed carried gently through the sky.” It was only in her thirties that IU came to understand: living life in that way is, in itself, a victory.
Despite this new realization, IU didn’t seem to abandon her ambition to win with this album. After all, who steps into a fight expecting to lose? The music video for “Love wins all” features BTS member V, while “Shh.. (Feat. HYEIN, Jo Won Sun & Special Narr. Patti Kim)” includes a collaboration with NewJeans’ HYEIN—showing IU’s continued effort to work with some of the most talked-about artists of the time. And her efforts paid off. The Winning achieved cumulative sales of 380,368 copies in 2024, earning a platinum certification on the Circle Chart and reaching No. 2 on Billboard’s Top K-Pop Albums chart in February 2024.
Now a grown woman in her thirties, IU, who is no longer confused about what she wants, is turning a new page through The Winning and the Netflix Drama Series When Life Gives You Tangerines. In an interview on the YouTube channel BDNS’s Forever Waiting For You, when Moon Sang-hoon asked, “Do you separate ‘IU’ from ‘Lee Ji-eun’?,” IU responded, “Once work is done, I make space for ‘Lee Ji-eun’ in my life, separating the two. When the separation isn’t complete, I write in my diary as a way to vent, talking to myself and sorting things out.” As always, IU will use this diary as a foundation to create songs that express herself again—sometimes from the perspective of Lee Ji-eun looking at IU, and sometimes from the perspective of IU looking at Lee Ji-eun.
The Smart Multi-Entertainer: IU’s Journey into Acting
Perhaps through this compartmentalization, IU has been able to make the right choices about the path she needs to take. In fact, in an interview, IU mentioned that the singer “IU” and the actress “Lee Ji-eun” influence each other. “While acting and working on acting projects, I write a lot of lyrics. When I take on a role I haven’t experienced, unexpected lyrics sometimes come to mind. It’s a positive cycle for me. (...) It’s not just a story brought by the role; it’s about thinking of things I’ve never considered before, and these fresh thoughts lead to new stories.” In this way, IU’s acting and singing careers walk similar paths. In her debut role in Dream High, IU played Kim Pil-sook, a student at an art school preparing to become a singer, and in You Are the Best!, she portrayed Lee Soon-shin, who dreams of becoming an entertainer. In The Producers, her spiky character Cindy also had some resemblance to the real IU with her job as a singer. However, the role that truly marked her departure from her real-life persona was her character Hae Soo in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. By expanding her range even further, IU took on her first dark role as Lee Ji-an in My Mister in 2018, widening her acting spectrum.
IU could have remained a teen star with Dream High, or she could have become a beloved TV drama actress through You Are the Best! However, by appearing in the fusion historical drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, she successfully captured a dedicated fanbase. She then turned to much darker and more serious roles in projects like My Mister and Hotel del Luna, showcasing her deepened acting skills and receiving critical acclaim. Finally, in When Life Gives You Tangerines, she took on dual roles as Ae-sun and Geum-myeong, cementing her status as one of Korea’s leading actresses.
In When Life Gives You Tangerines, IU delivers a performance that marks a completely new level in her acting career. Taking on the dual roles of mother Oh Ae-sun and daughter Yang Geum-myeong, IU avoids the pitfall of making the two characters feel overly similar, instead breathing distinct life into each of them. Although the storyline frequently interweaves scenes featuring both Ae-sun and Geum-myeong, the two characters remain wholly separate in their presence and energy. As IU herself put it, “the layers of expression are different,” and both Oh Ae-sun and Yang Geumm-yeong live and breathe as fully realized individuals. Notably, IU’s portrayal of the younger Ae-sun transitions seamlessly into veteran actress Moon Sori’s depiction of the older Ae-sun, without any sense of disconnect. Such remarkable effort led to her nomination for Best Actress at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards, announced on April 7. It marked her third consecutive year being nominated for the honor—a testament to the depth of her self-reflection and her unwavering commitment to artistic growth.
What, then, has been driving this steady evolution? In an interview with Cine21, IU reflected on her acting journey, saying, “Because I debuted as a singer and was already a known name, I was well aware that these kinds of opportunities might have come more easily to me than to others. That’s why I’ve felt a deep sense of responsibility toward acting ever since playing Pil-sook.” Her constant self-awareness about the position she holds has fueled her determination to keep improving. As a result, When Life Gives You Tangerines reached No. 1 on Netflix’s global Top 10 list for non-English TV series and recorded a staggering 37 million views between April 16 and 22.
It also seems that When Life Gives You Tangerines marked a major turning point for IU herself. Compared to her past works, there’s a noticeable shift in how she approaches social issues—perhaps shaped by her experience filming the drama. When asked which of the women in solidarity depicted in the story she would most like to spend more time with, she answered, “Yeong-ran,” going on to speak about the class differences between the two characters. Reflecting on the song “Shh.. (Feat. HYEIN, Cho Won-sun & Special Narr. Patti Kim),” which was inspired by When Life Gives You Tangerines, IU said, “While filming the drama, I felt a strong urge to tell a story—not just about my mother, but also about the women who shaped my life and left a mark on me.” Through portraying Oh Ae-sun and Yang Geum-myung—characters with a distinct contrast from her previous roles—IU may have found herself naturally reexamining the generations of women who surround her.
In her early debut days, IU often appeared on variety shows with an acoustic guitar in hand, singing nostalgic oldies—a clear attempt to connect with an older generation. These moments later found fuller expression in her remake albums A Flower Bookmark and A Flower Bookmark 2, and also in her first lead drama role in You Are the Best!, eventually culminating in When Life Gives You Tangerines. As a result, When Life Gives You Tangerines deeply resonated with middle-aged women—those born in the 1950s and 60s, who lived lives much like Ae-sun and Geum-myung. Netflix even uploaded a special video showing elderly women from Jeju, who had actually lived through that era, reacting emotionally to the show. This shift in IU’s work will no doubt leave a lasting, positive impact on her career. After all, she has never shied away from throwing herself fully into whatever surrounds her.
“Hey, everyone! Don’t worry about me, I’ve got it all covered.”
IU holds a singular position in today’s entertainment industry. She is one of the rare figures to be widely recognized for reaching the highest levels of achievement both as a musician and as an actor. In every moment—whether in music or acting—she approaches her work with sincerity. Through this commitment, the singer IU and the actor IU have come to inform and enrich one another, ultimately establishing “IU” as a singular, distinctive brand. On the YouTube channel Baek Eun-ha’s Exchange, culture critic Baek Eun-ha posed a thoughtful question: “Could it be that this person we call IU—or Lee Ji-eun, the actress—is actually telling the same story across different forms of art?” IU replied, “I’m just one person. What goes in and what comes out—it all passes through the same person. So, of course, they both end up influencing everything I do.”
Looking back on IU’s 17-year journey, one thing becomes clear: she has consistently and steadily evolved, never letting go of either music or acting, and continuing to meet her fans through concerts along the way. IU began as an idol and grew into a true artist. From the “nation’s little sister” to the “nation’s singer,” she has climbed each step with intention. In April 2025, Circle Chart published Hit Songs of the Streaming Era: Music Market Trends in 263 Tracks, which analyzed songs with over 100 million streams between 2011 and May 2025. IU topped the list with 20 songs, proving that she has led Korea’s streaming market over the past decade. Moreover, in Gallup Korea’s 2019 year-end survey, she ranked fourth among the year’s most influential singers and seventh among actors, becoming the first entertainer to ever enter the top 10 of both categories since the poll began in 2007.
The path IU has walked is one no one else has taken. Along the way, she has encountered heartbreak and sorrow as sudden and jarring as a bolt of lightning. Yet she continued forward with quiet strength—at times, almost like a bystander observing herself from the outside. In the YouTube interview Forever Waiting For You, she said, “There are times when that gaze—like, ‘Ji-eun will stay strong’—actually makes me strong. Or when someone thinks, ‘IU will pull off this performance like she always does’—it doesn’t feel like pressure at all. It’s because of that gaze that I manage to do it. I’ve experienced those miraculous moments many times. (...) So how precious must that gaze be? It means people are sending me something so good, so powerful, that even when I feel like I can’t do it, I somehow do.” By internalizing the way she sees herself and learning to embrace—and, when necessary, gently deflect—the gaze of the public, even when filtered through tinted lenses, IU has transcended her title as the “nation’s little sister” and became a true national artist, one who speaks to every generation—a beloved IU for all.
And so, we feel no need to worry about where IU—or Lee Ji-eun—is headed next. As always, she will walk her path with grace, and we will be here, watching quietly, trusting completely.