Q624995

Biography

Lee Sun-mi (Korean: 이선미; born Sun Mi, May 2, 1992), known mononymously as Sunmi, is a South Korean singer, dancer, songwriter and record producer. She debuted in 2007 as a member of South Korean girl group Wonder Girls and left the group in 2010 to pursue her studies. After a three-year hiatus, Sunmi resumed her career as a soloist with her 2013 debut extended play, Full Moon, spawning the number two singles "24 Hours" and "Full Moon" on the national Gaon Digital Chart. In 2015, Sunmi was announced to be resuming promotion with the Wonder Girls and remained with the group until their disbandment in 2017. She subsequently left JYP Entertainment and joined Makeus Entertainment (now known as Abyss Company), releasing the hit single "Gashina". Her second extended play, Warning, was released in 2018 and produced two other hit singles: "Heroine" and "Siren".

== Early life == Sunmi was born on May 2, 1992, in Iksan, North Jeolla, South Korea. She attended Hwangnam Elementary School, Chungdam Middle School and Chungdam High School, and majored in musical theater at Dongguk University. Sunmi revealed on a 2018 episode of Talkmon that she first decided to become a celebrity when she was 12 after her father was admitted to hospital due to complications of pulmonary tuberculosis. She was inspired by BoA, who debuted at the age of 13, and it was for her "the fastest way to make money" in order to take care of her mother and two younger brothers. She went to Seoul to audition and became a JYP Entertainment trainee at 14, though her father died three months before her debut with Wonder Girls. She later adopted her stepfather's surname Lee while in university and merged her original given name and surname, becoming Lee Sun-mi.

== Career ==

=== 2006–2012: Debut with Wonder Girls and hiatus === In May 2006, Sunmi was revealed as the fourth member of Wonder Girls, a girl group managed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted with the single "Irony", on February 10, 2007, and quickly rose to stardom with their hits "Tell Me", "So Hot" and "Nobody" within two years of debuting. Sunmi participated with the group in American activities, touring alongside the Jonas Brothers, under the nickname Mimi. In January 2010, JYP announced that Sunmi would be leaving the Wonder Girls the following month to focus on her education. In January 2012, the agency confirmed that Sunmi had taken a leave of absence from school to train at JYP, but that there were no definitive plans for her to resume activities.

=== 2013–2016: Solo debut with Full Moon and return to Wonder Girls ===

In August 2013, Sunmi was announced to be returning to her music career, debuting as a solo artist. Sunmi made her solo debut on August 22, on Mnet's M! Countdown. Her debut single "24 Hours" was released on August 26, and subsequently achieved an all-kill on music charts. Subsequently, her debut extended play Full Moon was released on February 17, 2014, along with the promotional single of the same name. The latter peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart and at number three on Billboard's K-pop Hot 100. "Full Moon" was praised for being innovative, and Sunmi was said to have delivered a classy rendition of "sexy". On June 24, 2015, JYP Entertainment announced that Sunmi would be re-joining Wonder Girls for their comeback after the group's two-year hiatus. The group returned with a band concept, with Sunmi playing the bass. In August, the group's album Reboot was released, with Sunmi co-writing and co-producing three of its tracks. In 2016, Sunmi once again received songwriting and producing credits for a Wonder Girls release, this time for two songs on the band's single album "Why So Lonely", including the title track of the same name.

=== 2017–2019: Group disbandment, Warning, and world tour ===

On January 26, 2017, it was announced that Wonder Girls were to disband after unsuccessful contract renewal negotiations with members Yeeun and Sunmi. The group released their final single "Draw Me" on February 10, 2017, which also served as a celebration for their tenth anniversary. In March, Sunmi signed with Makeus Entertainment. In August, she released her single "Gashina", produced by Teddy Park of The Black Label. The song debuted at number 2 on the Gaon Digital Chart before topping the chart the following week, and was named the third best K-pop song of 2017 by Billboard. Sunmi returned with a single titled "Heroine" on January 18, 2018. She described the single as a prequel to "Gashina". On September 4, Sunmi released her second EP, titled Warning, along with the lead single, "Siren". "Siren" received an all-kill on six local music charts. Warning was named the third best K-pop album of 2018 by Billboard and Bravo. "Addict" was named the eighth best K-pop b-side of the year by MTV. From February to June 2019, Sunmi held her first world tour, titled Warning. Tickets for the Seoul concert reportedly sold out in five seconds after opening. She performed in 18 cities across Asia, America and Europe. In the midst of the tour, on March 4, 2019, Sunmi released a single titled "Noir". After completing the world tour, she released the single "Lalalay" on August 27, 2019. Both singles peaked at number eight on the Gaon Digital Chart.