Lee Eun-mi (; born May 19, 1966) is a South Korean singer. She is well known for her song "I Have a Lover" which became very popular in South Korea.

Music career

She debuted in 1989 and became known for the song that launched her career "I Have a Lover" and others, like "In the Middle of Breaking Up," "Into the Memories" and "Nocturn." She said that she was influenced by

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct ...

and the late South Korean singer

Kim Kwang-seok Kim Kwang-seok (Hangul: 김광석 ; January 22, 1964 – January 6, 1996) was a popular and influential South Korean folk rock singer. He debuted in 1987 as a member of Noraereul Channeun Saramdeul, an activist folk band. He achieved widespread ...

The barefoot diva

She focused on live performances rather than on television appearances, and became known to her fans as "the barefoot diva."

20th anniversary concert

In 2009 she performed her ''Lee Eun Mi - 20th Anniversary Concert'' in a nationwide tour of over 70 cities in South Korea, promoting her new album, "Walking Atop The Sound"; and on tour in Canada and the United States.

Emcee on television audition show

In May 2012, she started hosting the second season of MBC's audition show

I Am a Singer ''I Am a Singer'' () is a popular South Korean singing competition program; a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' lineup. Seven talented, veteran Korean singers perform for a selected audience, which votes to eliminate one singer after each week's ...

, singing her song "Nocturne" on the first night, and receiving praise for her emcee style. Despite her relative inexperience, compared to the show's past emcees, the creative director said, "We were impressed with her style of talking that was both comforting and effortless," and convinced her to remain, after being a temporary replacement. Her appearance on the show was said to reveal a "softer side" of the veteran singer who was known for a "strong, sometimes stubborn, stance on issues related to

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

," and a firm opposition to

lip-syncing Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

on the air.

First Japanese fan meeting

In May 2012, at age forty-six, she held her first fan meeting, ''Lee Eun-mi Story'' in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan.

Personal life

On January 12, 2011, she married her long time friend and lover, a Korean-American businessman in his mid-40s, in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, and they reside in

Samseong-dong Samseong-Dong is an affluent neighborhood or ward of Gangnam-gu in Seoul, South Korea. The area has a large concentration of upscale shopping malls, popular restaurants and hotels such as the Ramada Seoul Hotel and the Hyatt Park Hotel. Samse ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Books

In 2007 she released a collection of photos and poems in ''Meeting Poems Barefooted.'' In her memoir ''Barefoot Diva,'' published in February 2012, she wrote, "For a time, people called me a tiger in that I always seemed ready to criticize and fight. I think then, I believed that kind of attitude was the only way I could keep doing music the way I wanted to."

Discography

Studio albums

* ''자유인'' (1997) * ''Beyond Face'' (1998) * ''Noblesse'' (2001) * ''Ma Non Tanto'' (2005) * ''Walking Atop The Sound'' (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Eun-mi 1966 births Living people South Korean blues singers South Korean women singers South Korean rock singers South Korean singer-songwriters South Korean television personalities South Korean women singer-songwriters