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Let’s Get To Know More Closely South Korean Female Solo Artists Who Deserve To Be Called Divas

South Korea is famous for its K-Pop industry which is flooded with talented and beautiful singers. As one of the most prominent entertainment industries in the world, successful singers in Korea not only gain a large amount of popularity in their own country, but also in the international market. When we hear the word K-Pop, we usually immediately think of a boy band or a girl group. However, actually, the South Korean music industry also has many female solo singers whose songs are no less popular than the ones of K-Pop groups.

Although they debuted as solo artists, the singers showed that they are able to stand on their own and make their names popular. Not only do they have beautiful looks and sweet voices, but some of them are also even known as Korean music legends and as musicians with songs that captivate music listeners of various ages.

These solo artists are even referred to as divas because of their golden voice and excellent image in the public eye. Diva is a term used to refer to female singers with extraordinary talent and brilliant career. And every country must have a diva who is often the icon of the musicians of that country, including South Korea. Want to know who are the female solo artists from South Korea who deserve to be called Diva?

In this article, Byeol Korea will show you who are the South Korean female solo artists who deserve to be called Divas. So, stay tuned and keep scrolling down.

IU

Lee Ji-eun, or also known by her stage name IU, was born on May 16th, 1993, in the Gwangjin District, Seoul, South Korea. IU made her debut at the age of 15 on September 18th, 2008. IU debuted under LOEN Entertainment or KAKAO M.

After nearly 10 years of a career in the South Korean entertainment world, IU successfully listed her name as one of the most influential solo artists in the K-Pop world. IU won the highest award (Daesang) at the 2018 Golden Disc Awards. She broke the record as the first female solo artist to win the award in the past 10 years. Previously, this award was dominated by male groups or male solo artists.

With more than 10 years of a career in the South Korean entertainment industry, IU has many legendary songs. Even the songs are always in the top positions of the South Korean charts once they are released. Here are the legendary songs from solo artist IU:

Only I Didn’t Know (2011)
You and I (2011)
The Red Shoes (2013)
Friday feat Jang Yi-jeong (2013)
My Old Story (2014)
Léon (2015)
Twenty-Three (2015)
Through the Night (2017)
Can’t Love You Anymore with Oh Hyuk (2017)
Feat palette. G-Dragon (2017), and etc.

Since debuting in 2008, IU has received many awards both in her music career and her career in drama. There are hundreds of awards received by this talented solo artist. In her musical career, IU has won awards from well-known award ceremonies in South Korea.

Asia Artist Awards
Cyworld Digital Music Awards
Gaon Chart Music Awards
Genie Music Awards
Golden Disc Awards
Japan Gold Disc Award
Korean Music Awards
Melon Music Awards (MMA)
Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA)
Seoul Music Awards
Soribada Best K-Music Awards
World Music Awards

Not only successful in the music field, but IU is also very successful in drama. This is evidenced by the many awards she got at such prestigious awards in South Korea.

APAN Star Awards
Asia Artist Awards
Baeksang Arts Awards
KBS Drama Awards
Korea Drama Awards
SBS Drama Awards
Seoul International Drama Awards
Seoul International Youth Film Festival.

In addition to the awards above, IU has also received many other awards both national and international awards. Because of this, IU deserves to be called the best Diva in South Korea.

BoA

Kwon Boa was born on November 5th, 1986, in Gyeonggi, South Korea. BoA debuted at the age of 14 on August 25th, 2000, under SM Entertainment. Since her debut, BoA has been dubbed the South Korean Diva.

BoA has talents in singing, dancing, beauty, popularity, and dedication to the music world that led to success in Japan, China, and the United States. Until now, she still holds the record as the only foreign artist who has sold more than one million copies in Japan.

Since debuting, BoA has released many very popular songs. Many BoA songs are very legendary, these are the legendary songs of solo artist BoA:

ID; Peace B (2000)
No. 1 (2002)
Listen To My Heart (2002)
Every Heart: Minna no Kimochi (2002)
Jewel Song (2002)
Altantis Princess (2003)
Merry Chri (2004)
Girls On Top (2005)
Moto (2005)
Eien (永遠, “Forever”) (2009)

Since debuting to date, BoA has been recognized worldwide for her popularity. This is evidenced by the many awards she got throughout his career as the most influential female solo artist in South Korea.

KBS Music Awards
KMTV Music Award
MBC Music Awards
Mnet Asian Music Awards
MTV Asia Awards
SBS Music Awards
Seoul Music Awards
KBS Drama Awards
Korea Drama Awards
Korean Music Awards
Best Hits Song Festival
BreakTudo Awards
Japan Gold Disc Awards
Japan Record Awards

Ailee

Amy Lee who has the Korean name Lee Ye-jin, or better known by his stage name Ailee, was born on May 30th, 1989, in Denver, Colorado, the United States. Ailee debuted as a singer under the YMC Entertainment record label on February 6th, 2012.

Ailee is a Korean-American singer who started her career as a YouTuber, before finally debuting in the K-Pop industry in 2012. She often donates her golden voice to popular drama soundtracks in Korea, one of which was the popular drama Goblin. She sang a song called “I Will Go to You Like the First Snow” for the drama.

Through the song, Ailee managed to get the Best Original Soundtrack award at several prestigious music award events in South Korea. Thanks to her golden voice, she also won the Best Vocal Performance – Female award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards for five years in a row. With her powerful voice, the Korean Beyonce title is attached to her.

The songs released by Ailee are very legendary because every song released by Ailee always becomes trending because of the way it conveys messages in its lyrics which is extraordinary.

Good Bye My Love
How Could You Do This To Me
Mind Your Own Business
Do not touch me!
I Will Show You
I Will Go To You Like The First Snow (Goblin soundtrack)

Throughout her career as a singer since 2012, Ailee her received many awards both for the soundtrack and for her solo songs.

APAN Star Awards
Asia Artist Awards
Asia Song Festival
Cable TV Broadcasting Awards
Cyworld Digital Music Awards
Gaon Chart Music Awards
Golden Disc Awards
Korea Best Star Awards
Korea Cable TV Awards
Korea Drama Awards
Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards
Melon Music Awards
Mnet Asian Music Awards
Mnet Pre-Grammy Awards
SBS Awards Festival
Seoul International Drama Awards
Seoul Music Awards
Seoul Success Awards
Soribada Best K-Music Awards

ChungHa

Kim Chung-ha was born with the name Kim Chan-mi on February 9th, 1996, in South Korea. She lived in Dallas, Texas, United States, for eight years before returning to South Korea to become a singer. She is known for her performance in the Mnet Produce 101 first season survival program. She managed to occupy the fourth position and was named as a member of the girl group I.O.I.

ChungHa was the first former I.O.I member to make a solo debut. Since appearing in Produce 101 Season 1, this one idol attracted attention with all her talents, especially her dance talent. ChungHa became a solo singer in 2017 through the song “Why Don’t You Know” under MNH Entertainment. After releasing 3 songs in 2017, ChungHa admitted that she was able to pay all of her family’s debts.

The former member of I.O.I is also known to have a cool dance and is very much the idol of many young women and men in Korea. The single “Gotta Go” that was released in January 2019 also brought her a trophy for the first musical weekly program as a solo artist.

Having debuted as a solo artist in 2017, ChungHa has released her songs which are very popular both as solo songs, drama soundtracks, and collaboration songs with other popular artists.

Why Don’t You Know feat Nucksal (2017)
Roller Coaster (2018)
Love U (2018)
Gotta Go (2019)
Snapping (2019)
Whatcha Doin feat Super Junior’s Yesung (2018)
These Nights feat Rich Brian (2019)
Run Grizzly feat (2019)
Wow Thing feat Seulgi, SinB, Soyeon (2018)
With You feat Samuel (2017)
LALALA feat Babylon (2017), etc.

Throughout her career in the entertainment industry, ChungHa has received many awards for her work as one of the best female solo artists in South Korea.

Asia Artist Awards
Gaon Chart Music Awards
Genie Music Awards
Golden Disc Awards
Korea First Brand Awards
Korea Popular Music Awards
Melon Music Awards
Mnet Asian Music Awards
Seoul Music Awards
Soribada Best K-Music Awards
The Fact Music Awards

Somi

Jeon Somi was born on March 9th, 2001, under the name Ennik Somi Douma, in Seoul, South Korea. In 2016, she joined the Mnet Produce 101 survival program and managed to rank first to debut as a member of the girl group I.O.I.

After I.O.I was disbanded in 2017, Jeon Somi returned to her agency, JYP Entertainment. But in 2018, Jeon Somi gave surprising news that she ended her contract with JYP Entertainment. Whereas previously Somi was rumored that she would debut together with JYP Entertainment’s new girl group, ITZY.

After experiencing the ups and downs of being a JYP Entertainment trainee, in September 2018, Jeon Somi joined the Black Label agency which is a sub-agency of the Entertainment group. Eight months later, Jeon Somi finally made her debut as a solo artist on June 13th, 2019. She released the song “Birthday” which was produced by Teddy Park. During her career in the South Korean entertainment industry, Somi had several songs.

Birthday (2019)
Outta My Head (2019)
Flower, Wind and You with Ki Hui-hyeon, Choi Yoo-jung, and Chungha (2016)
You, Who? feat Eric Nam (2017)

Somi also received an award for the ad she starred in. In addition, Somi is also listed in several South Korean prestigious award shows.

Korea First Brand Awards
M2 X Genie Music Awards
4th Asia Artist Awards
11th Melon Music Awards
21st Mnet Asian Music Awards
29th Seoul Music Awards

HyunA

Kim Hyun-ah, or more commonly known as HyunA, was born on June 6th, 1992, in Seoul, Sudogwon, South Korea. In 2006, HyunA debuted as a member of Wonder Girls with Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, and Sohee under JYP Entertainment. One year later, HyunA’s parents moved her from Wonder Girls for fear for her health. Then in 2008, she joined Cube Entertainment and debuted under 4MINUTE a year later.

HyunA made her solo debut with the song “Change” in 2010. HyunA also debuted in the duo group, the first being the Trouble Maker group with Hyunseung, a former member of BEAST. HyunA was successful as one of the solo artists in the K-Pop music industry after 4Minutes has disbanded. Even HyunA became one of the senior artists who helped raise the name of her former agency, Cube Entertainment. Throughout her career, HyunA has released popular songs as a South Korean solo artist.

Change feat Yong Jun-hyung (2010)
Bubble Pop! (2011)
Ice Cream (2012)
Red (빨개요) (2014)
Roll Deep (잘나가서 그래) (featuring BtoB’s Jung Il-hoon) (2015)
How’s This? (어때?) (2016)
Babe (베베) (2017)
Lip & Hip (2017)
Flower Shower (2019)

HyunA has also won several awards at prestigious South Korean music events for the works she has released.

Golden Disc Awards
Gaon Chart Music Awards
Herald Donga TV Lifestyle Awards
Mnet Asian Music Awards
Melon Music Awards
Mnet 20’s Choice Awards
YouTube K-pop Awards
Seoul Music Awards
YinYueTai V-Chart Awards
COSMO Glam Night
3rd European K-POP/J-POP Music Award

Hyolyn

Kim Hyo-jung, or better known by the stage name Hyolyn, was born on January 11th, 1991, in Incheon, South Korea. She is known as the leader and main vocal of the girl group SISTAR and its subunit, SISTAR19. On June 3rd, 2010, Hyolyn made her debut as a member of SISTAR member under STARSHIP Entertainment.

Hyolyn is a member of the famous girl group, Sistar. The girl group that debuted in 2010 was finally officially disbanded in 2017. After that, Hyolyn decided to leave Sistar’s agency, Starship Entertainment, and she founded her own label. The agency was named Bridge Entertainment. And Hyolyn began her solo career at her agency.

When Sistar was still active, Hyolyn was the main vocalist who had a distinctive voice. This became even more visible in Hyolyn’s songs that she released after establishing herself as a solo artist. In addition, Hyolyn is also known for her dancing skills. In every Hyolyn music video, you will see Hyolyn dancing along with her backup dancer. When she started her solo career, Hyolyn released many songs that are very popular.

Dally (2018)
Bae (2018)
See Sea (2018)
Paradise (2016)
Fruity feat Kisum (2017), etc.

Throughout her solo career, Hyolyn has often been included in the South Korean prestigious music award nominations.

5th Korea Drama Awards
World Music Awards
9th Seoul International Drama Awards
7th Korea Drama Awards
16th Seoul International Youth Film Festival
16th Mnet Asian Music Awards
19th Mnet Asian Music Awards
32nd Golden Disk Awards
20th Mnet Asian Music Awards

Lee Hi

Lee Ha-yi, or better known by her stage name Lee Hi, was born on September 23rd, 1996, in Bucheon, South Korea. Lee Hi began her career by auditing a talent search held by the SBS TV station, K-Pop Star Season 1 in 2011. Lee Hi also successfully won the runner up in the K-Pop Star Season 1 program through the Adele song “Rolling In The Deep.” After the program ended, she officially joined YG Entertainment. Her voice, that is very distinctive and unique, fits well with YG Entertainment’s corporate image.

It didn’t take long for Lee Hi to make her official debut in the South Korean music industry. She officially made her debut as a solo artist by releasing a digital single titled “1, 2, 3, 4” on October 28th, 2012, using the stage name Lee Hi.

The female solo artist, whose real name is Lee Ha-yi, managed to steal the attention of music lovers with her works. In fact, foreign media such as Billboard dubbed her as the ‘Korean Adele’ when she just debuted in 2012. She is also dubbed as a soulful singer because the emotion of the song when she is singing can always be felt by her listeners. Throughout her career as a South Korean female solo artist, Lee Hi has had very popular songs that brought her to success.

Breathe (2016)
No One feat B.I (2019)
Rose (2013)
My Love Scarlet Heart: Ryeo’s soundtrack (2016)
1, 2, 3, 4 (2012)
HOLD MY HAND (2016)
My Star (2016), etc.

In addition, in pursuing her career as a South Korean female solo artist, Lee Hi received many awards for the works she released.

Golden Disk Awards
Seoul Music Awards
Korean Music Awards
Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards, etc.

Park Bom

Park Bom was born on March 24th, 1984, in Seoul, South Korea. She is a member and main vocalist of the group 2NE1 under the YG Entertainment label. Park Bom debuted with 2NE1 on May 17th, 2009.

After doing various activities with 2NE1, Park Bom made her solo debut by releasing the song “You and I” in November 2011. The song won the number one chart on Gaon for four consecutive weeks.

The song also won the best digital single at the 2010 MAMA. Then at the end of 2011, the song “You and I’ was downloaded 4.48 million times, and became one of the songs that won the best sales in South Korean music history. On April 21st, 2011, Park Bom released her second song, “Don’t Cry.” The song achieved massive success and won a perfect all-kill by getting number 1 on South Korea’s 7 local music charts.

Since starting her career in 2009, former member of 2NE1, Park Bom has spawned several solo songs that are her mainstay. Through these songs, she showed her unique vocal colors and gained popularity among fans.

You And I (2009)
Don’t Cry (2011)
Spring feat. Sandara Park (2019), etc.

Since starting her career as a solo artist, Park Bom has received many awards for her works. She is also often included in the South Korean music award nominations.

Mnet Asian Music Awards
Soribada Best K-Music Awards
Mnet Asian Music Awards
Melon Music Awards
Gaon Chart Music Awards
Seoul Music Awards

G.NA

G.NA has the real name Gina Jane Choi or Choe Ji-na. She was born on September 13th, 1987, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is a Canadian-Korean singer. G.NA was originally supposed to debut in the pop group Five Girls from the talent agency Good Entertainment, along with Yubin (debuting with Wonder Girls), UEE (After School), Jeon Hyo-sung (Secret), and Yang Ji-won (Spica). However, it didn’t happen because of Good Entertainment’s financial problems. As a result, all members left the agency and made it to other talent agencies and debuted as members of other girl groups. On her debut, G.NA released the duet song “Things I Want to Do When I Have a Lover” together with solo artist Rain on July 5th, 2010.

Awards and Nominations

Cyworld Digital Music Awards
18th Korean Culture Entertainment Awards
Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards
5th Mnet 20’s Choice Awards
8th Asia Song Festival
26th Golden Disk Awards
Mnet Asian Music Awards

That was all the information about the South Korean female solo artists who deserve to be called Divas. Don’t forget to kindly share your thoughts in the comment section below!