Song Jieun, (Hangul: 송지은; Hanja: 宋枝恩;[1] born May 5, 1990) better known as Jieun, sometimes Ji Eun or Ji-eun, is a South Koreansinger. She is best known as a member of the South Korean girl groupSecret. Aside from her group's activities, she has released several solo songs and participated in various OSTs. In 2011, her second single, "Going Crazy" featuring Bang Yong Guk, went to become her first number one single on the Gaon Chart as a solo artist.
Early life
Song was born on May 5, 1990,[2] in South Korea. She is an only child. Having interest in music when she was young, she auditioned for JYP Entertainment at an early age. While in JYP Entertainment, she sang OSTs of Korean dramas in 2007 and 2008. Under JYP Entertainment, she was set off to debut as a four member girl group with Sistar's Hyorin and BESTie's Uji, EXID's Hani but plans did not go well.[3] Jieun then left JYP Entertainment and joined TS Entertainment, where she finally debuted as a part of a girl group, Secret.
In September 2009, TS Entertainment announced that they will be debuting a four member girl group in October 2009. Jieun, along with Han Sunhwa, Jung Hana and Jun Hyoseong, debuted as the group, Secret. Prior to their debut, the group was on a documentary show called "Secret Story" which chronicled their debut process.[4] They released their debut single "I Want You Back" in October 2009.[5]
Secret performing Madonna at the Mnet 20s Choice Awards.
In April 2010, Secret released their first mini album entitled Secret Time which spawned them the hit single "Magic" and served as their breakthrough song in South Korea.[5][6] In August 2010, they released their second mini album entitled "Madonna" and the title track continued their success as it topped the Gaon Single Charts.[5][7]
In January 2011, the group deviated from their "sexy" and "sassy" image and released Shy Boy, a "cutesy" and retro inspired song.[5] Although they were worried with the 180 degrees transformation, the single exceeded their expectations as the song was a huge success. Shy Boy charted strongly in digital charts and Secret won their first trophy on music shows with the song. They won a total of 5 trophies in various music shows with Shy Boy. Secret continued their success with the release of their second CD single entitled "Starlight Moonlight".[5] The title track became another hit for Secret as the song reached number one on the Gaon Monthly Singles Charts and won them another trophy in SBS's Inkigayo.[8]
The same year, Secret began a foray of Japanese activities with the release of Madonna and Shy Boy (EP).[5] The Japanese remake of "Madonna" debuted at number nine in the Oricon singles charts. Secret was one of the first three Korean girl groups to debut on the Oricon chart in the top 10, the others being Kara and Girls Generation being the first and second respectively. In October 2011, the group released their first studio album entitled "Moving in Secret" and spawned them another hit with the lead single "Love is Move.[5] The group released their first mini album in Japan entitled Shy Boy (EP).[5] The mini album debuted also at number nine on the Oricon album charts.
In February 2012, Secret released their second CD single in Japan entitled "So Much For Goodbye".
Solo career
In 2007 and 2008, Jieun participated in singing several OSTs of Korean dramas like "Learning To Fly" for Air City, "Bichunmooga" for Bichunmoo and "Perfume" for The Lawyers Of The Great Republic Korea. After debuting in Secret for around two months, it was announced that she will have a duet with Hwanhee.[9] On December 14, 2009, the duet, titled, "Yesterday" was unveiled. The song also has a solo version with only Jieun's vocals. Jieun made her solo debut on Music Bank on December 18, 2009.[10] Jieun is also a featured singer of Untouchable's title track for their first studio album, Quiet Storm, "Give My All".
On February 10, 2010, TS Entertainment revealed that Jieun will be on stage to replace Narsha of Brown Eyed Girls as the featured singer of Untouchable's "Living In The Heart". Jieun performed with labelmate Untouchable on various music shows.[11]
After Secret's great success with "Shy Boy", TS Entertainment announced that Jieun will make her solo comeback with the song "Going Crazy". The song was dubbed as an "emotional ballad track" and "different to what she’s shown through Secret".[12] On February 27, the official concept photos and teasers for "Going Crazy" was released.[13] On March 3, the official music video was unveiled.[14] The music video stars actress Min Hyo-rin. The song made its debut at number twenty on the Gaon Single Charts. The following week, "Going Crazy" jumped nineteen spots to number one, making it Jieun's and Yong Guk's first number one single in Korea.[15]
On April 3, 2011, Jieun participated in the opening pitch for the 30th Korea Baseball Organization with member Hyoseong.[16]
On May 11, 2011, it was reported that Jieun will be participating in KBS's "Immortal Songs 2".[17] After participating for four episodes, Jieun was set to leave "Immortal Songs 2" due to conflicting schedules.[18]
