Lee Sun hee is a South Korean singer-songwriter. She is often referred to as Korea's "National Diva" for her immense popularity, commercial success, and vocal ability. Lee debuted in 1984 with the song, "To J," for which she won first prize in the MBC Riverside Song Festival. She released her first album, Ah! The Good Old Days, the following year in 1985. She released a string of successful albums in the 1980s and early 1990s, for which she won the Album Bonsang at the Golden Disc Awards every year from 1985 to 1990. She released her 15th and most recent album, Serendipity, in 2014. The government of South Korea awarded Lee the prestigious Prime Minister's Commendation in 2010 for her contributions to popular culture. In 2011, Lee became the fourth South Korean singer to ever perform at Carnegie Hall, and in 2018, she was one of the few South Korean singers to ever perform in North Korea, as part of the Spring is Coming concert in Pyongyang.
Biography
Lee Sun hee was born in 1964 in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. She was raised near a secluded Buddhist temple by her mother and her father, a Buddhist monk who belongs to a sect of the religion that allows monks to marry and have children. She attended Sangmyung High School and graduated from Incheon City College in 1984 with a degree in environmental management. In 1984, she participated in the 5th MBC Riverside Song Festival as a team named '4막 5장' with Im Sung-kyun, senior of the same department of university, and made her debut earning great attention to win the Grand Prize with a song "To J". At that time, she had a perm in a hurry because she was afraid that she might be caught the fact that she competed in the festival without any permission by her parents. That's why she seems so out of place. When Lee Sun-hee visited the music office of Jang Wook-jo, a South Korean songwriter, in the second year of high school to find a song to sing, a composer named Lee Se-geon was throwing bunch of sheet music away in the garbage can. Sun-hee asked him watching that scene, "Can I use this?", and picked music with his permission. Surprisingly, the song in that music was "To J", her debut and signature song which gave her grand prize of festival. There was a joke that Jeon Doo-hwan, South Korean president at that time, would ban "To J" in radio because the song reminded the nation of the president because his family named starts with 'J'. In fact, this song was used when satirizing the news that always report their president at first. She was famous for having female fans more than male fans even though she is a woman because of her explosive singing ability and the charm of her boyish attire. It is the beginning of 'sister unit'. At that time, video of her stage performance shows screaming sound of female fans like the sound coming out in the male idol's stage performance by yelling fans nowadays. The size of her sister unit of Lee Sun-hee was so huge, and the power of her sister unit was so great that there was a rumor that the company gave money and mobilized people. Lee Sun-hee's round glasses and curt hair caused so-called 'Lee Sun-hee syndrome', which was popular among female students at that time. The unique image making that sticks to a course wearing pantsuit costume and her appearance like a shy boy attracted not only male fans but also female fans in 'Lee Sun-hee syndrome'. Social atmosphere that rejects the decadent trend set up the environment that singers with healthy image like her can succeed and stretch their wings. Additionally, Lee Sun-hee was able to make herself popular with her unique vocal ability expressing strong power at high notes and songs that stimulate emotions of young women.
Musical style
During her 30th anniversary concert tour, Sun-hee broadcast a clip during the intermission revealing her three biggest musical influences: Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and Whitney Houston. She has mentioned Korean vocalist 송창식 as one of her influences and role models. Sun-hee possesses a warm, lyric-soprano voice with sturdy lows and bombastic highs. In addition to being a vocalist, Sun-hee is also a songwriter, writing many of the songs on her later albums.
