Lee Ayumi (born August 25, 1984), professionally known as Ayumi in South Korea and Yumi Itō in Japan, is a Japanese-born South Korean singer, actress and television personality based in South Korea. She debuted under the stage name Ahyoomee in 2001, as the leader and lead vocalist of South Korean girl group

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, a position she held until the group's disbandment in 2006. Following the disbandment, Lee embarked on a solo career in South Korea under SM, releasing two digital singles. In 2008, she returned to Japan and began an acting career under the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Yumi Itō. In 2009, she debuted as a solo singer in Japan, under Avex's

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music. History The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile. In 2000 ...

, taking the stage name Iconiq, and released a studio album, an EP, and seven digital singles.

Early life

Lee Ayumi was born in Tottori, Japan on August 25, 1984, to a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

mother from

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and a father who is a second generation ethnic Korean who lives in Japan. She lived in Japan until the age of 15 before moving to South Korea, later attending the Korea Kent Foreign School ( Korean Kindergarten).

Career

2001–2006: Sugar

Ahyoomee was scouted by the entertainment company Starworld at a H.O.T. concert, later debuting as a part of Korean

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

in 2001. The band released two albums in Japan and three in South Korea, to moderate commercial success. During her career in Sugar, she and Park Soo-jin had a guest appearance on the ''

Gag Concert ''Gag Concert'' () is a South Korean sketch-comedy television show more commonly known as ''Gag Con'' (). It began airing on 4 September 1999 and aired its last episode on 26 June 2020, making it South Korea's longest-running comedy show. It st ...

'' 200th episode special, in the sketch ''Poncho Siblings'' (우비 삼남매), making them the first girl group to appear on the program. In December 2006, Starworld announced they would not offer Sugar new contracts, thus disbanding the group following the expiration of their contracts.

2006–2012: Solo career

Lee simultaneously changed her romanization of her stage name from Ahyoomee to AhYooMi and released her first digital single "Cutie Honey" on July 13, 2006. The single originally sung by

Kumi Koda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single " Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, " Real Emoti ...

for the theme song to the ''

Cutie Honey is a Japanese Shōnen manga, shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. First appearing in ''Weekly Shōnen Champion''s 41st issue of 1973, the series ran until April 1974. It follows an android girl named Honey Kisara ...

'' anime series. Her second single, a cover of

Kim Gun Mo Kim Gun-mo (; born January 13, 1968) is a South Korean singer-songwriter who is considered the country's most successful musical artist of the 1990s. His 1995 album, '' Wrongful Meeting,'' previously held the Guinness World Record for the best- ...

's song, "Wrongful Meeting", was released on November 7, 2006. On February 15, 2007, Her previous label Starworld requested SM Entertainment to charge, as her management following her contract expiration on February 13. Under SM Entertainment, Ayumi started collaborating with

SM Town SM Town (stylized in all caps as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Liv ...

on their summer and winter albums that year. However, she did not release any solo material at this time. In 2008, Ayumi moved to

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writing ...

to study at dance and vocal schools. Through the study in California, she later found new inspiration as a musician. In 2009, she returned to Japan and made her solo debut as Iconiq with signed Avex label Rhythm Zone. She began her solo activities in Japan and became a model for

Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world an ...

's ''Maquillage'' cosmetics line and released single "

I'm Lovin' You "I'm Lovin' You" (stylised as "I'm lovin' you") is a song recorded by Japanese born-South Korean singer Iconiq collaboration with Exile vocalist's Atsushi. It was released on January 27, 2010 as a digital download to cellphones, as well as a spec ...

" featuring

Exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

's Atsushi as a promotional single, where Lee's image was used in billboards for the promotion of the line. Iconiq was marketed around her

buzz cut A buzz cut, or wiffle cut, is a variety of short hairstyles, especially where the length of hair is the same on all parts of the head. Rising to prominence initially with the advent of Hair clipper, manual hair clippers, buzz cuts became increas ...

hair-style. On March 10, 2010, Her debut album, ''

Change Myself ''Change Myself'' is the debut Japanese-language studio album by South Korean singer-born in Japan Iconiq, released on March 10, 2010. The album was initially planned for a February 24 release, which was postponed for two weeks. Background Icon ...

'', which included the promotional singles "

" and "

Bye Now! "Bye Now!" (stylised as BYE NOW!) is a song recorded by Japanese born-South Korean singer Iconiq, marketed as the lead single of her debut Studio album, ''Change Myself'', released in March 2010. It was widely played at radio stations during the ...

", which were used for advertising the ''Maquillage'' cosmetic line once more. The album debuted at #3 on

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

's albums chart, the highest position for a debut album since

Yui Aragaki is a Japanese actress, model, singer and occasional radio show host. She has been selected several times as the most desired girlfriend and the most desired female celebrity face in Oricon's yearly survey. Early life She was born on June 11, 19 ...

's ''Sora'' in late 2007. On August 11, 2010, she released her debut single " Tokyo Lady", which was later included in her first EP '' Light Ahead'' in September. The EP was promoted with three music videos directed by

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome and Diamond Martel) is an American music video director and choreographer. As a music video director, she has worked with Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sting and Jennifer Lopez. One of her ...

. After a two-year hiatus from releasing music, Lee released two digital singles on March 14, 2012, titled ''LADIES'' and ''MAKE IT RIGHT''.

2015–present: Acting career and return to South Korea

In 2015, Lee returned to South Korea, appearing on the JTBC program Witch Hunt, marking her first television appearance in South Korea after nine years. In August 2016, in an interview with SENSE ( ja) magazine, Lee stated she would be going back to being an actress, using the name Yumi Itō. In September of the same year, she starred as Michiru Saiki in the stage play adaption of the manga

ReLIFE is a Japanese manga series in webtoon format written and illustrated by Yayoiso. The individual chapters were released by NHN Japan on the Comico website from October 12, 2013, to March 16, 2018, for a total of 15 compiled volumes publ ...

. In May 2017, Lee was cast in a Fuji TV drama, ''Code Blue Season 3''. In August 2017, Lee officially resumed her Korea activities with confirmed as a cast member of MBN's new South Korean variety show ''Flight Girl''. In March 2019, Lee announced that she had signed a contract with the South Korean agency BONBOO Entertainment. On January 20, 2020, Lee announced on her blog that, after eleven years, she would be leaving Avex, after the expiration of her contract.

Personal life

In September 2022, Lee released a pre-wedding photo revealing that she would marry her non-celebrity foreign boyfriend who is two years older than her on October 30. Her husband, Kwon Ki-beom, is working as a businessman. On January 9, 2024, she announced the pregnancy of her first child. On June 15, Lee announced that she gave birth to her first child, a baby girl, on June 10.

Discography

Studio album

Extended play

Singles

Filmography

Film

Television drama

Television shows

Awards

Korean Music Awards

, - , rowspan=2 align="center", Korean Music Awards 2007 , rowspan=2 align="center", Lee Ah-yoo-mi "Cutie Honey" , Album of the year , , - , Best pop album ,

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ahyumi 1984 births Living people South Korean women pop singers Japanese-language singers of South Korea Avex Group artists Zainichi Korean musicians South Korean female idols Singers from Tottori Prefecture