Kim Hyun-ah (; born June 6, 1992), known professionally as Hyuna (stylized as HyunA), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and model. She debuted as a member of the girl group

Wonder Girls Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony (Wonder Girls song), Irony" and 5 members: Park Ye-eun, Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna, and Ahn So-hee, Sohee. Aft ...

in February 2007. Upon leaving the ensemble shortly after, Hyuna subsequently left

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1997 by Park Jin-young, J. Y. Park. Operating as a record label, talent ...

and joined the girl group

4Minute 4Minute (, often stylized in all caps) was a South Korean girl group formed by Cube Entertainment, consisting of members Jihyun, Gayoon, Jiyoon, Hyuna and Sohyun. The group was known for its edgy dance-pop style and " girl crush" image t ...

. The group debuted in June 2009 under Cube Entertainment. In 2010, Hyuna began a solo career with a style she described as "performance-oriented music". Her solo debut single "

Change Change, Changed or Changing may refer to the below. Other forms are listed at Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of t ...

" charted at number-two on South Korea's

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...

. In 2011, Hyuna gained wider public recognition with the release of her first extended play '' Bubble Pop!''. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

sold more than three million digital copies and she became the first female

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

solo artist to reach 100 million views on a single music video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Later the same year, she formed the duo Trouble Maker with former Beast member Hyunseung, releasing the hit single "Trouble Maker". In 2012, she appeared in a successful duet rendition of

Psy Park Jae-sang (; born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name Psy ( ; ), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, known domestically for his humorous music videos and stage performances and internationally for his hit singl ...

's worldwide hit "

Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" () is a K-pop song by South Korean singer Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term "Gangnam Style" is a n ...

" and later released her second extended play ''

Melting Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a substance from a solid to a liquid. This occurs when the internal energy of the solid increases, typically by the application of heat or pressure, which inc ...

'', which featured the number-one single "

Ice Cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

". Her next two extended plays '' A Talk'' and '' A+'' yielded the successful singles " Red" and "

Roll Deep Roll Deep (formerly Roll Deep Entourage) are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel. The group have had two UK No. 1 singles, " Good Times" and "Green Lig ...

", respectively. Following 4Minute's disbandment in mid-2016, she released her fifth extended play '' A'wesome'', which was supported by her first concert tour The Queen's Back. In 2017, she was involved in the trio

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

with

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

members Hui and E'Dawn before releasing her sixth extended play ''

Following ''Following'' is a 1998 British independent neo-noir crime thriller film written, produced, directed, photographed, and edited by Christopher Nolan in his feature film directorial debut. It tells the story of a young man who follows strange ...

''. In 2018, Hyuna ended her contract with Cube Entertainment after several internal conflicts, and signed with Psy's P Nation the following year. Her first digital single under P Nation "

Flower Shower "Flower Shower" (stylized in all caps) is a song recorded by South Korean singer-songwriter Hyuna, released on November 5, 2019, by P Nation and distributed by Kakao M as a single. The music video was released on the same day. "Flower Shower" was ...

" became her seventh top-ten entry on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—its first issue was dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-speci ...

. In 2021, Hyuna released her seventh extended play '' I'm Not Cool''.

Life and career

1992–2009: Early life and career beginnings

Hyuna was born on June 6, 1992 in

Seodaemun District Seodaemun District () is one of the 25 List of districts of Seoul, districts of Seoul, South Korea. It has a population of 313,814 (2010) and has a geographic area of 17.61 Square kilometre, km2 (6.8 sq mi), and is divided into 14 ''Dong (admi ...

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 ...

, South Korea. She attended Choongam Middle School and Korea High School of Music and Arts. Hyuna graduated from Konkuk University, in Contemporary Arts, and received special admission into the school. In 2006, she was revealed as a member of the

managed

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 ...

as the group's main rapper. Hyuna participated in the group's debut mini album '' The Wonder Begins'', released in February 2007. She participated in the group's television show ''MTV Wonder Girls'' for two seasons, and co-hosted '' Show! Music Core'' with Wonder Girls' Sohee and

Fly to the Sky Fly to the Sky () is a South Korean R&B duo consisting of Brian Joo and Hwanhee. Initially marketed as Korean idol, K-pop idols, the duo later developed a more mature image and became one of the most popular R&B groups in South Korea. The duo ha ...

singer Brian Joo from May 12 – June 30, 2007. Hyuna left Wonder Girls in July, when she was removed by her parents due to their concern over her health, particularly chronic

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...

and fainting spells.Yang, Jeff
Asian Pop: Next stop, Wonderland
. ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

''. April 9, 2008. Retrieved March 2, 2009. In 2008, she joined Cube Entertainment. In May 2009, it was announced that Hyuna would debut as part of the girl group

. The group debuted with the single " Hot Issue" on June 15. Kim, Hyeon-w
데뷔 하루 앞둔 포미닛 "라이브 걱정없어, 실력으로 승부하겠다" ("Morning Before Debut, 4minute States "We Do Not Worry About Live Performance; We Will Win Through Talent")
. '' Joins.com''. June 17, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2010.

2009–2010: Solo debut and rising success

Hyuna collaborated with Lee Gi-kwang on the song "2009" for his debut album ''First Episode: A New Hero'', and also appeared in the music video of his single "Dancing Shoes," which was released on March 30, 2009. On August 13, she rapped for Navi's song "Wasteful Tears" and she also appeared in the music video. Hyuna also featured in Brave Brothers' song "Bittersweet," released August 18. She became part of the "Dream Team Girl Group," a promotional group for

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

's Anycall phone with Han Seung-yeon, Uee, and Gain. Their first digital single "Tomorrow" was released on October 6, 2009, and the official music video was released on October 12, starring actor Lee Dong-gun. As well, Hyuna released an individual version of the music video which released on October 27. She also participated in the South Korean variety show '' Invincible Youth.'' However, Hyuna left the show due to some scheduling conflicts with her group's overseas promotions on June 11, 2010. On January 4, 2010, she released the single "

", which charted highly on various online charts.솔로' 현아, 음원 랭킹 상위권... 화제의 검색어 1위'' ("Solo" Hyun-a, Top Ranked Song...#1 Search Term)
. '' Joins.com''. January 6, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2010. Kim, Hyeong-wu
'섹시 고딩' 현아 '명품 복근 댄스' 주말 내내 가요계 강타 ("Sexy High School Student" Hyun-a's "Luxury Muscle Dance" Throws Hefty Punch at Pop Music)
. '' Joins.com''. January 10, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2010. The song reached number fourteen on the Gaon 2010 digital yearly chart with 2,469,354 copies sold. Ten days later, on January 14, the "Change" music video was flagged with a 19+ rating by the

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF; ), formerly the Ministry of Gender Equality (), is a cabinet-level division of the government of South Korea. It was created on February 28, 1998, as the Presidential Commission on Women's Affair ...

for being inappropriate for minors. Cube Entertainment stated that the music video would be re-edited and submitted for approval. However, broadcast station SBS, announced the music video would be restricted for a 15+ audience instead, and MBC announced that it would still be viewable for all audiences. Hyuna's "Change" promotions ended in March 2010. She released a few more singles in 2010, including "Love Parade" featuring T-max's member Park Yun-hwa, "Outlaw in the Wild" featuring Nassun, and produced by E-Tribe. Hyuna also participated in G.NA's duet single "Say You Love Me", for which she wrote the rap lyrics. In October 2010, she made a cameo appearance in the thriller film '' Midnight FM'' with 4Minute member Jihyun on October 14, 2010.

2011–2015: Breakthrough and comeback with 4Minute

In 2011, Hyuna appeared in the Korean version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. The show began broadcasting on June 10. The same year, she released her first mini album, '' Bubble Pop'', featuring five new songs including the title track of the same name. The single was a global success, and featured on top of YouTube's "most watched today" chart after gaining one million views in two days. It eventually became the first music video by a K-pop artist to surpass 100 million views. Hyuna was ranked 17th on

's '21 Under 21′, a staff-compiled list of notable young acts; while "Bubble Pop" was listed as ninth place on

Spin magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps as ''SPIN'') is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. ...

's "Best 20 Songs of 2011." On November 24, 2011, Cube revealed that she would be in a co-ed unit called Trouble Maker with BEAST's Hyunseung. Trouble Maker's first mini album, '' Trouble Maker'', consisted of a dance track and an emotional ballad, as well as solo songs for both Hyuna and Hyunseung. Trouble Maker performed for the first time at the

Mnet Asian Music Awards The MAMA Awards (, formerly Mnet Asian Music Awards) is a major Music award, music awards ceremony presented annually by entertainment company CJ ENM. First held in South Korea, the majority of prizes have been won by K-pop artists, although ...

. In March 2012, she joined ''The Birth of a Family'', an "animal communion variety" program where idols adopt stray pets and take care of them for a certain period of time to raise awareness for animal rights. On March 14, Hyuna announced the launch of her brand ''Hyuna x SPICYCOLOR''. She also appeared in

's viral music video for "

," having been selected personally by Psy during the initial production stage. "Gangnam Style" became the most viewed K-pop music video, and drew worldwide global recognition for Hyuna. Psy released the female version of "Gangnam Style", known as " Oppa Is Just My Style" in August 2012, featuring additional vocals by Hyuna herself. Hyuna released her second mini album titled ''

'' on October 21, 2012, with the title track "Ice Cream". The song was produced by Brave Brothers and was the first collaborative effort between the producer and Hyuna as a solo artist. The video for Ice Cream was released on October 22, 2012, and features a cameo by Psy. "Ice Cream" drew global attention, after being featured by several international media outlets. It drew a record number of views on

and became the then-fastest Korean music video to reach 20 million views. ''Melting'' is also notable for Hyuna's contributions as a lyricist and composer for "Very Hot" and "To My Boyfriend". In the same month, it was announced that she would join four other K-pop stars; Sistar's Hyolyn, Secret's Jun Hyo-seong, After School's Nana and Kara's Nicole to form a project group titled "Dazzling Red". The group performed at the 2012 SBS Gayo Daejeon. On May 24, Hyuna collaborated with makeup artists Son & Park to launch a series of charitable activities titled "Kiss of Hope", whose profits were donated to the education of children in poor countries. In March, she became a spokesmodel for the 2013 Toyota Corolla. Hyuna released the short music video "Corolla x Hyuna: My Color", and the "Corolla x Hyuna" mobile app which teaches her song and choreography. On March 11, she performed at the K-Pop Night Out at SXSW at

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Hyuna then went to Los Angeles to film a '' Funny or Die'' sketch with British singer

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

. The two stars' "Better Walk" video was released on "Funny or Die" on April 2, 2014. In October, she and Hyunseung made a comeback as Trouble Maker. They released the single " Now" from their ''

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

'' EP. The song reached number one on ten of Korea's major music charts, and was deemed by Instiz.net as an All-Kill. It also topped ''Billboard'' K-Pop Hot 100 chart. In July 2014, she released her third album titled '' A Talk'' and its lead single " Red". To promote the album, Hyuna appeared in her own reality show titled ''Hyuna's Free Month'', which showcased various aspects of her daily life. ''Red'' proved to be a success, with Billboard praising her for establishing herself as a global pop brand and

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

naming "Red" number five on their list of the top ten music videos of 2014. The album also topped charts in Taiwan. In August 2015, she released her fourth mini album ''A+'', with the lead single titled "Because I'm the Best" featuring

Jung Il-hoon Jung Il-hoon (; born October 4, 1994), simply known as Ilhoon or Illhoon, is a South Korean rapper, songwriter, record producer, host, actor and entertainer. He was the rapper of the South Korean boy band BtoB. He is well known for his coll ...

. Hyuna made her comeback on ''M! Countdown'' and performed "Ice, Ice" featuring Hwasa.

2016–present: Continued soloist success, label changes and upcoming projects

On June 13, 2016, it was announced that 4Minute had made the decision to disband. Hyuna was the only member of the group to renew her contract with Cube Entertainment. Following the group's disbandment, she resumed her activities as a solo artist, with the release of her fifth mini album '' A'wesome'' and its title track " How's This?" (), on August 1, 2016. Behind-the-scenes footage of Hyuna's album's preparation was featured on her solo reality program ''HyunA X19''. The album topped nine local music charts upon release. She embarked on her first solo Asia tour soon after. To mark her tenth anniversary, Hyuna announced a fan-meeting tour in North America. She visited ten cities in total during February 2017. On April 3, 2017, Cube Entertainment confirmed that she and Pentagon members Hui and E'Dawn were set to debut in May as new sub-unit,

. On April 4, Cube TV debuted a new reality TV program called ''Triple H Detective Agency''. Hyuna released her sixth mini album ''

'' and its title track " Babe" on August 29, 2017. On December 2, 2017, the rapper attended the

2017 Melon Music Awards The 2017 Melon Music Awards ceremony, organized by kakao M (a kakao company) through its online music store, '' Melon'', took place on December 2, 2017, at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan Ci ...

, where she premiered the single " Lip & Hip". It was officially released two days later. On August 2, 2018, photos of Hyuna with

's E'Dawn were released. Cube Entertainment denied rumors that they were dating, however, she and E'Dawn held an interview with Yeonhap News later that day, admitting to their relationship which began in May 2016, after they had got to know each other through their project group

promotions. The company responded to Hyuna's confirmation of the dating rumors by cancelling all previously planned performances for Triple H, on-air appearances and fan events including a fan meet-up that was scheduled on the next day. Fans were divided in reactions to the event, with some calling for E'Dawn to be removed from Pentagon, and others focusing on how the company mistreated her and E'Dawn after releasing the scandal, rather than on their relationship. On September 13, Cube Entertainment announced that they would be terminating their contracts, citing that they could not "maintain trust" with them. However, the company announced that they would still remain in discussion with both of them until further notice. Cube Entertainment cited "loss of trust" as a reason saying "After much deliberation, we've concluded that the trust between the company and the artists had been damaged to a degree that it cannot be restored, leading us to believe expulsion is necessary," in its official statement. On October 15, Cube Entertainment officially confirmed Hyuna's departure. On January 27, 2019, she signed with P Nation, a new agency founded by Psy since he left

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and conce ...

in May 2018. On November 5, 2019, she released a single titled ''

'', her first release under P Nation. In January 2021, P Nation announced Hyuna's first comeback since "Flower Shower", with the release of her seventh EP '' I'm Not Cool'' and its

of the same name, which was released on January 28. On September 9, 2021, Hyuna and

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

collaborated to release their duet EP '' 1+1=1''. On June 7, 2022, it was announced that Hyuna would be attending the ''J-Rim Super Nova Festival'' with Dawn, taking place on July 2–3, 2022. On July 20, 2022, Hyuna released her eighth EP '' Nabillera'' and its

of the same name. On August 29, 2022, P Nation announced that Hyuna would be leaving the company after deciding not to renew her contract. On November 6, 2023, it was reported that Hyuna had signed an exclusive contract with At Area. On April 2024, it was announced that Hyuna would make a comeback on May 2 with her ninth EP ''

Attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

'' with the title track '' Q&A''. On April 16, 2025, it was announced that Hyuna would make a comeback on April 30 with a new single titled ''Mrs. Nail''.

Personal life

On November 28, 2019, Hyuna posted a letter on Instagram where she opened up about her health. She revealed that, in 2016, she was diagnosed with depression and panic disorder. Additionally, she revealed she experienced foggy vision, causing her to collapse. Thinking they were symptoms of her panic disorder, she ignored it. However, after seeing a doctor, she received a brain wave test that concluded a diagnosis of vasovagal syncope. The following year Hyuna opened up about her struggles on MBC's ''

Radio Star Stellar radio sources, radio source stars or radio stars are stellar objects that produce copious emissions of various radio frequency, radio frequencies, whether constant or pulsed. Radio emissions from stars can be produced in many varied ways. ...

'', where she stated she has been struggling for nearly 10 years with vasovagal syncope.

Relationships

On August 2, 2018, Hyuna revealed that she has been in a relationship with

member E'Dawn since May 2016. They got engaged on February 3, 2022, with the couple posting the announcement on Instagram. In November 2022, Hyuna posted on her Instagram account that the couple had separated. On July 8, 2024, Hyuna's agency announced that she would be marrying singer Yong Jun-hyung. The wedding took place on October 11, 2024.

Endorsements

On March 15, 2018, Hyuna became the ambassador for the German brand Puma, where she digested the two opposing concepts of 'Pink or Black" for the brand's campaign. On March 19, 2019, Hyuna released pictorial and a video, for 'Puma Light Sandals' campaign, where she appeared as the brand ambassador alongside

. Later in 2019 Hyuna inked endorsement deal with the brand again, where she released a pictorial and a video for 'Trail Fox' campaign. In March 2020, Calvin Klein announced Hyuna as their ambassador for the "CK ONE" collections. On July 13, 2021, Spanish fashion house Loewe announced that they selected Hyuna as their new global ambassador.

Filmography

Film

Television shows

Discography

Extended plays

* '' Bubble Pop!'' (2011) * ''

'' (2012) * '' A Talk'' (2014) * '' A+'' (2015) * '' A'wesome'' (2016) * ''

'' (2017) * '' I'm Not Cool'' (2021) * '' Nabillera'' (2022) * ''

'' (2024)

Collaborative EP

* '' 1+1=1'' with

(2021)

Concerts

Headlining * The Queen's Back (2016–2017) Co-headlining * United Cube Concert – One (2018) Festivals * SXSW Music Festival in North America (2013) * Viral Fest Asia 2016 (2016)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 births Living people 4Minute members Wonder Girls members 21st-century South Korean women singers 21st-century South Korean rappers Cube Entertainment artists Japanese-language singers of South Korea JYP Entertainment artists Konkuk University alumni Melon Music Award winners MAMA Award winners Models from Seoul People from Seodaemun District Rappers from Seoul Singers from Seoul South Korean female idols South Korean people of Japanese descent South Korean women pop singers South Korean women rappers South Korean hip-hop dancers South Korean rhythm and blues singers 21st-century South Korean singer-songwriters South Korean television personalities 21st-century South Korean actresses South Korean women singer-songwriters