Kwon Eun-bi

Kwon Eun-bi (; born September 27, 1995) is a South Korean singer and actress signed under Woollim Entertainment. She debuted as a member of the short lived girl group Ye-A under the stage name Kazoo. She participated in the Mnet's reality competition series '' Produce 48'', where she finished in 7th place and became a member of the South Korean–Japanese girl group Iz*One on August 31, 2018.

Following Iz*One's disbandment in April 2021, she made her solo debut on August 24, 2021, with the release of her first mini album ''Open''.

Life and career

1995–2017: Early life and pre-debut activities

Kwon Eun-bi was born on September 27, 1995, in Geumcheon District, Seoul. Her family consists of her parents and an older brother. She attended Dong-il Middle School and graduated from School of Performing Arts Seoul. In middle school, she expressed to her parents her desire to attend a dance academy. Her parents were initially against her becoming a singer, and told her to attend a dance academy only as a hobby, wanting her to focus on her studies instead. Determined to become a singer, she finally persuaded her parents by sending a letter to her other family members, asking for help in convincing her parents to let her attend an arts high school. When she was 17, she was a backup dancer for girl groups such as Secret and Girl's Day, and was encouraged by member Hyeri (who was her senior in high school) to pursue her aspirations of becoming an idol. During this time, she was also working part-time at a Paris Baguette store. Kwon debuted in the Kiroy Company-managed eight-member girl group Ye-A under the stage name 'Kazoo' on July 18, 2014, with the single "National Treasure". She presumably left the group along with fellow member Chai after they both were removed from the groups' Twitter bio. She auditioned for several entertainment companies afterwards, and signed a contract with Woollim Entertainment.

2018–2020: ''Produce 48'' and debut with Iz*One

Kwon Eun-bi was one of four trainees from Woollim Entertainment who participated on the Mnet girl group survival show '' Produce 48'', a collaboration between the Mnet series '' Produce 101'' and the J-pop idol group AKB48. She consistently ranked among the Top 12, eventually finishing in 7th place, which allowed her to debut as a member of Iz*One, alongside fellow Woollim Entertainment trainee Kim Chae-won, and was named the group's leader. They debuted on October 29, 2018, with the single " La Vie en Rose".

In 2019, she became a permanent cast member of the JTBC show ''Respect Your Style, Real Life'' alongside Jung Hyung-don and Ahn Jung-hwan which first aired in May and ended in August of the same year.

In February 2020, she made her debut as a songwriter and wrote and composed the song "Spaceship" which was released as a track for Iz*One's first studio album '' Bloom*Iz''. The song charted at No. 130 on the Gaon Digital Chart. She wrote another song for their third mini-album '' Oneiric Diary'' entitled "With*One" as part of a songwriting team called Psycho Rabbit. It was released on June 15, 2020, and debuted at No. 152 on the Gaon Digital Chart.

2021–present: Solo activities and solo debut

On March 29, 2021, her Woollim Entertainment labelmate Sungkyu released the music video for her single "Hush", in which she played the female lead.

After wrapping up Iz*One's promotions on April 29, 2021, with a final concert in March, Kwon returned to Woollim Entertainment with labelmate Kim Chae-won as trainees. On June 29, she became the new host of FashionN's beauty program ''Follow Me'' along with Ha Sung-woon, Pentagon's Kino, and Freezia. On August 4, Kwon's labelmates Rocket Punch released their debut Japanese album ''Bubble Up!'' which includes a track written and co-produced by Kwon titled "Let's Dance".

On August 5, 2021, Woollim Entertainment announced that Kwon Eun-bi was preparing to debut as a solo artist and would release her debut album at the end of the month. On August 24, Kwon released her first extended play ''Open'', on which she received writing credits on two of the songs, including the lead single "Door." Following her debut as a soloist, Kwon was nominated for Rookie of the Year at the 36th Golden Disc Awards, Best New Female Artist at the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards and Rookie of the Year at the 31st Seoul Music Awards, and won Best Emotive Singer at the 2021 Asia Artist Awards. On December 28, Kwon and labelmate Rocket Punch's Juri Takahashi released the song "I'll Be Your Energy" as part of the soundtrack for Smilegate's mobile RPG ''Epic Seven''.

From January 2022 to January 2023, Kwon hosted the monthly show ''Mubeat Live''. On February 23, 2022, she released the song "Time" as part of the soundtrack for the Disney+ web series '' Rookie Cops''. On March 10, Kwon released the promotional single "Esper" through Universe Music for the mobile application Universe. On March 24, 2022, Kwon Eun-bi was announced as a cast member for the musical ''Midnight Sun'' as Seo Haena, with Ha Sung-woon, Shinee's Onew, Pentagon's Jinho, Song Geon-hee, Golden Child's Y, Apink's Kim Nam-joo, and Lee Sang-a. On April 4, 2022, Kwon released her second extended play ''Color'' along with the title track "Glitch". On May 9, 2022, Woollim Entertainment announced that Kwon would hold her first solo concert "Secret Doors" on June 18 and 19, 2022. Later in May, Kwon was selected alongside KCM and Vromance's Park Hyun-kyu as hosts of the LGU+ music-based variety show ''Why Not Crew''. In June, she was selected as a mentor in Mnet's band survival competition show '. Later that month, she released the song "Oh My Boy" as part of the soundtrack for the TVING web series ''New Normal Zine''.

On August 11, 2022, it was announced that Kwon's 'Rubi's Room' fan meeting would be held on October 30 and November 3 at Merpark in Osaka and Toyosu PIT in Tokyo; this was her first solo fan meeting to be held in Japan. On August 17, she released the song "Light" as part of the soundtrack for K-pop CTzen, a metaverse project based on Web3. On September 20, her agency Woollim Entertainment released a comeback poster for her third extended play, ''Lethality'', through its official SNS channel. The EP was released on October 12. On November 7, Woollim Entertainment announced that Kwon would hold her second solo concert "Next Door" in Seoul on December 17 and 18.

In May 2023, she acted opposite Hyun Woo in the music video for KCM's "Even if You Call Me a Fool". The same month, she was confirmed to return for the second season of ''Why Not Crew''. On June 23, 2023, Kwon received attention for her viral performance at Waterbomb Seoul 2023, which led to media outlets such as ''The Korea Economic Daily'' and ''Hankook Ilbo'' dubbing her as "Waterbomb Goddess" and the new "Summer Queen". Following her viral performance, "Underwater" resurged on Korean music charts, eventually peaking at number 78 on Circle Digital Chart, forty-five weeks after the single's release. Also in June, she was selected as the new radio DJ for the daily SBS Power FM radio show ''Young Street'', with her first broadcast scheduled for July 3. Also in July, she was selected to host ''Maepjjiri Crossing the Line'', a web variety show where Kwon tried various spicy foods.

On August 2, Kwon released her first single album, ''The Flash'', along with the lead single of the same name. On August 8, she achieved her first music show win as a soloist on SBS M's '' The Show''. On September 6, it was announced that Kwon would be holding her third solo concert "Queen" at the Blue Square Mastercard Hall in Seoul on October 7 and 8. On October 24, she released the digital single "Like Heaven", a collaboration with hip-hop artist Paul Blanco. On November 7, it was announced that Kwon had been cast as a host of the MBC dating show ''Alumni Lovers''.

On December 8, 2023, it was announced that Kwon would be making her acting debut in the Japanese film ''Stolen Identity 3''. Five days later, she released "Can We Go Back to the Good Old Days" as part of the soundtrack of the Disney+ drama series '' Soundtrack 2''.

On June 3, 2024, Woollim Entertainment announced that Kwon would be releasing her second single album ''Sabotage'' on June 18. On August 2, 2024, it was announced that Kwon would step down as the host of ''Kwon Eun-bi's Youngstreet''. Her final broadcast was on August 4. On August 13, she featured on Hui's digital single "Easy Dance".

On January 7, 2025, Kwon released her digital single "Snowfall", which features Coogie. On April 2, Woollim Entertainment announced that Kwon would be releasing a digital single "Hello Stranger" on April 14.

Endorsements

Kwon has modeled for various brands, including brands such as Sprite, beauty brand Nine Wishes, colored contact lens brand Lenstown, massage brand Spaal, chicken brand Jadam Chicken, shower filter brand Dr. P.L., and health food brand Phytotics. In December 2023, SPOTV noted Kwon's global influence as a rising model in the advertising world.

Discography

Extended plays

Single albums

Singles

Promotional singles

Soundtrack appearances

Other charted songs

Songwriting credits

All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise.

Videography

Music videos

Music video appearances

Filmography

Film

Television shows

Web shows

Radio shows

Theater

Awards and nominations

Honors

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwon, Eun-bi
1995 births
Living people
People from Geumcheon District
21st-century South Korean actresses
21st-century South Korean women singers
Iz*One members
Produce 48 contestants
Woollim Entertainment artists
Japanese-language singers of South Korea
South Korean women pop singers
South Korean female idols
South Korean film actresses
South Korean musical theatre actresses
Singers from Seoul
K-pop singers
School of Performing Arts Seoul alumni
Reality show winners
Actresses from Seoul