Birth Name: 이혜련 (Lee Hye-Ryeon)
Legally changed name: 허윤 (Heo Yun)
Stage Name: 유니 (U;nee)
Born: May 3rd, 1981
Died: January 21st, 2007
Home City: Incheon, South Korea
Lee Hye-Ryeon was born May 3rd, 1981. She grew up in a fatherless home, which in Korea was, especially at that time, an unusual circumstance. It is currently understood that her father died when she was very young, which is thought to have helped cause her depression. By 1996, she had begun acting in various films and television programs, with reasonable success. She desired heavily to be a singer, though, and began working in the early 2000’s to enter the Korean pop music industry. At some point during this period, she legally changed her name to Yeo Yun, for as current unknown reasons.
In 2003, U;nee debuted as a dance-pop singer with her first album, titled “Code”. Conventional singing and rapping were blended together, and while this is quite common in the Korean pop music industry, her particular style was quite unique when compared to other artists of the time. The lead single for the album was 가 (Go) which was moderately successful. The song was featured in the dance simulation game Pump it Up: Exceed.
In 2005, U;nee released her second album, Vol. 2, commonly referred to by it’s lead singles title, “Call Call Call”. This album marked a transition in U;nee’s image from that of a more typical singer to something extremely sexy. She underwent breast augmentation as well as minor surgery on her face to help achieve this image, while the title single from Vol. 2, Call Call Call, was promoted with a music video that was considered too extreme for most Korean television, and was banned from most stations.
Musically, Vol 2 marked a change to a more R&B sound, as opposed to her first albums dance pop style. Her new, “sexy” image was met with negative reaction by much of her fanbase, while new fans only cared about her physical appearance rather than her talent.
This also marked her entry into the Japanese market in 2006, under the identity ユニ (Yuni) with a special version of her second album. While she performed a few concerts, her entry into the Japanese market did not fare well.
While her second album sold better than her first, criticism from netizens and the media was high, pushing U;nee back into a more depressive state.
In October 2006, a newspaper in Singapore mistakenly posted photographs of U;nee in an article discussing the murder of a Mongolian model. Emails began circulating sharing this incorrect correlation under the title of “Altantuya@Mongolia”. The father of Altantuya is reported to have criticized the media for this mistake, and that the use of U;nee’s pictures was a disgrace to his daughters name. This led to even more online hate.
By this time, work had begun on U;nee’s 3rd album, slated for a Feburary 1st, 2007 release. At this stage U;nee was showing her depression more publicly on her cyworld page. Fans continued to show support for her upcoming album, planned for release on February 1st.
On Sunday January 21st, 2007, U;nee chose to stay home instead of going to church that morning with her family. At around 12:50PM her grandmother had returned home to find U;nee had hung herself in her bedroom. Although she called an ambulance, it was too late: U;nee had committed the action sometime in the previous few hours, and there was no hope to revive her.
As the news broke, fans were stunned. The obvious question was “Why?” At a press conference her mother explained U;nee’s depression, the pressures she had felt even when she was young, and the stress of criticisms and online harassment.
Her 3rd album was originally to be canceled, but was released by the request of her family on January 26th, 2007, several days ahead of the original planned release date. An accompanying music video using photos and videos of U;nee was produced for the song 습관 (Habit) as a parting tribute to her for her fans.