IU (Korean: 아이유), who was born as Lee Ji-eun (Korean: 이지은, May 16, 1993) is a South Korean singer and actress. Her stage name IU, is derived from "I and You" which symbolizes that we can become one through music.

IU debuted on a Korean music program called M! Countdown in September 18, 2008. On September 24, 2008, she released her first mini-album, Lost and Found, in which the most famous song was the title track, "Missing Child." However, the album was not commercially successful. It wasn't until her follow-up album that she succeeded in breaking into the mainstream.

On April 16, 2009, IU launched her first full album, titled Growing Up, with the lead promotional number "Boo." Within three weeks, "Boo" went up to the #1 contenders for SBS Inkigayo, and her name also went up twice on Take 7 together with other notable artists like SG Wannabe and Younha. The song also did well on KBS Music Bank K-Chart, on Mnet M!Countdown chart, and on various online music charts.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, IU sang the ending title song, "Araro", for the acclaimed MBC drama Queen Seon Duk, where she was recommended by the director, Sam Kim, citing her "clear tone and her lyrical sensibility." She was also featured on Mighty Mouth's album Love Class in the song "희망사항." In late 2009, IU recorded MC Mong's song "Love Letter For You (Neoyege Sseuneun Pyeonji)," featuring SHINee's Key as a rapper in the song.