Lee Ji-eun (이지은; born May 16, 1993 in Seoul, South Korea), known professionally as IU (아이유) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actress. She signed with Kakao M (formerly LOEN Entertainment) in 2007 as a trainee and debuted as a singer at the age of fifteen with her album Lost and Found. Although her follow-up albums, Growing Up and IU...IM , brought mainstream success, it was after the release of "좋은 날", the lead single from her 2010 album REAL , that she achieved national stardom.