Lee Hyori is a South Korean singer, record producer, activist, actress, and TV presenter dubbed the “Nation’s Fairy” during her time in the series Family Outing. She debuted as a member of the successful K-pop girl group Fin.K.L. but has since become a solo artist.
She is known as the unbeatable, sexy K-pop queen as per various sources on the internet.
Find out more about her here!
Lee Hyori Married Life With Husband Lee Sang-soon
Lee Hyori tied the knot with Roller Coaster guitarist Lee Sang-soon on 1 September 2013.
The couple first met in 2009 through Jung Jae Hyung. You may see them as a lovely couple now, but it was not always the case. The two originally didn’t get along with each other due to their difference in lifestyle.
That was until the lovebirds found the single similarity: they both care deeply about animal protection. Then both of them worked together on an album about animal protection, which eventually led them to fall for each other and became a couple.
Lee Hyori had a small wedding held in their private property in Jeju Island with only their immediate family and friends on 1 September 2013. This distinguished the couple from those celebrities having extravagant wedding ceremonies.
Hyori had paid the flights and lodging of her wedding guests, and no press were allowed in the venue. Moreover, for their honeymoon, the couple reportedly opted for a simple backpacking trip to Europe.
Song-soon is a house-bound husband who is a good fit for Hyori. Since Hyori has emotional ups and downs complete opposite to her husband, it works quite well for her when she piles up stress from her work. It was due to this that he earned the title “national husband,” she claimed.
Lee Hyori’s husband, Lee Sang-soon, is hailed as the “national husband” due to his perfect image on Hyori’s Homestay, which got him the praise, and the viewers compared him with their husbands. On July 2019’s episode of MBC’s Radio Star, titled Boss Sisters- Legendary Sisters!, she opened up on details of her marriage with a request to stop the comparison of Song-soon with the Hyori’s Homestay viewers.
Lee Hyori and her husband Lee Sang-soon (©: AllKpop)
The couple was meant to be for each other, which was even claimed by the words of fortune. On the September 2019 broadcast of SBS’s Same Bed Different Dreams 2 – You Are My Destiny, she revealed that she and Lee Sang-soon went to a fortune teller to test their compatibility. “They said [Lee Sang-soon]’s fortune was to save me,” said Lee Hyori. She also added that if she had not met Song-soon, she would have had a short life.
On an appearance of Lee Hyori in You Are My Destiny 2, she revealed her conditions of marriage and divorce with her husband. Some of us might think that it’s extravagant to love and be together; however, it is quite the amusing one. She firmly claimed that if her husband Sang-soon would ever fall into love with someone else, then they are immediately divorcing. But it’s not the same for Hyori as she said that she falls in love and out of love quickly, so she’d want Song-soon to wait for her.
On a recent May issue of Harper’s Bazar, Hyori talks about the decision she has in mind to become a mom. She revealed that for learning more in this world, it was best to become a parent themselves for studying the heart. So she plans to bear a child who will teach her about the love, sacrifice, and effort of a mom.
Lee Hyori Had Past Dating History And Scandals
Despite being settled happily married now, 41 years old, Lee Hyori has got a fair amount of ex-boyfriends and scandals surrounding her. From the early 2000s, when the live airing of a radio show, Rain boasted he slept with Lee Hyori. However, the spreading rumor was settled down after both confirming to be made upon an episode of Happy Sunday.
Another one of Lee Hyori’s popular ex-boyfriend is actor Lee Seo Jin. They started dating in 2004 and even had rumors of possible wedding plans being made. But they had officially broke-up by 2006.
Another of Hyori’s dating rumors surfaced with singer Sung Su Kyung; they reportedly had dated around 2005-2006 for few months. A more concrete dating scandal broke in 2008 when Korean media released photos of Lee Hyori enjoying a poolside date with a “Chaebol” son Vhoi Sung Wook. However, both of them denied the rumor as they were friends since middle school.
Due to all these scandals and ex-boyfriend cases she faced in her past, she once recalled the experience on the June 2020 episode of Hangout with Yoo. The episode was starred Lee Hyori, and Rain, and Yoo Jae Suk for their collaboration where Lee and Rain had some talk about the past. She then revealed that she couldn't attend many shows then because of the surfacing of her dating rumors and scandals.
5 ft 5.25 in tall Hyori has dated with relatively poor boyfriends in the past, which she revealed about on appearance on SBS’s Magic Eye. She confessed to having dated men with less money than her and who had an inferiority complex. She also gave an example: “When I wanted this cheap bracelet made out of string, they said, ‘You have more money than me. You buy it.’”
This made her force out of the relationship, but she was ok as long as her boyfriends didn’t bear the inferiority complex. And finally, she met Sung-soon, who was a perfect fit for her, not caring about money but his capability to make Hyori happy.
Net Worth Of Lee Hyori, And Her Career
Lee Hyori, with her stunning body appearance and great contribution to her professional career, has accumulated a fortune of wealth. According to CelebrityNetWorth, she has an estimated net worth of $18 million. She is one of the richest K-pop idols ranking above 10th place as of 2021.
Lee Hyori began her career as a part of the South Korean pop girl group Fin.K.L. She was the last to join the group, just before their debut in January 1998. Fin.K.L debuted officially on 22 May 1998 with their first single, Blue Rain. The second release from their debut album, To My Boyfriend, became one of their popular first hit, which made them a successful South Korean pop group rivaling fellow popular girl group S.E.S.
A year after Fin.K.L’s fourth studio album, Forever, her solo album was released in August 2003, titled Stylish. Her single 10 minutes became one of her signature hits and nearly bagged the Daesangs, the most prestigious South Korean music award, winning more than seven of them. Stylish sold 144,182 copies in South Korea alone, according to the Music Industry Association of Korea in 2003.
On 8 August 2005, she co-hosted the annual Korea Music Festival for the second year running. In February 2006, Lee released her follow-up album, Dark Angel. During the same year, it was reported that Lee had signed a three-year contract with Mnet Entertainment (currently Mnet Media) for 2.2 billion won, becoming the highest-paid female singer in South Korea (approx. US$2.2 million per year).
She later starred in the mini-drama If in Love… Like Them. In February 2007, Lee announced her new digital single, which would essentially be the soundtrack for the mini-drama.
Her first single from her third studio album, It’s Hyorish, released on 14 July 2008, U-Go-Girl hit #1 on online and offline charts, including various television music shows. Upon the expiration of her contract with Mnet Media, she planned to sign a contract with Gil Entertainment (currently B2M Entertainment).
On 20 December 2008, Lee held her first solo concert Lee Hyori’s the Invincible, at the Jamsil Arena, which sold out its tickets upon five minutes of release.
After almost two years of her previous album, Lee returned with H-Logic on 12 April 2010, including the tracks in collaboration with Daesung from Big Bang, Jeon Ji-yoon from 4Minute, Bekah from After School, Gary from Leessang, Sangchu from Mighty Mouth, and E-Tribe.
Soon after the release of the album H-Logic, seven of its songs, composed by Bahnus, were accused of plagiarism. The accusation was later admitted by Lee, saying she had been “deceived”; she temporarily took a break from singing activities and TV appearances.
While on hiatus, Hyori became an increasing presence in the civic community, emerging as one of the country’s most high-profile animal rights activists. She also donated charity songs for an animal shelter in 2011. Hyori, with songwriter/pianist Jung Jae-Hyung, hosted a music show Jung Jae-Hyung & Lee Hyo-ri’s You and I on SBS from 4 March 2012 to 14 October 2012.
She made her comeback with her fifth album, Monochrome, releasing on 21 May 2013. Lee and actress Moon So-ri also hosted a talk show Magic Eye in SBS for few months in 2014.
Then again, she made an announcement of going on a 2-year long hiatus in order to have time for herself; she also cut off from her social media at the time. She made her return in October 2016 with a hint of new music. Following month she signed a contract with Kiwi Media Group and returned to social media with Instagram posts on December 2016. She later starred with her husband in a new variety show entitled Hyori’s Homestay.
10 May 1979 born actress made her acting debut in the SBS TV series Three Leaf Clover in January 2005.
During breaks in her solo music career, Lee also hosted several TV programs, including Time Machine, Happy Together, Sang Sang Plus, Change, Good Sunday, and so on.
Besides, she has also been signed for commercial appearances for brands, including Samsung, Lotte Liquor, Isa Knox (South Korean cosmetic company), Biotherm, Black Bean Therapy, Calvin Klein Jeans’ Pure Calvin collection, Adidas, and so on.
Through her works in her professional career, she has won Artist of the Year, Most Popular Music Video, Best Dance Performance, Best Female Artist, Hot Style Icon, and more, according to KProfiles.