Siyeon is a South Korean singer and dancer, who rose to fame as the main vocalist of the Korean pop (K-Pop) group Dreamcatcher, formed and managed by Happy Face Entertainment. Her group was previously known as Minx back in 2014, and debuted with the usual innocent, teeny-bopper concept but was largely unnoticed. They reinvented themselves in 2017 with a brand new name, along with a dark, edgy, rock image that gave them a second chance to gain K-Pop stardom. In 2019, the lead track “Scream” from their first studio album, “Dystopia: The Tree of Language,” peaked at No.6 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales Chart, making it their best-selling song to date.
Early Life and Family
Lee Si Yeon was born on 1 October 1995, in Daegu, South Korea, where she and her older sister were raised by their parents in a middle-class household. She has always been interested in music, and while growing-up would often attend concerts.
Her family knew she would end up in the entertainment business someday, as she loved to be on stage even when she was a kid.
Educational Background
She matriculated from Jinseon Girls High School. located in the Gangnam district in Seoul.
Career
Siyeon was part of her school band for a couple of years before she started to train professionally. Her love for singing and her childhood dream of performing on big stages led her to participate in auditions for entertainment agencies. She was trained for four years in Happy Face Entertainment, previously known as Harvest Entertainment founded by the music duo, composers, and record producers Kim Young Deuk and Ahn Myung Won, popularly known as E-Tribe. They were responsible for producing iconic K-Pop songs including “U Go Girl” by Lee Hyori in 2008, and “Gee” by Girls Generation in 2009.
In September 2014, Siyeon along with four other trainees Yoohyeon, Dami, SuA, and JiU were launched as members of the K-Pop group, Minx. They released their debut single entitled “Why Did You Come to My Home?”, but with hundreds of groups who debuted with the same concept that year, they unfortunately went unnoticed by the public. To gain widespread attention, they collaborated with label mate Dal Shabet for a cover of the classic holiday song, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The girls also released the extended play, “Love Shake,” but they couldn’t seem to find their footing in the K-Pop scene.
First Steps – Re-launched as Dreamcatcher (2017)
Instead of folding up and disbanding the group, Happy Face Entertainment founders decided to re-launch the girls. They gave them not only a new name and two additional members, Handong and Gahyeon but also a new concept, a darker, fiercer image with an edgy rock/metal sound, replacing the classic innocent, quirky girl group.
On 13 January 2017, Siyeon and the girls re-debuted as Dreamcatcher with their first single album entitled “Nightmare.” They performed the lead track, “Chase Me,” six days later in Mnet’s “M Countdown”, with a spooky concept that provided a fresher option to the viewers. It might not have entered the top 10, but they charted at No.20 on the South Korean Gaon Album Chart with close to 4,000 units sold, way more successful than their releases when they were still Minx. The timing was quite opportune too, since a lot of changes happened in the K-Pop industry, as some of the most prominent acts either regrouped with fewer members or disbanded.
Siyeon and her group followed it up with another single album, “Fall Asleep in the Mirror,” released on 5 April 2017. It had four tracks including “Lullabye,” “My Toys,” and the lead track, “Good Night,” along with its instrumental version. It peaked at No.7 on the Gaon Album Chart with nearly 9,500 units sold, and the lead track charted at No.23 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales Chart.
210126 一 genie pic.twitter.com/3KrZGkOtZo
— siyeon pics (@leesiyeonpics) January 27, 2021
Following the success of the two single albums, Dreamcatcher released their first extended play (EP) entitled “Prequel” on 27 July 2017, consisting of six tracks including “Wake Up,” “Trust Me,” “Sleep Walking,” and the lead track “Fly High.” They continued with the Japanese Pop/Rock music genre, which was mostly used for anime soundtracks. Music critics highly recommend the album to those looking for unconventional music sung by K-Pop girl groups.
Siyeon and her group offered something different, and it worked as the album peaked at No.4 on the Gaon Album Chart with over 11,250 units sold, and topped the iTunes K-Pop Top 100 Chart. It also charted at No.36 on the Japanese Oricon Album Chart, and No.5 on Billboard’s World Albums Chart.
After the album promotions, the group went to perform in two overseas concerts – “Fly High in Japan”, and “Fly High in Brazil.”
Rising Popularity, European and Latin America Tour (2018)
Numbers can’t lie, and with increased sales in other countries, it seemed that Dreamcatcher had become more popular internationally than in South Korea, but they were slowly building a stable local fan base. To celebrate their anniversary as Dreamcatcher, the girls released the digital single “Full Moon,” on 12 January 2018; it peaked at No.16 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales Chart, and charted high on several iTunes Charts.
Encouraged by the boost in sales, Siyeon and her group embarked on their first European Tour, “Fly High in Europe,” for the whole month of February. They performed in seven key European cities, including Berlin, London, Madrid and Paris. When they returned to Seoul, they announced that they’d chosen to name their fandom InSomnia.
The group’s second EP entitled “Escape the Era” was released in May, of six tracks with the song “You and I” as the lead track.
Posted by Dreamcatcher – Siyeon on Sunday, October 8, 2017
The album peaked at No.3 on the Gaon Album Chart with over 25,000 units sold, reached No.7 on Billboard’s World Albums Chart, topped the YinYueTai Chart in China, and charted at No.29 on the Oricon Album Chart in Japan with close to 4,250 units sold. The lead track became the group’s first Top 10 song, as it peaked at No.9 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales Chart.
Siyeon became busier as Dreamcatcher went on another concert tour, “Welcome to the Dream World in Latin America.” This time they performed in sold-out concerts in several Latin American cities in July, including Buenos Aires, Bogota, Santiago and Panama.
Back in Seoul, the girls released their third EP, “Älone in the City” in September, consisting of six tracks including the lead track “What.” Siyeon’s group continued to gain more fans as the album peaked at No.2 on the local charts, with close to 40,000 units sold, and 7th on Billboard’s World Albums Chart.
2018 was also the year Siyeon and her group were invited to perform in the annual Korean Convention music festival, widely known as KCON, and going to Los Angeles to perform with other famous K-Pop artists to promote Korean culture, music and arts.
Japanese Promotions and Dreamcatcher World Tour (2019)
Dreamcatcher never faltered in releasing dark-themed rock/metal music with guitar-laden tempo and heavy use of EDM; it was quite evident on their fourth EP, “The End of Nightmare,” released on 13 February 2019. It had six tracks including its lead track, “Piri,” which is the Korean name of a classic Korean double-reed pipe. The album charted at No.3 on the local charts and sixth on the Billboard’s World Albums Chart, with the lead track peaking at No.12 on Billboard’s World Digital Songs Sales Chart, and 13th on the Oricon Digital Chart.
It was also during this time that her agency, Happy Face Entertainment, changed its name to Dreamcatcher Company.
Just right after the album promotions, the girls embarked on the “Dreamcatcher Concert Tour: Invitation from Nightmare City in Southeast Asia,” which kicked off in March in Seoul, followed by shows in other major Asian cities including Manila, Jakarta, Tokyo and Kobe through May. Then from August to September, Siyeon and her group held a series of concerts in Australia and Malaysia.
By September 11th, they were in Tokyo to release their first Japanese studio album, “The Beginning of the End,” and signed-up with Pony Canyon to handle their Japanese promotions. The album consisted of 12 tracks, which included Japanese versions of their Korean songs and two original Japanese songs. It peaked at No.7 on the Oricon Album Chart, and No.13 on the Billboard World Albums Chart.
Then they were back in Seoul after a week to release their fifth EP, “Raid of Dream.” Most music critics lauded Dreamcatcher’s effort in continuing to present a different genre for K-Pop music lovers, although the lead track, “Déjà vu,” was a bit muted compared to their previous releases, and gave more emphasis to the girl’s vocals particularly that of Siyeon, Handong, and Dami. The song peaked at No.12 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales Chart, while the album peaked at No.2 on the Gaon Album Chart.
They started touring again after the album promotions with their Dreamcatcher Concert Tour “Invitation from Nightmare City in Europe”, in seven cities including Milan, Paris, Helsinki and London. Before the year ended, Siyeon and her group finally held their US Concert Tour, performing in major cities such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Orlando and Jersey City.
Mainstream Success, OST Collaborations, and Dystopia Album Series (2020)
2020 was one of the biggest years in Siyeon’s career, as she was in a couple of collaborations for the original soundtrack album of two Korean drama series; the last time she did that was for the drama series, “Love & Secret,” back in 2014. In July, she sang the first track entitled “Good Sera” in the official soundtrack album used in the drama series “Memorials,” aired on KBS and starring Nana and Park Sung Hoon. Siyeon’s voice was again heard in the song “No Mind,” in the drama series “Get Revenge,” aired from November 2020 to January 2021, starring Kim Sarang and Yoon Hyun Min.
Dreamcatcher released their first full-length Korean studio album, “Dystopia: The Tree of Language,” on 18 February 2020. It consisted of 14 tracks including the lead track “Scream,” along with “Red Sun,” “Black or White,” and Siyeon’s solo “Paradise.”
It peaked at No.3 on the Gaon Album Chart, with close to 60,000 units sold. The lead track became the group’s highest-charting song on Billboard’s World Digital Songs Sales chart at No.6, and was announced as the first installment in the Dystopia album series of the group.
In August, the group’s fifth EP and the second part of the Dystopia series, “Dystopia: Lose Myself” was released. It had six tracks with the lead track “Boca,” which Siyeon and her group performed in popular music shows during its promotional run. The album peaked at No.3 on the Gaon Album Chart, and became the group’s best-selling album to date, with over 100,000 units sold.
This was also the year the girls became part of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition project. They were featured in the song, “Be The Future,” along with other K-Pop artists Alexa and IN2IT, to spread awareness of proper hygiene practices during the pandemic caused by the Covid19 virus.
They also collaborated with the mobile game maker of Girl Café Gun for a song to be used in the game. Dreamcatcher then sang “Eclipse,” the opening theme song for the anime series, “King’s Raid: Successors of the Will.”
Due to travel restrictions and social distancing regulations preventing them from face-to-face live performances, Siyeon and the girls held their first online concert, “Global Streaming into the Night & Dystopia,” in July to reach out to all their loyal fans during the pandemic. In November, they held their second online concert, “Seven Spirits,” this time accompanied by a live rock band produced by MyMusicTaste.
Personal Life
Siyeon is officially single, and since her debut has never been involved in any dating rumors. She put work as her priority before love and ruled out dating until such time as her group has accomplished their goals. However, if she would date in the future, she wants to be on the same wavelength with the guy to avoid too much conflict, and prefers smooth conversations between them.
210126 一 genie pic.twitter.com/WuLFty4fHC
— siyeon pics (@leesiyeonpics) January 27, 2021
Hobbies, favorites, rumors, and interesting facts
- Siyeon is a huge fan of the German metal band called Warlock, and the Japanese band One Ok Rock.
- She plays the piano, as she had lessons growing-up.
- During free time, Siyeon would play online video games with friends.
- Her celebrity role model is Hyorin, from the defunct girl group Sistar.
- If Siyeon wasn’t a K-Pop artist, she would be teaching applied music in some university, or a flight attendant.
- Her favorites: blue (color), onions (vegetable), Marvel Cinematic Universe (movie), Captain America (superhero).
- Never serve shrimps to her, as she doesn’t like eating them.
Appearance
Siyeon is 5ft 5ins (1.66m) tall and weighs 108lbs (49kgs) with a proportionally-shaped body. Her shoe size is 7. She has black hair and dark brown eyes, with a tattoo marking on her back depicting roman numerals representing her family’s birth years – 60, 60, 64 and 92.
Net Worth
According to authoritative sources, Siyeon has an estimated net worth of over $100,000, as of January 2021.
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