Lee Ha-yi (born September 23, 1996), better known by her stage name Lee Hi, is a South Korean singer and songwriter. She is known as the runner-up of SBS' K-pop Star Season 1. Her debut single "1, 2, 3, 4", was released on October 28, 2012 and reached number one with first week sales of 667,549 downloads. On November 30, 2012, Lee Hi also had her first performance at the Mnet Asian Music Awards with fellow labelmate Epik High for the song "It's Cold" from the 99 album. Her first full-length album First Love was released in two parts. Part 1 was released on March 7, 2013 and part 2 was released on March 28, 2013.

Early life

Lee Ha-yi was born on September 23, 1996 in Bucheon, South Korea. In December 2011, Ha-yi auditioned for SBS reality survival program K-pop Star, where she finished as runner-up behind Park Ji-min. Soon after she was signed to YG Entertainment by Yang Hyun-suk. Ahead of debut, she featured on label mate Epik High's single "It's Cold" which was released on October 8, 2012.

2012–2013: "1, 2, 3, 4", First Love and BOM&HI

On October 24, 2012, it was announced Lee would be debuting as a solo artist under the stage name, "Lee Hi", with digital single "1, 2, 3, 4", following release on October 28. Lee's first music show appearance was on SBS' Inkigayo on November 4, soon after claiming her first music show win on November 8 through Mnet's M Countdown. The song was number one on the monthly Gaon Digital Chart for November, hence earning her the Song of the Year - November award from Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards. The single was cited as a commercial success. Following success of debut single "1,2,3,4", Lee released a second digital single written by Park Jin-young titled "Scarecrow" on November 22, 2012.

On March 2, 2013 YGE revealed Lee Hi's debut album First Love, would be released digitally on March 7 consisting of five tracks with lead single "It's Over", while the full album release on March 28 consisting 10 tracks with lead single "Rose". Lee began promotions with first comeback stage on SBS' K-pop Star 2 on March 10. On December 2013, it was revealed Lee Hi and 2NE1's Park Bom would debut as a sub-unit titled "B&H", an acronym for BOM&HI. The unit released the Christmas digital single "All I Want For Christmas Is You", a cover of Mariah Carey's song, on December 20.

2014–present: Hi Suhyun, Seoulite and Japanese debut

On November 2014, it was revealed Lee Hi and Akdong Musician's Lee Su-hyun would form a sub-unit entitled Hi Suhyun. Their first digital single, "I'm Different", featuring iKON's Bobby. The duo's first stage was on SBS' Inkigayo on November 16. On August 2015, it was confirmed Lee Hi would be releasing a new studio album jointly through YGE and HIGHGRND. On March 9, 2016, Lee released a half album titled Seoulite with lead singles "Breathe" and "Hold My Hand", where "Breathe" was a gift written by Shinee's Kim Jong-hyun. Lee began promotions for both singles on Mnet's M! Countdown on March 10. On April 20, Seoulite was released as a studio album with "My Star" as the lead single. Among the tracks, Lee participated in writing and producing the song "Passing By". On September 2016, Lee released the track "My Love" as well as collaborated with Epik High on OST "Can You Hear My Heart" for SBS drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.

On October 2017, Lee featured on Epik High's track "Here Come the Regrets" on album We've Done Something Wonderful. On March 21, 2018, Lee Hi's Japanese debut album was released, embarking her tour in Japan . Lee Hi is set to release her EP, 24℃, on May 30, 2019- Wikipedia