Lee Ji-Eun, known by her stage name IU, is a South Korean singer, composer, songwriter and actor. She joined the K-pop industry as a trainee back in 2007. She signed under LOEN Entertainment, which is now known as KAKAO Entertainment. IU made her debut a year later, in 2008, with her first extended play, titled ‘Lost and Found’. Thus, she has been a part of the K-pop music industry for more than fifteen years now.
IU’s brand new track, “Love Wins All,” featuring BTS member V, aka Kim Taehyung, has been receiving a lot of praise and acclamations from both listeners and critics. The singer’s heart-touching voice and both her and V’s remarkable acting performances in the music video of the song have made the track even more popular.
Apart from “Love Wins All,” IU has gifted K-pop fans with an array of wonderful songs over her long-spanning career. The list includes “Good Day,” “Through the Night,” “Bbibbi,” “Twenty-Three,” and more. Without further ado, let’s jump right in and take a closer look at some of the best songs by IU below.
Good Day
“Good Day” is one of the most popular and earlier songs of IU. The singer recorded the track in two languages, including Korean and Japanese. The Korean version of “Good Day” arrived on December 9, 2010. It is part of IU’s extended play, ‘Real’.
The song was crowned the best K-pop song of 2010 by Billboard Magazine. It received the Best Song Award in 2011 at the prestigious Seoul Music Awards. The song also earned the 3rd spot in the 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music by Rolling Stone. It also landed at No. 1 in the 100 Greatest K-pop Songs of the 2010s: Staff List of Billboard.
Bbibbi
“Bbibbi” is one of the most unique and powerful songs by IU. She also wrote the lyrics of the song. The song is a laid-back Alt-R&B track. The song had its first digital release through Kakao M on October 10, 2018. It landed in the No. 1 spot on the Gaon Digital Chart.
“Bbibbi” also earned fourth place in the 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2018 list on Billboard. It also ranked 18 on Spotify’s Best of 2018: K-Pop list. The song also received several esteemed awards, including Inkigayo, Music Bank and Show! Music Core.
Through the Night
“Through the Night” is another remarkable song by the South Korean singer IU aka Lee Ji-Eun. It is a pop track that was first released on March 24, 2017, as the lead single of her fourth studio album, titled ‘Palette’. IU also served as the writer of the song.
“Through the Night” received both the Digital Daesang and the Digital Bonsang in 2018 at the prestigious Golden Disc Awards. It also won Song of the Year (March) at the Gaon Chart Music Awards in 2018. The track was also nominated for the Song of the Year Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and Melon Music Awards.
Twenty-Three
Another highly popular song of IU is “Twenty-Three.” It belongs to the dance genre of music, inspired by disco. The track is quite upbeat and the single of IU’s fifth extended play, titled ‘Chat-Shire’. The song first arrived on October 23, 2015. It earned immense commercial success after its release.
The singer wrote the song and also co-composed it. The track landed in the 1st spot on the Gaon chart of South Korea. It also earned the No. 4 spot in the US World Digital Song Sales list on Billboard.
Love Wins All
Undoubtedly, the song “Love Wins All” marks a power-pact comeback in the K-pop industry by IU after more than two years. The song features Kim Taehyung, aka V of BTS, in its official music video, opposite IU. The track is a heartwarming love song that compliments the singer’s voice perfectly. It first arrived on January 24, 2024.
“Love Wins All” is a pre-release song for her mini album titled The Winning. So far, the track has landed at No. 1 on the Top 100 of Melon only an hour after its arrival. It has also reached the top spot on the Top Songs charts on iTunes in a total of 23 regions.
Some other well-known songs by IU include “The Red Shoes,” “Boo,” “You & I,” “Sea of Moonlight,” “Ending Scene,” and many more.
