"Focus on things that bring your mood up." —Irene
Bae Joo-hyun (Hangul: 배주현, born on March 29, 1991), also known as Irene, is a South-Korean singer, dancer, rapper, model, actress and television personality and hostess. She is the leader, vocalist, lead dancer, main rapper, visual and center of South-Korean girl group Red Velvet.
Early life and career
Early Life
Irene was born and raised in Daegu, South Korea. Her family consists of her parents and younger sister.
During her teenage years, Irene attended Haknam High School.
In 2009, she made a successful audition to SM Entertainment and trained five years in the company, before debuting as a member of Red Velvet.
2013-2014: Pre-debut activities
During her time as a trainee, in August 2013, she also appeared in the music video of labelmate Henry Lau's song "1-4-3".
On December 9, 2013, Irene was one of the second batch of trainees introduced as a member of SM Rookies, a pre-debut team of trainees under SM Entertainment, alongside former trainee Lami and now-NCT member Jaehyun.[1]
As part of the SM Rookies program, in January 2014, she alongside now-Red Velvet co-member Irene as well as now-NCT members Johnny and Taeyong appeared in 'The Celebrity magazine. 2014.02.Later that month, she alongside she alongside Irene and Taeyong appeared in the 'OhBoy!' Magazine.
Various clips of Irene were released in SM Entertainment's official Youtube channel, one of which included her and Seulgi dancing to Be Natural, a song originally performed by SM Entertainment's former group S.E.S., showcasing their dancing. Prior to debut, she has also appeared in a few music videos of labelmates.
2014-present: Red Velvet
On August 1, 2014, she finally debuted with Red Velvet. She was assigned to represent the color pink. In November 2014, she appeared in the music video for Cho Kyuhyun's single "At Gwanghwamun". From May 1, 2015 to June 24, 2016, Irene hosted Music Bank with model Park Bo-gum.
Irene made her acting debut with web drama 'The Female Employees of a Game Company' as the female lead A-reum. On October 14, Irene became a host of OnStyle's fashion show Laundry Day. The show premiered on October 22, 2016. In the same month, she became a panelist on the KBS show Trick & True with band mate Wendy.
On July 16 2020, it was announced that Irene will be making her movie debut with a lead role in the upcoming movie "Double Patty." She's playing an aspiring anchor named Lee Hyunji. Filming for the movie is set to begin in August. The expected release is the end of 2020. The first script reading was held on July 21, 2020.
Discography
Featuring
| Year | Album | Artist | Song | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Raiden | The Only |
OST
| Year | Album | Song | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Double Patty OST | "A White Night" |
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | SMTown: The Stage | Herself | Documentary Film of SM Town |
| 2020 | Trolls World Tour | Baby Bun | Animated Film |
| 2021 | Double Patty | Lee Hyunji | Lead Role |
Variety Shows
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Yeri's Room | Dum Dum Studio YouTube | Guest | with Seulgi |
| MBC | with Seulgi, Jeonghan and Seungkwan | |||
| Weekly Idol | MBC | with Seulgi, Episode 469 | ||
| Knowing Brothers: After-School Activities | JTBC | with Seulgi, Episode 240 |
Hosting
| Year | Title | Network | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| with Park Bogum | |||
| Ep.1–12 | |||
| 2017 | Music Bank World Tour:
Singapore |
KBS2
KBS World |
with Park Bogum |
| Music Bank World Tour:
Jakarta | |||
| Korean Popular Culture & Arts Awards | with Jang Sung Gyu | ||
| KBS Song Festival | KBS2 | Part 1: with Jin, Sana, & Chanyeol | |
| 2018 | SBS Super Concert in Taipei | SBS | with Mingyu |
| 2019 | KBS Song Festival | KBS | with Jinyoung |
Drama
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Descendants of the Sun | Helfself | Cameo, Episode 16 |
| The Female Employees of a Game Company | A-reum | Lead role |
Music video appearances
| Year | Song | Artist(s) | Official video(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "1-4-3 (I Love You)" | Henry Lau | YouTube |
| 2013 | "Why So Serious" | SHINee | YouTube |
| 2014 | "At Gwanghwamun" | Kyuhyun | YouTube |
| 2017 | "Would U" | Red Velvet | YouTube |
Endorsements
| Year | Endorsement |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Nike Women (Korea) |
| Burberry Heritage Trench | |
| 2014 | Ivy Club (With EXO) |
| Swarovski Bracelets (with Seulgi) | |
| 2016 | Rosemont Jewelry (with Seulgi and Yeri) |
| 2016-2017 | Maxwell House Korea 'Colombiana Coffee' |
| 2017-2019 | Nuovo Shoes Brand |
| 2017 | PUPUGAME 'Age of Ring' |
| Hyundai Motors | |
| 2018 | HAZZY'S Accessories |
| Cooper Vision | |
| Dongwon Yangban Rice Porridge (with Wendy) | |
| 2018-2019 | Lemona Vitamin C |
| 2019 | Hite Jinro Chamisul Soju |
| Damiani | |
| Miu Miu | |
| 2020 | Clinique |
| Prada |
Awards and Nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | KBS Entertainment Awards | Best Newcomer (Variety) | Music Bank | Nominated |
Trivia
- Her zodiac sign is Aries.
- Her designated color is pink.
- Her representative animal is rabbit since Summer Magic era (pre-Summer Magic era would be a cat).
- Her representative fruit is a watermelon.
- Her representative weapon is an axe.
- Her representative drink is Pink Island Ice Tea.
- Her favorite color is purple.
- She is said to be the most playful.
- She trained in the company for 5 years before debut, in year 2009.[2]
- She dreamed of being a broadcaster.
- Had Irene not pursued a career in entertainment or got scouted by SM, she would like to be either a news reporter, a makeup artist, or a flight attendant..
- She can imitate Doraemon.
- She is implied to be allergic to chicken. Whenever she eats a chicken, she turns pale and her head starts hurting. She believes her body doesn't accept it.
- In 2018's Chuseok ISAC, however, she managed an X10 shot in archery, where the arrow broke the pinhole camera in the centre of the board. Since Jeon Hyunmoo made a bet to gift all artists fried chicken, Irene granted their wishes, but she couldn't enjoy it, and had no idea what went on.
- She doesn't like coffee.
- She is the most flexible out of the 5. Wendy has caught her sleeping with her legs fully split and her upper-body laid against the floor while covering herself with a blanket and another time in the same position but with her legs squished under her, making it look like her legs disappeared. Though it scared Wendy on both occasions, Irene says she’s the most comfortable sleeping this way.
- She is the most heat-tolerant member. In 2018, she slept through a heatwave with no fan and with a broken A/C. Wendy is the most tolerant to cold weather, Irene is the least.
- Her favorite artist is BoA.
- Her favorite number is 43, the reason being 43 can mean 'I Love You', which became also her representative number.
- She claims that she has a habit of clinging to others by linking arms and holding hands.
- She loves doing laundry and gets really excited when it gets brought up.
- Her favorite way of relieving stress is to create mind maps to organize her thoughts.
- She collects notes, journals and anything that is purple.
- Her specialty is modern dance.
- She had her own room when they first debuted, but later had to share her room with Yeri when she joined the group. Now they live in a dorm where they all have their own rooms.
- The age difference between her and Yeri is 8 years. But like Yeri, she is petrified of most animals and is also scared of heights
- Her personality is shy and caring.
- In Daegu, she was famous for being a Ulzzang (pretty face).
- She has a Daegu accent.
- She can withstand hot weather well. As Daegu is one of the hottest places in Korea, she once slept through a heatwave while the air conditioner in the old dorm was broken, and didn't turn the fan on.
- As a trainee everyone thought she was scary because she didn't speak much and had a strong Daegu accent.
- She wants to become a leader who can communicate and listen well to her members.
- She gets scared easily.
- She is good friends with BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Mamamoo's Solar.
- Irene shares her real name of Joo-hyun with her former SM labelmate and the singer and actress, Seo Ju-hyun, who is better known by her stage name of Seohyun. Irene and Seohyun are also the same age, with both of them being born in 1991 and Heechul said that the two of them are also the most boring in SM Entertainment (when Seohyun was still under SM).
Gallery
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To view the Irene gallery, click here.
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References
| RED VELVET | ||
|---|---|---|
| Irene • Seulgi • Wendy • Joy • Yeri | ||
| Mini-albums | Ice Cream Cake • The Velvet • Russian Roulette • Rookie • The Red Summer • Summer Magic • RBB • 'The ReVe Festival' Day 1 • 'The ReVe Festival' Day 2 • Monster • Queendom • The ReVe Festival 2022 - Feel My Rhythm | |
| Albums | The Red • Perfect Velvet | |
| Repackage albums | The Perfect Red Velvet • 'The ReVe Festival' Finale | |
| Japanese mini-albums | #Cookie Jar • SAPPY | |
| Singles | Happiness • Be Natural • Wish Tree • Would U • Rebirth • Our Beloved BoA #4 | |
| Solos | Like Water • Hello | |
| OSTs | Yossism • See the stars • Future | |
| Concerts | Red Room (2017) • Red Room Japan (2018) • REDMARE (2018) • REDMARE Arena Tour in Japan (2019) • La Rouge (2019) • La Rouge Arena Tour in Japan (2020) | |
| Dramas | The Female Employees of a Game Company • The Liar and His Lover • Idol Drama Operation Team • Let's Only Walk The Flower Road • Tempted • Blue Birthday | |
| Reality | Level Up Project! | |
